It must be great being an award winning columnist, need a story? want to push for war with a middle eastern state all you need is an Internet connection, a random nutter (see example on right)and the willingness and ability to weave this into whole cloth.
The evidence of Persian perfidity, the very words of Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi (AMBK from now on) himself, viz
" [he] called Saturday for the creation of a "Greater Iran" that would rule over the entire Middle East and Central Asia," and "He said he envisioned a Greater Iran that would stretch from Afghanistan to Israel" Not good as at least one of them belongs to us iirc.
It gets worse, according to Mr Hitchens.
" His call for the abolition of Israel is of what one might call a routine nature—(ho hum) what's of more immediate interest is his railing against the "cancerous tumors" of Sunni Islam, especially as represented by Iran's Arab neighbors in the Gulf."
Now that is where the oil lives, again not good.
However one little question before the F16's fly and the troops troop into Iran, just who exactly is Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi? The AP article Which seems to be the source of this story states.
"the creation of what he calls an Islamic United States is a central aim of the political party he leads called Hezbollah, or Party of God, and that he hoped to ma make it a reality if they win the next presidential election." In other words he holds no actual position but is however a possible candidate for the next Iranian Presidential election which, if my calculations are correct, is in 2013. A potential presidential candidate, none of them ever say anything odd do they?
It's pretty clear to anyone with a map, or who knew how to count, that the idea of a shite Islamic Imperium gaining " hegemonic control over much of the Middle East and Central Asia...stretching from Afghanistan to Palestine" is an insane pipedream. How can someone like Mr Hitchens possibly give it houseroom? Because brothers and sisters the plan to get the people to go to war has rarely changed over the years.
Herman Goering was once quoted as saying (I don't know if it is genuine)
"the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
However I don't think that is true any more, the world is too interlinked. sorry Christopher, and indeed Herman. We choose not to be fooled again.
“The enemies of intolerance cannot be tolerant." • "If it is an offense to justice to hold people who may have been victims of mistaken identity or of vendettas by other factions, then it is also an offense to justice to release psychopathic killers who believe that they have divine permission to throw acid in the faces of girls who want to attend school." • "Don't be such a lesbian!
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