Ayoon Wa Azan (A Talent Suitable for a Used Car Salesman)

“For all who want to see Iran’s nuclear quarrel with the West resolved peacefully, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s appearance before the Assembly was a god-send. This, surely, was the moment when he finally lost all credibility. Not only did he flirt with the grotesque by producing a ridiculous comic-book drawing of a bomb, he also implied that for the umpteenth time he had miscalled the imminence of an Iranian Armageddon.” I did not write the above. […] It is part of a commentary on the speech of the Israeli prime minister at the UN General Assembly last week. I had listened to the address of President Mahmoud Abbas before him and could not bear to see this war criminal on the podium, so I went out, and settled for the transcript of his speech which was distributed to the attendees. The comment above was made by Peter Jenkins, a former British diplomat and the former UK ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. In other words, he speaks out of experience on this subject. He complained about how the world media takes Netanyahu seriously, and predicted that the Israeli leader would continue to create political problems for those who are seeking to resolve an extremely complicated problem. Jenkins said that Netanyahu has lost all credibility, and I say that he never had any credibility. To be sure, he is a war criminal and an impostor, whose talents are suitable for a used car salesman. I was pleased to see a respected British diplomat express an opinion that I share with him, and which I had noted in this column in one way or another. I was pleased after that to hear the Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also a veteran of nuclear negotiations, ask at the Council on Foreign Affairs in New York: Is there a sane person who can challenge the United States? He said that Iran did not want to produce a nuclear bomb, because that would increase the threats directed at it and put it on a collision course with the United States, adding that his country can never match the strength of the latter. I stated time and again that Iran can never pose a real threat to the United States, today, tomorrow or in a century or even a millennium. Therefore, the U.S. position on the Iranian nuclear program is entirely Israeli-motivated. Today, I want to invite the readers to think with me, about how arrogant Netanyahu, the criminal Likudnik, is. There he was, standing at the podium of the United Nations, representing an occupation state that habitually murders and destroys, with a confirmed nuclear arsenal. And yet, he said that Iran’s future intentions must be stopped, and even called on the U.S., which is not under risk at all from Iran, to direct a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities – so that Israel alone can keep its nuclear weapons, and threaten nearby and faraway countries. Nuclear bombs, according to Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei also, are not meant to be used. If Iran dares use them, then it will be wiped off the map of the Middle East, not Israel. Nuclear bombs are nothing but an insurance policy; whoever owns them guarantees that they can never be used against them, because having them means they would be able to retaliate. The problem with Iran is not its alleged nuclear bomb, but the fanaticism or recklessness of its ruling regime. This regime gives its neighbors a new reason to be concerned every day, and the bellicose statements, which may indeed be meant for internal purposes, push the small neighboring states to look for allies that protect them from their large neighbor that threatens them every day. In other words, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is responsible before anyone else in the Gulf for the heavy presence of the U.S. armed forced, including aircraft carriers, in the region. It is he who is threatening to close down the Strait of Hormuz, and even Bab el Mandeb. Others believe him, although his country does not have the means to carry out its threats. The only thing it can do is engage in terrorism, either directly, or through its allies in the region. The Arab countries have justifiable reasons to be concerned by Iranian policies. I apologize for repeating this, but the solution does not lie in alliances with foreign countries, but rather in the Arab states seeking to acquire military nuclear programs. This would force the East and the West, and America in particular, to strip the Middle East of the weapons of mass destruction. Perhaps the only silver lining I can see today is that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in the last year of his term, so perhaps the Iranians will elect a moderate president like Mohammad Khatami, whom the Arabs and the world can deal with. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.