Wishing-well Politics Prove that the Leader of Iran is Mad

Mark Dooley, Irish Independent:

There are two views currently circulating about Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The first is that by calling for Israel's liquidation and by defying the international community on the nuclear issue, he is simply reaching out to his anti-American support-base. The second is that he is mad. Let me tell you why I think the second view is correct.

A number of weeks ago, Ahmadinejad instructed his cabinet to write a letter to a ninth-century Shia imam, Mahdi. Shiites hold that Mahdi will return at the end of days to establish Islam as a global religion. Currently, they believe he is hiding at the bottom of a well in the Iranian city ofIsfahan.

After signing the letter, Ahmadinejad's cabinet wondered how they might deliver the letter to the imam Mahdi. The president ordered his minister for culture to hand-deliver the letter by dropping it into the well. Once it was delivered, Ahmadinejad announced that Mahdi sanctioned his presidential power.

So here we have the leader of an oil-rich theocracy with nuclear ambitions sending letters to a 9th-Century imam in a well. Beneath the comedy, however, there is a terrible truth. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes that he has been divinely ordained to bring about the final drama in the struggle for the world's soul. And it is that demented belief in his global significance that makes the new president so dangerous. READ MORE

That danger was in evidence again last Wednesday, when he stated that he had no intention of ceasing to process uranium at the Isfahan nuclear plant. And just so we got the message, he deployed another batch of uranium ore to the installation.

That was followed by the sacking of over half of Iran's international ambassadors, including its envoy to Britain. These reformers are to be replaced by Ahmadinejad's young hardliners.

And in a major act of political manoeuvring that sent shivers down the spines of Iran's democrats, the president appointed a former colleague in the revolutionary guards to the sensitive position of minister for oil. The appointment caused dismay because the new minister has no experience of government and is just as zealous as his president.

So what is to be done? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not simply a threat to Israel and the US. His presidency is an affront to all civilised nations, which is why the time for trying to reason with the man is over. But does that mean military action?

There are plenty who support military intervention in Iran. They include the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the architect of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Hussein Khomeini believes his grandfather created "the world's worst dictatorship", and that the only way to end it "is to bring in the American 82nd Airborne Division".

The military option must always be on the table when dealing with a rogue state intent on destabilising an entire region. But, at this stage, it would do little to help the Iranian pro-democracy movement. And that is because they know that an armed intervention would galvanise support for Ahmadinejad.

Iran is not like Iraq. The reason Iraqis could not remove Saddam by themselves is because the opposition was either in exile or in mass graves. But in Iran there is a young, sophisticated, pro-democracy movement that has millions of members. Andunlike their ill-fated Iraqi brethren, they have established a strong base throughout the country.

That means that Iran has even greater potential to become a beacon for democracy inside the Middle East than Iraq. So how can we help the Iranian democrats remove their despised regime without playing directly into Ahmadinejad's hands?

First, pressure should be applied at the United Nations for a package of economic sanctions to be imposed. The mullahs dread such a blockade because they know it would alienate the poor and uneducated who are their natural supporters.

And if that package includes sanctions on Iran's massive oil wealth, it could crush their nuclear hopes.

Second, the international community must provide all the technical and logistical assistance that the democrats require to start an uprising. For some years now, everything has been in place inside Iran for such an insurrection. The leaders of the pro-western movement are just waiting for the signal from Washington and London.

Finally, it is imperative that the International Atomic Energy Agency be given full access to Iran's nuclear sites before Israel opts to bomb them. If anything will destroy the hopes of an entire generation of Iranians for freedom, it will be a pre-emptive strike by Israel. And that is because it will give Ahmadinejad the excuse he needs to trigger a war involving the entireMiddle East.

The election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran has brought us to a point of no return in respect of his beautiful country. For 26 years we have watched as the ayatollahs robbed their citizens of basic rights and liberties. But now the children of the revolution have come of age and want to reclaim their nation from madmen.

Backing them in whatever we can, and however they desire, is not only wise politics. It is also a moral obligation.