“The
Iranian nation will wipe the strain of regret on the foreheads
of those who want to bring about injustice”, President
Ahmadinejad scorned at a recent rally in the province of
Zanjan. Iran “will cut off the hands of any aggressor”,
any attack would be met with a response that is double-fold
including suicide attacks across Europe and the United States,
he warned. “Israel should be wiped off the map”,
the predominately Jewish nation “cannot survive”
and is headed “towards extinction” quipped the
fanatical President.
If one
were to listen to his rhetoric alone, even the most astute
political intellectuals would think Iran is a nation equipped
with the most dangerous military arsenal capable of challenging
any nation. But Iran’s rhetoric has little to do with
their outdated and dismal military, their fledging economy
or their detested government. The root of the government’s
fiery tone may be traced to their Shi’te ideology
messianic belief in a mysterious, mystical twelfth imam
who ventured into hiding over a thousand years ago.
The
Hidden Imam is a central concept in the teachings of Shi’te
Islam. Born Muhammad al-Mahdi he ventured into a cave in
941 AD hidden by a gate called the Gate of Occultation.
The doctrine of Occultation professes Allah aided the cloaking
of the Imam away from the eyes of man so that he could be
kept alive until his return. Shi’tes believe that
the Twelfth Imam will return to lead the religious battle
between good and evil when the world has become consummately
nefarious.
According
to Shi’te orthodoxy humans may not force or hasten
the return of the Imam, but the Hojjateiehs a group of which
Ahmadinejad is a member, opine that humans may stir up chaos
to encourage his return. With his recent rhetoric vowing
for the destruction of Israel, demanding deportation of
the Jews to Europe and denying the Holocaust that the President
seems to be doing just that. In fact, his messianic axiom
of the Twelfth Imam and the subsequent suppression of the
forces of evil [modern day US, UK, Israel and many other
nations] is central to Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy.
The Iranian government’s official policy has undercut
efforts of the international community by rejecting a United
Nations deadline to suspend Iran’s nuclear program,
threatening to quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty and vying
that “nothing can stop Iran’s path to nuclear
technology.” In anticipation of a stand off with the
West Iran recently clinched agreements with eight different
Middle East insurgency groups to carry out suicide attacks
against Israeli, British and US interests across the world.
Ironically this plan is called ‘Judgment Day.’
During a private meeting with an Iranian cleric in November
Ahmadinejad claimed that while giving a speech before the
United Nations he felt “the atmosphere change and
for 27 to 28 minutes the leaders did not blink” “they
were astonished.. it had opened their eyes and ears to the
Islamic Republic.” He further said that he felt the
hand of God upon him as he delivered his omniscient speech.
In his egocentric fantasy world the Iranian President likely
sees himself as a deputy of the Imam with a divine mission
to encourage his arrival. His references to the Imam in
conjunction with threats to wipe countries off the face
of earth should be taken seriously. Foreign policy experts
should examine the Islamic Republic from both a political
and religious perspective. To the clerical regime the return
of the Imam is not a mere possibility, but a surety. Their
attitude towards the international community seems to point
at their preparation for that day.
International
concerns aside, there are domestic reasons for the regimes
erratic behavior. After 27 years of executions, floggings,
stoning, oppression of political dissent, violation of women’s
rights, oppression of religious minorities, the largest
brain drain in the world, rampant prostitution, crime, drug
use and mass unemployment the Islamic Republic is domestically
quite loathed. In fact, recent student polls show that close
to eighty five percent of the population supports fundamental
democratic changes in the regime. Iranian students have
consistently poured into the streets in pro-Democracy protests
only to be violently suppressed, jailed, tortured and often
murdered. But, dictatorships can only oppress for so long
and it’s only a matter of time before Iran explodes
in a pro-Western democratic revolution. The regime knows
that the only way they can leave any kind of legacy is by
invoking nationalistic pride by pushing the country into
another war and unlike the Iran-Iraq war this time they’re
paving the way for the return of the Twelfth Imam.
From
challenging the world to enhancing Iran’s nuclear
programs every issue is implemented for the arrival of Mahdi.
The Islamic Republic is not vying for war because they’re
too arrogant to understand they will be crushed. They’re
vying for war because they believe Mahdi will return to
help them defeat the United States and others who dare stand
up to them. Ahamadinejad and Company’s Armageddon
may be coming to a theater near you and it’s probably
the scariest movie we’ll ever see unless we aggressively
invest in the overthrow of the regime before it’s
debut appearance.
©
2006 Tocqevillian Magazine
