The Iraqi / Iranian version of "bring it on" - Ahmadinejad and al-Sadr
seeking a "Judgement Day war", in order to hasten the appearance of
the "Mahdi" - all they will get is the destruction described in
Ezekiel 38 & 39.

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Messianic leaders in Iraq, Iran

Professors at Haifa University discuss extremist leaders in Persian
Gulf who believe in increasing chaos to facilitate judgement day

Ahiya Raved
Published:    11.06.06, 05:33

On the same day that the story of a major dictator came to an end in
Iraq, experts on the Persian Gulf region posited a disturbing and
imminent next chapter.
 
According to these experts, Shiites in Iraq and Iran are becoming more
extreme, under young and charismatic leadership, possessing messianic
faith, and unafraid of a struggle with the western world.

In a Haifa University conference on Iran and the Persian Gulf, two
experts discussed the personalities of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and Shiite leader in Iraq Muqtada al-Sadar. 

Both figures are religious extremists who believe in the coming of the
mahdi - the Shiite equivalent of the messiah.
 
[...]

Waiting for the messiah 

"The president of Iran implements the decisions of the spiritual
leader. That's how it always was," Shahvar explains.
 
"But now Ahmadinejad, a leader with an agenda, is on the scene,
attacking the west and ruining the efforts of other leaders to break
Iran's isolationism.
 
"He attacks Israel ceaselessly. Granted, there were always such
attacks, but not with such intensity," Shahvar continued. He stated
that the charged relationship between Khameini and the president was 
a warning sign.
 
The president has both reformist and conservative critics, but enjoys
mass support for now, primarily among the poor from whom he originated
and among the military, which he entered during the Iran-Iraq war and
served to the rank of Lt. Col.

Muqtada al-Sadar: Messiah of the downtrodden

World renowned Iraq expert Prof. Amatzia Baram sketched an image of
the anticipated future leader of the Shiite faction in Iraq - Muqtada
al-Sadar. 

[...]

"He tells people that the mahdi is coming soon and in one of his
sermons said that the reason that the US is intensifying operations in
Iraq is 'to wait and catch (the mahdi), to decapitate him," Baram
said.

                             -==-

Full article at "Yedioth Internet"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3324216,00.html


Cheers, Steve..

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