CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, March 13, 2006

Nuke weapons: Iran’s ticket to Islamic leadership

By now, it should be clear that neither the United Nations (U.N.) nor the European Union (E.U.) will do anything meaningful to keep the Iranians from arming themselves with nuclear weapons. Except for stealing from the Oil-For-Food Program and refusing to pay parking tickets, the U.N. doesn’t do much of anything. The E.U. couldn’t even bestir itself to stop the genocide in the Balkans.

Meanwhile, the Iranians will proceed, either in public or in secret, to create nuclear weapons and to make sure it has missiles with enough range to carry those nuclear weapons far enough to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

Of course, neither the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) nor the United States will allow the Iranians to land a single nuclear weapon on Israeli. In all likelihood, even a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program will be ferreted out by the Israeli Mossad. Then, the only questions are: Will the IDF go it alone or will the U.S. do it or will the IDF and the U.S. carry out a joint strike?

Do the Iranians understand what will happen if they develop the nuclear capability to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? You bet they do. Do they care? No, not really. You see, the Iranian Mullahs figure they are creating a no-lose situation for Iran and a no-win situation for Israel, the U.S. and Western Civilization.

So, what do Iranians hope to gain? First, restoration of the place the former Persian Empire once held in the known world. By 480 B.C., the Persians had united the Near and Middle East from Egypt to the western border of India, and almost toppled the brilliant civilization of Greece. All that happened almost 11 centuries before an Arab orphan founded Islam in Arabia. But today, even though Iranians are not Arabs, they could claim to be truer adherents to Islam than any mere Arabs. Of course, that claim would be disputed by the Wahabbis of Saudi Arabia.

Secondly, the Iranian Mullahs want to lead a militant Islam, in the destruction of Israel, in the defeat of the United States, in the conquest of Western Europe and in the unification of all Muslims around the world under the banner of Iran. Right now, the Arab-based al Qaeda holds pride of terrorist place in the Muslim world, so the Iranians need a stratagem that will put them in first place.

But won’t the IDF and/or the U.S destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons diminish Iran physically and create a lot of civilian casualties? No. Just as the IDF took out Saddam’s first attempt at a nuclear weapons program with a surgical strike in 1981, only the areas in which the nuclear weapons are produced would be hit. Physical damage and loss of life would be very limited.

But won’t the destruction of their nuclear weapons be a loss of face for the Iranians? No. Instead, of being a Muslim nation that merely bankrolls terrorist strikes against Israel, Iran would be perceived as being in the front line of the fight against the Great Satan and Israel. Muslims from Indonesia to Egypt, and every place in between, would grant first place to Iran.

Moreover, Iran would be perceived as rescuing the declining fortunes of the terrorists in Iraq where the U.S. is successfully playing off numerous Islamic factions against the other. Indeed, and despite the Sinistra Media and Al Zazeera, the number of terrorist attacks inside Iraq, albeit with some spikes now and then, continues to go down. Only two of 18 provinces are troublesome, and that’s where the media mingle.

Finally, the Iranians already have a not-so-secret weapon called Islam that invites suicide bombers to die in the name of Allah and gain instant passage to Paradise. Of course, their best and brightest don’t buy it. They are too busy attending our Ivy League colleges.

William Hamilton, a syndicated columnist, a featured commentator for USA Today and self-described “recovering lawyer and philosopher,” is the co-author of The Grand Conspiracy and The Panama Conspiracy – two thrillers about terrorism directed against the United States.

©2006. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com