Extremists of all sorts feed off of each other. The extremists in the US now have more reason to to call for another war in the Middle East.
The President of Iran has, according the UK’s Independent, “stirred up a diplomatic storm and risked further isolating his country by saying that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map.”
First, when a nuclear power (or a country that wants to be one) says “off the map” we should worry. Nuclear powers must be mature and grown up enought to not say such things. Since we know that Isreal is a nuclear power, it’s a dangerous thing when Heads of State talk of wiping out nearby countries.
It was not long ago that the US was abuzz about Bush’s plans to invade Iran. Indeed, Hersch said that were already conducting operations in Iran. With the hardliners on both sides keeping tensions high, the world is a less stable place. An invasion of Iran is now a more possible thing.
I wonder if Bush’s domestic crisis is contributing to this kind of rhetoric from Iran. Bush is weak, and so too is the US. We failed in Iraq, and Bush got caught lying to the world for his invasion. He’s now as weak as ever, which may make other leaders think it’s a good time to flex a bit.
But with Bush, this is a bad idea. He’s a weak-bully, the kind of person who attacks as much out of weakness as out of strength. Challenge his narrow worldview, and he will choose to self-distruct rather than accept defeat.
We should be worried about anything that contributes to the Middle East heating up. And we should look towards ourselves for some of the reasons why. Since we’ve now got a colony smack in the middle of the region, like it or not, what goes on there involves us.
Cross posted: Political Porn