[Preechr]

I seem to remember him making it very clear during the Mike Wallace interview, when by "it" I mean the semantic angle he was taking. He believes that Israel can and maybe even should exist, but sees no reason why it has to exist where it is. He even said that if the establishment of Israel was meant in some way as payment for the holocaust, then it should have been located in Germany.

He clearly believes Israel should not be located in his neighborhood, which pretty much means "wiped off the map," as he personally is only concerned with maps of areas controlled by Islam. His personal belief system proves this. He's a "twelver," remember? Similar to the Gush Eminem Zionists, his sect of the Muslim faith believes certain things must happen to prepare the way for the return of, in his case, the twelfth Imam, Mahdi. Al Sadr is also a twelver (Mahdi Army, anyone?) One of these prerequisites, of course, is Muslim control of, depending on the version you hear, either at least the holiest places in the faith, or maybe even the entire world.

So, the eviction at least of Israel is a high priority for him, spiritually, though the primary reasons for the Arab/Persian animosity toward Israel is now and always has been political in nature. Democracy goes against everything Mohammad taught his followers to strive for, of course, but in a more practical sense, totalitarian theocracies are extremely threatened by Western style liberal societies. The GDP of Israel is greater than that of the rest of the entire middle east, and it's right there! So close that their enslaved citizens can actually see it! THAT's the root of their support for the Palestinian people. They have forced Israel to remain as close to a Police State as they could for nearly it's entire existence now so as to give the impression that freedom is no better then the oppression most middle easterners currently enjoy.

As for Iran specifically, you guys need to come to the understanding that it needs to and eventually definitely will become a nuclear power. The reason that America has no plans to invade Iran is that it has no power whatsoever right now to do anything more then disrupt progress locally if it wishes to influence the region. That being said, it is still the center of gravity, politically speaking, for the middle east as it currently exists. If you want to compare Iran to something, compare it to our own de-clawed and impotent Democrat Party here in America.

Once Iran gets the bomb, and it will, the Islamic world will have a solid place at the table, so to speak. I'm sure the thought of that happening makes Abcdxxx's butthole shrink up so tight as to pinch off a sixteen penny nail, but them's the facts. That does not mean Israel will be attacked. Far from it. Using them is not what nukes are for. Look at the history of the conflict between Pakistan and India for a perfect example. Nuclear enemies that, somehow, some way, still seem to co-exist. Here's another, more stimulating example: The USSR disintegrated just fine without launching even one of their many, many nuclear tipped ICBMs.

Until the Muslim world gets that seat at the table through Iran, expect the exact same sort of progress in that region we have thus far experienced: None. Remember: the goal of the War on Terror is the end of terrorism as a means to a political end, not the domination of the 3rd world by the West. If we are hoping to count the rest of the world as peers rather than enemies, they will need the legitimacy of power they do not currently have in order to effect the political and economic changes required to bring them up to speed with the modern world.

I don't worry too much about mystic nutjobs like Ahminajihad. That sort of wacko has always found a way to shout from the hills. He is no more the actual voice of Iran than I am. He is only a tool that is useful in keeping this drama in the papers and thus on the front burners of otherwise blissfully ignorant Westerners that need to be made to understand this problem must be solved sooner rather than later. It's their money that will be needed to make it happen, and they will gladly give it once they've had to suffer through hearing about it every day for a certain period of time.