Re-Post: Nearing Midnight for April 17th (Part 1)

Words Have Meaning

During the past week, Iran has been pressing hard on the rhetoric accelerator. It first shocked the world by proclaiming it had enriched a small amount of uranium. It followed this announcement with a series of threats against Israel and nations that would get in its way - including America.

The leaders of Iran have been so busy making bombastic statement for Western consumption, I don't see where they find the time to manage domestic affairs. An advocate for military action against Iran must feel like a game show contestant inside one of those glass wind booths filled with money. There are so many malicious statements up for grabs, it would be difficult to reference them all. Here are a few quotes that struck me as the most noteworthy.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "rotten, dried tree" that will be destroyed by "one storm." "Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," said Ahmadinejad at a conference supporting the Palestinians.

Unfazed by his critics, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

Ahmadinejad sees Israel as the main foe: "The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat" to the Middle East. "Its existence has harmed the dignity of Islamic nations." He concludes by saying, "that Palestine will be freed soon."

Not to be outdone by his political leaders, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has joined the fray. General Yahya Rahim Safavi said Iran could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear program. "You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said the general.

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters at a conference in Tehran.

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin. "We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack."

I get the growing sense that Western leaders regard Iran's tough talk as being intended to remain as empty threats. This group seems to believe that Iran will, at the last minute, give into a diplomatic solution.

Adolf Hitler made very similar threats against the Jews in Europe. Nobody believed his menacing speeches until it was too late. I don't think we have the same level of public denial as we saw during Hitler's reign, but because the stakes are so much higher, the failure to act can result in far deadlier consequences.

What the folks at the UN, the State Department and various other think tanks fail to realize is the destruction of Israel is part of Satan's master plan. The devil would gladly sacrifice Iran for the chance of being able to annihilate the Jewish state.

Even someone who is not a student of Bible prophecy needs to realize that words have meaning. Evil actions begin with evil thoughts. As long as Iran continues to spout evil thoughts, the evil deeds will soon follow.
-- Todd