From: Michael Freund
To: Justin Raimondo
Subject: Facts, Not Fantasy

Justin,

How nice it would be to live in a world without threats, dangers, or enemies, where the greatest hazard one might face would be spilling the morning latte while strutting over to the PC. You appear to inhabit such a fantasy world, Justin, and I wish you well. Unfortunately, though, the rest of mankind—and particularly the West—does not.

And much as we might wish it to be otherwise, policymaking has got to be based on rBad Dreams: Grand Ayatollah Khameini fantasizes of a world without America or Israeleality, rather than on daydreams and flights of fancy.

You see, Justin, out here in the real world, people such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei want to kill you and your family and destroy our collective way of life.

They do not hide their intentions, nor do they conceal their efforts. You can cover your ears and pretend that the problem will simply go away, but that isn’t how things work in the real world.

You would have us believe that Iran does not pose a threat at all—neither to Israel nor to the U.S.—and that the regime in Tehran has been fully compliant with the demands of the international community. Your assertions are laughable, and demonstrate an alarming (if blissful) ignorance. I suggest you check your facts before making such baseless assertions.

Let’s go point by point.

Justin’s myth #1: Iran “represents no threat to America.”

Fact: Iranian leaders have repeatedly and explicitly threatened the United States. Last August, Iran’s so-called Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, said, “The American regime can expect a resounding slap and a devastating first-blow from the Muslim nation.” And Iranian President Ahmadinejad has vowed that, “God willing…we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism.”

Tehran has backed up its words by steadily improving its ballistic missile capability. The Iranian Shihab-3 missile, with a range of 1200 km (746 miles), has been operational for several years, and can hit all of Israel as well as U.S. military targets in the Middle East. Iranian military leaders have declared that they are working on the Shihab-4, with a range of 2000 km (1,243 miles), that will put parts of Europe within striking Stiff-Armed Salutes And Nukes Shouldn't Mix: Would the Iranians give Hizballah a Bomb?distance, and that they are striving to build even longer-range intercontinental missiles that can hit the United States. All of these weapons have the ability to deliver atomic warheads.

Moreover, if Iran were to develop “the bomb,” what is to stop them from putting it into the hands of one of the myriad anti-American terrorist groups they support, such as Hizballah?

The threat posed by a nuclear Iran is readily acknowledged across the political spectrum, by Democrats and Republicans alike, and the facts bear out the danger this poses to the U.S. and its interests.

Justin’s myth #2: Iran “is no threat to Israel.”

Fact: The Iranian leadership has made clear in recent years that they view Israel as “a cancer” that must be removed from the Middle East. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said on countless occasions that “Israel must be wiped off the map.” And former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani speculated publicly a few years back that just one nuclear device would destroy Israel.

Iran trains, finances, and guides various terrorist groups that engage in acts of violence against the Jewish state, including Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad. And just six months Tehran played host to an international Holocaust-denial conference.

As former CIA Director James Woolsey said, speaking before the Ohio House of Representatives on May 3, “The regime’s threats to destroy Israel and, on a longer time-scale, the United States, are part and parcel of its essence. Recent official statements to this effect represent not a shift in policy. Iran’s regime has defined itself for nearly 30 years by its fundamental hostility to the West, and especially Israel and the United States, which it calls the 'Little Satan' and the 'Great Satan,' respectively.”

Justin’s myth #3: Iran “allows unhampered inspections and cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Fact: The Iranian nuclear program was revealed in 2002 only after an Iranian exile group held a press conference and disseminated photographs and data regarding the country’s covert nuclear installations. It turned out that Iran had been working in secret for 18 years (!!!) on its nuclear program, which it had concealed from the international community. And the government repeatedly lied about its existence. Indeed, in recent years, since its program became known, Iran has prevented international inspectors from carrying out their work. They have blocked access to various sites, suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a number of times, prohibited snap inspections, and imposed restrictions on the types of monitors allowed to visit certain sites. That is hardly the “unhampered” cooperation that you would have us believe is taking place.

Like it or not, Justin, the facts point to a mounting and compelling threat from Iran, one that is directed not only towards Israel but at the entire Western world. And the sooner you and others wake up and recognize this danger, the more united we can be in confronting it.

Michael

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