| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| IRAN WANTS TO PLANT AN 'ISLAMIC POLE' |
| 2005-09-04 |
| "Multipolar world" seems to be all the rage theses days... Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, all linked by growing ties. I wonder if France, which plays the China card and based its opposition to the USA on the concept of a "multipolar world", will dare go all the way, and join up this unholly alliance, even sans avoir l'air d'y toucher? See also the article about the coming UN meeting, where Iran will have a soapbox to launch its islamic pole. Tranzis meet islamonuts? by Amir Taheri Gulf News When he launched the liberation of Iraq in 2003, US President George W. Bush promised to help the greater Middle East, the Muslim heartland from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, to bury a despotic past and build a democratic future. As if on cue, political elites throughout the region soon began to use "democracy" as a catch-word. The country generally regarded as most ripe for democracy was Iran. Bush singled it out for praise as the nation that could lead the region in democratisation. President Mohammad Khatami spoke of "religious democracy", an oxymoron in which vice pays tribute to virtue. For the past three years, tens of thousands of students have demonstrated throughout Iran demanding "Democracy, Now!" Last week Iran's newly elected-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave his reply: Democracy? Never! The answer is spelled out in a 7,000-word document that he presented as his government's "short and long term programmes" to the Islamic Majlis (parliament). In it, he categorically states that Western "ideas and concepts of government" have no place in Islam. Without using the word democracy, the document states that the new administration "bravely rejects all alien political ideas" as incompatible with Islam. The document says that in a Muslim country power belongs to God. The exercise of that power is the privilege of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and, after him the 12 Imams of duodecimo Shiism. Since the 12th Imam is in "grand occultation", thus not exercising power on a day-to-day basis, the task devolves to "chosen ones from the family of the Prophet". In the case of Iran today it means Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the "Supreme Guide" who claims to be a descendant of Hussain, the third Imam. Ahmadinejad says that not only will he fight any form of democratisation in Iran but would mobilise the nation's resources to prevent the United States from imposing the Bush plan on the Middle East. In practical terms it could mean a switch in Iranian policy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under Khatami, Tehran's policy was to make sure that the Americans were bled to the maximum while allowing them to establish friendly regimes in Kabul and Baghdad. Now, however, Iran may well want to bleed the Americans more but deny them even the mere crumb. The document states that the region is heading for a "clash of civilisations" in which the Islamic Republic represents Islam while the United States carries the banner of a West that has forgotten God. The document calls the US "the hegemon" and asserts that the Bush plan for the Greater Middle East is a device to slow down the decline of the United States as a superpower. "Despite its pharaonic roars," the document claims, "the hegemon is in its last throes." The US is a "sunset" (ofuli) power while the Islamic Republic is a "sunrise" (tolu'ee) one. Going to crumble The US is going to crumble because it is based on a system that produces "endless material needs" which lead into "the desert of lust" where men are handed over to Satan. The Islamic Republic is going to win because it has God on its side. The Americans may "mock the divine system" in Iran. But Islamic Iran is the model for the future of mankind. Ahmadinejad envisages a "multi-polar" world in which the United States would have a place as long as its process of "fading away" is not completed. Other poles, according to the documents, would include "sunrise" powers such as China and India and "sunset" ones such as the European Union. But the most dynamic of the new poles would be the Islamic one with Iran as a "core power" around which all Muslim nations will coalesce. The goal of the "Islamic pole" would be to unite the world under the banner of Islam, as the "final divine message" and "the only true faith". But it is unclear whether this is to be achieved during the 20-year period of the strategy or within a broader timeframe. It is not only in foreign policy that Ahmadinejad opposes "American ideas". His economic, social and cultural programme, too, are designed in defiance of Western capitalist models. He wants the state to play a central role in all aspects of the nation's life and emphasises the importance of central planning. In fact, the Islamic Republic intends to compete with the United States on the global stage as a producer of culture. Ahmadinejad promises to help Iranian music drive American music out of the world markets, starting with Muslim countries. In hyperbolic tones he claims that Persian music exports could earn Iran more than oil. The new government will even help arrange marriages for young men who might find it difficult to do so on their own. (No such assistance is offered to young women.) Ahmadinejad's economic policy is aimed at self-sufficiency so that the Islamic Republic would not become dependent on the global system dominated by the United States. Iran will develop its nuclear programme the way it sees fit, regardless of whatever the outside world might say. The programme does not shy away from big social engineering ideas. For example, it promises to reduce the number of villages in Iran from 66,000 to just 10,000. This would enable the central government to concentrate the rural population and provide it with better and cheaper public services. But it would also mean relocating almost 30 million people. To carry out his ambitious programme, Ahmadinejad has created a strong and unusually united cabinet. He also starts work at a time that, thanks to spiralling oil prices, his government has almost $200 million (Dh 734 million) a day to play with. At the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month, Ahmadinejad is expected to fire the first shot in what he sees as a duel between the Islamic Republic and the United States over who sets the future agenda of mankind. It should be fun to watch. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #8 Ahmadinejad promises to help Iranian music drive American music out of the world markets, starting with Muslim countries. In hyperbolic tones he claims that Persian music exports could earn Iran more than oil. Ahmadinejad, the Ayatollah of Rock & Rollah. Talk like this is why the West has never taken the buffoons of Islam seriously. We let them stew, posture and seethe until they become obstreperous enough to cause trouble, then we kill them. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-09-04 21:14 |
| #7 France will team with the Mullahs and Chinese. They already have. They are just nuanced about it. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-09-04 19:06 |
| #6 Yeah, I can see it now - an Islamic Japan. I do believe the Japanese would object rather strenuously. |
| Posted by: LC FOTSGreg 2005-09-04 18:26 |
| #5 Well, now that Mugabe has taken the art of economics and political management to an unheard of apex in his country, sounds like this bird wants to follow in Mugabe's footsteps. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-04 17:55 |
| #4 How many of these 30 mil people won't make it where they are going? all the Kurds |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-04 16:36 |
| #3 "For example, it promises to reduce the number of villages in Iran from 66,000 to just 10,000. This would enable the central government to concentrate the rural population and provide it with better and cheaper public services. But it would also mean relocating almost 30 million people." Stalin would be proud. How many of these 30 mil people won't make it where they are going? |
| Posted by: Mark E. 2005-09-04 15:52 |
| #2 This won't work. Poland will never be Islamic. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2005-09-04 15:23 |
| #1 ...Did he say 'sunrise' or 'instant sunrise':http://www.carolmoore.net/nuclearwar/famousnuke1.gif Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-09-04 14:48 |