Radical Iranian Leader Targets Israel For “Removal”

By James Donahue

February 12, 2006

The recently elected Iranian president, with a name that few if any Westerners can pronounce, is causing more of a furor in the world than just raising suspicions he is building an atomic weapon system.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also is adamant about the destruction of Israel. And that, coupled with his quest for the knowledge of atomic energy, and Iran’s acquisition of missiles capable of reaching Israel from Tehran, presents us all with a grave picture.

While Ahmadinejad and his cohorts are constantly denying any interest in developing nuclear weapons, the things this leader is saying about Israel leaves little question about his intentions.

Speaking Saturday before a giant crowd commemorating the 27^th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad called for the “removal of Israel” and he again declared the Holocaust story “a fairy tale.”

“Do the removal of Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations,” he said. “We ask the West to remove what they created sixty years ago and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them.”

Ahmadinejad also accused the United States of having a double standard when it comes to democratically free elections.

“You (the US) want democracy but do not respect the outcome,” he said about the election results in both Iraq and Palestine. “It seems that you only want that form of democracy whose results just repeat your standpoints and only follow your policies.”

He said the results of the parliamentary elections in Palestine and the Hamas victory “clearly showed what the people really want.”

The president responded to last week’s State of the Union comments by U.S. President George W. Bush. Bush told the Iranian people they would someday be free and have a democracy. He said there is no distinction between the people of Iran and the leaders they have picked.

“The era of military force is over,” Ahmadinejad said. “Today is the era of nations, logic and worshippers of God. Look, this is the third generation standing here and they are even more religious, more informed, more thenusiastic and more resistant to defend the ideals of the revolution.”

The president referred to the controversial cartoons as “a Zionist plot” against Muslims and people genuinely committed to Christianity and Judaism.

“Those who insulted the prophet should know that you cannot obscure the sun with a handful of dust. The dust will just get back and blind your own eyes,” he said.