printIn his column, “Axis of Fanatics—Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad,” Norman Solomon of Common Dreams surmises that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Bibi Netanyahu are cut from the same cloth because:
The Iranian president 1) threatened to destroy Israel and then 2) accelerated Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
The Israeli politician, in turn, promised to defend Israel against Ahmadinejad’s final solution.
Norman is without Solomonic wisdom; he can’t even compare like with like.
We all agree that Cold-War deterrence is best. But what if one’s enemy is undeterred?
Solomon’s solution is as dumb as Wikipedia’s. The wickedly stupid online encyclopedia had expressed confidence in the Islamic Republic’s “constitutional” separation of powers: Ahmadinejad hasn’t the authority to declare war on Israel—only Iran’s Supreme Leader has, it has suggested.
Likewise, Solomon thanks his lucky stars that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has shifted power from Mad Mahmoud (Ahmadinejad) to the governmental Expediency Council headed by “the shady,” yet “moderate, magnate” Hashemi Rafsanjani.
As I divulged in Satan’s Little Helpers, Ahmadinejad is not the first Iranian ruler to promise atomic retribution against Israel; Hashemi Rafsanjani is. That’s right, Mr. Solomon’s “moderate magnate” said the following:
“If one day … the world of Islam is mutually equipped with the kind of weapons Israel presently possesses, the world’s arrogant strategy will then come to a dead end, because the use of an atomic bomb on Israel won’t leave anything; however in the world of Islam [use of a bomb] will just cause harm, and this scenario is not far fetched.”