Iran's stand
Re article: "The Iranian missile test," by Prof. Abdullah A. Dewan, professor of economics at Michigan Eastern University (July 17).
In the context of recent Iranian missile test, it may be germane to ask: Why did Iranian President Ahmadinejad threaten, as he did recently, to wipe out Israel from the face of the earth?
Iran and Israel don't share a common border and chances of war between them are negligible at most. As such, the answer is that Iran's sabre-rattling is directed as much against its own people as against Israel. Iranian scholar Mehrzad Boroujerdi, director of Middle Eastern Studies at Syracuse University in New York, recently wrote: "There is an amazing mismatch between what the government preaches and what goes on in the privacy of people's homes that is mind-boggling." This has been going on ever since the Shia mullahs captured power in Iran.
It is clear that Iranian mullahs believe literally in 19th century German Gen. Clauschwitz who said: "War is only politics by others means." With Iranians suffering from high unemployment (as much as 30% of Iranians are unemployed) despite the windfall gains due to high oil prices, the mullahs need perpetual tension and threat of war to divert public attention from their inept economic management and silence the dissidents as enemies of Islam.
Shiite mullahs also know that having an atomic bomb will infinitely bolster their position to further intimidate Iranian dissidents. The bomb and anti-Israel rhetoric will help mobilise the people behind the mullahs. But for how long will the Iranians allow them to continue to do so?
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