After flirting with the EU-3 on Nuclear issues for a long time and basically getting its way, Iran seems to be doing the same with the Lebanon/Hizbollah debacle, using it as a distraction and smoke screen. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0723vipkittrie0723.html The big winner thus far in the clash between Hezbollah and Israel is Iran. Through attacks by its proxy, Hezbollah, Iran is deftly succeeding in distracting the world from the rapidly progressing Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran’s success brings it one step closer to one of its ultimate goals. That goal is America’s destruction. As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has starkly put it: “God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States. . . . This goal is attainable, and surely can be achieved.” Why does Iran want to destroy the United States? Because the United States is the foremost purveyor of Western culture. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, wants to root out Western culture because it is contrary to Islam and in his view directs “everyone toward materialism while money, gluttony and carnal desires are made the greatest aspiration.” As Khamenei put it in an interview in May 2004: “The source of all human torment and suffering is the ‘liberal democracy’ promoted by the West.” Iranian President Ahmadinejad claims he was divinely given the presidency for a single task: provoking a ????clash of civilizations???? wherein the Muslim world, led by Iran, defeats the ????infidel???? West, led by the United States, and thereby hastens the return of the ????Hidden Imam,???? a messiah-like figure. According to Hassan Abbassi, chief strategist for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards: ????We have a strategy drawn up for the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization . . . There are 29 sensitive sites in the U.S. and in the West . . . We know how we are going to attack them . . . Anything that can be done to terrorize and create fright in the infidel camp is our privilege and honor. . . We have to uproot liberal democracy from the face of the world.” — Just an Old Salt, by the water Spirit Group Paddles There are 3 replies, with the last one an 2006-07-30 at 08:02:15 by saltydognh

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