American News Commentary

IRAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD LABELED AS
"THE BILLY GRAHAM OF THE MIDDLE EAST"

That appellation was assigned to him by an Arab Sunni
diplomat who said after Ahmadinejad’s speeches in New
York, "He is the Billy Graham of the Middle East, and you
are paying for his crusades." It is true that both speeches,
at Columbia and at the UN, were more rambling sermons
than political discourses or current events lectures, and
demonstrated that the president of Iran, despite his very
unprepossessing appearance, sees himself as having a sense
of divine mission almost as a 21st century John the Baptist,
preparing the way for the return of Islam’s 12t h Imam, the
Mahdi. The Mahdi, according to Islamic lore, is a righteous
descendant of Mohammad, who went into "occlusion" in the
ninth century at the age of five, and has been hidden ever
since. He will return after a period of chaos, bloodshed and
war, and will lead the world into an era of universal peace
after establishing the rule of Islam throughout the world.

Mr. Ahmadinejad was very definite about this in his two
speeches, saying, "I emphatically declare that today’s world
more than ever before, longs for the perfect righteous
human being who has been promised to all peoples and
who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the
planet. Almighty God make us among his followers and
among those who strive for his return and for his cause."

In his speech at the UN he made his position clear, saying
that the era of Western dominance was coming to a close,
and would be replaced by the bright future at the return of
the 12th Imam. "Without any doubt, the Promised One, who
is the ultimate Saviour will come. The pleasing aroma of
justice will permeate the whole world."

It should be made clear that the God of whom Billy
Graham spoke during his years of ministry, is not the God
of whom Mr. Ahmadinejad spoke in his New York speeches.
And it is also clear that Islam, a much newer religious faith,
has borrowed generously from the Christian doctrine of the
Apocalypse, and the return of Jesus Christ to rule in the
period of the millennium.

One of the few occassions when Ahmadinejad was booed
during his speech at Columbia was when he said that unlike
America, in Iran there were no homosexuals. He did not
explain in detail why that may be true – the fact is that gay
sex in any form is punished by death under Islamic law in Iran.
Offenders are given a choice of four death methods: hanging,
stoning, halved by a sword or dropped from some high point.
Since the Ayatollahs seized power in Iran in 1979 more than
4,000 gay men and lesbians are known to have been executed.

How to evaluate the Ahmadinejad visit? In his two major
appearances he challenged the largest superpower on earth, he
threatened a regional power (Israel) with extinction, and he
ridiculed the UN efforts to regulate his program of nuclear
development declaring that he considers the matter closed.
Apparently the UN accepted his conclusion, and instead of
imposing new sanctions, granted Iran a two month extension
to explain their nuclear ambitions.

In the Arab world his visit was seen and reported as a
victory and he is portrayed as a hero for venturing into the
"lion’s den." It is difficult to find justification for handing
one of the world’s premier terrorists such public platforms
to spout his contrary views. The American media, liberal as
ever, described him as "friendly," "humble," "incorruptible"
and "modest," and on the CBS Morning Show, Scott Pelley
said, "He is genuinely religious, genuinely humble, there are
no fancy clothes, fancy cars ... he is a fascinating character."
They seem to ignore that he denies the Holocaust, says the
nation Israel should be exterminated and sends bombs and
weapons to insurgents in Iraq to kill American soldiers.

That was not the end of the saga. After leaving the USA,
he traveled to Latin America to encourage leftist-leaning
nations to join in economic ventures which would encourage
their hatred of America, climaxing his trip with a great reunion
with Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela. Arrangements
were made for economic exchanges which would benefit both
countries, and strengthen their resolve to oppose the United
States and the Bush administration – which they agree on as
being the "Great Satan" – in every way possible.

Here’s a thought: As a member of the UN, Ahmadinejad

is entitled to speak there. Perhaps it would be best to admit
him into this country to visit only the UN, hold him under
close supervision by UN officials, provide residence facilities
for him within the UN complex, and escort him back to his
plane as soon as his UN appearance is completed. And the
same strict control would apply for all terrorists.

Afterthoughts . . .

A treasure trove for the ACLU; those guardians of the
religious activities of the nation are quick to file suits against
small town school boards who might have a copy of the Ten
Commandments visible, or where some child bowed their
head in prayer before eating. But here right in the nation’s
capitol city, right in the capitol building, representatives of
several religions meet regularly for prayer – Muslims, Jews
and Christians assembling in different rooms. The ACLU
could institute some suits at high dollar levels. Some have
traced this practice to the request by Ben Franklin in 1787
that the business of government start each day with a prayer.
The inclusion of an Islamic time of prayer is indication that
faith based groups go beyond the traditional Judeo-Christian
boundaries. But it is still religion, and the ACLU feels very
strongly about religion.

This may be hard to believe, but there was such a furore
about the radically discounted price the NY Times charged
the Democrat support group, Moveon.org, for their insulting
ad ridiculing General Petraeus that the Times finally admitted
they had made a mistake, and Moveon.org has had to pay an
additional $77,083, bringing the cost for the ad to $142,083.
Now it would be nice if some of the Democrat leaders would
admit that the ad was disgraceful!

One strong voice during the Ahmadinejad visit was
not from any US official, but from the new French President,
Nicolas Sarkozy: "There will not be peace in the world if the
international community falters in the face of proliferation
of nuclear arms. If we allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons,
we would incur an unacceptable risk to stability in the region
and the world." It is good to know that the French government
under its new conservative leadership is determined to accept
responsibility for their membership in the world of nations.

A good 18th century quote on state government: "The state
governments possess inherent advantages , which will ever give
them an influence and ascendancy over the National Government,
and will forever preclude the possibility of federal encroachments.
That their liberties, indeed, can be subverted by the federal head,
is repugnant to every rule of political calculation." – Alexander
Hamilton, June, 1788

An alarming current day quote on our government:

"In order for our republic to work, there must exist a certain level
of trust and faith. The public at large must be able to trust their
elected representatives to do the job. When that faith is shaken,
not only do the government institutions suffer, but the country
does as well. A new survey shows that trust in the federal
government is at its lowest point in this decade. People are
tired of double talk, scandals, partisan attacks, and lies. In fact,
according to the survey, trust in many of the government
institutions is ‘now lower than it was during the Watergate
era, generally recognized as the low point in American history
for trust in government.’" – Bobby Eberle, gopusa.com, 09/28

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