Yikes! "The Clock is Ticking"

President Bush has been stepping up his focus on Iran. In last week's State of the Union address, he laid off the "axis of evil" talk but nailed Iran as the center of a growing threat from Shi'a extremists intent on dominating the Middle East. The President raised Lebanon as an example of this threat in a statement yesterday, in which he said: "While Lebanon's friends seek to help the Lebanese government build a free, sovereign, and prosperous country, Syria, Iran, and Hizballah are working to destabilize Lebanese society."

An anti-Iran industry of conservatives now seems to be cranking up a campaign to support a fight--if not a war--against the Islamic Republic. To some, it's a scary echo of the drumbeats we were hearing back in 2002 concerning that other big Middle East threat.

Last week as Americans watched the SOTU, a conservative think-tank called the American Foreign Policy Council, which runs something called the Iran Freedom Initiative (an echo of Operation Iraqi Freedom?), was airing ads promoting the Iran-threat idea. I received this press release from AFPC by E-mail:

AFPC LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN ON IRAN

Today, the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) begins a week-long advertising campaign aimed at educating the American public about the growing threat posed by a nuclear Iran. The ad campaign consists of two 30-second spots that began running Tuesday on CNN, MSNBC, Headline News and the Fox News Channel in Washington, DC, Maryland and northern Virginia.

ADVERTISEMENT 1:

The nuclear clock is ticking... and time is running out.

Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism[1] - supporting attacks that have killed hundreds of Americans.[2]

An Iranian group boasts 25,000 members who are ready to become suicide bombers in the US and Europe.[3]

Now, in violation of the UN, Iran is developing a dangerous nuclear capability[4] and has threatened to share it with others.[5]

Stand up for peace. Call the White House and tell them to enforce sanctions against Iran today.

SOURCES:
[1] Pam O'Toole, "Rice: Iran is Terrorism 'Banker'," BBC News, February 17, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4722498.stm.
[2] "Iran Responsible for 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing, Judge Rules," CNN.com, May 30, 2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/.
[3] Ahmad Rafat, "Europe a Target of Iranian Suicide Bombers," Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran, May 26, 2006, http://daneshjoo.org/publishers/currentnews/article_6031.shtml.
[4] "Iran 'Ignores Nuclear Deadline,'" BBC News, August 31, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5303086.stm.
[5] "Iran Prez: I'll Share My Nuclear Technology," CBS News, December 16, 2006, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/16/world/main2274308.shtml.

ADVERTISEMENT 2:

Iran's President denies the Holocaust[1], says he wants to wipe Israel off the map[2] and has supported attacks that killed hundreds of Americans.[3]

Iran sent thousands of children marching to their deaths to clear minefields, armed only with plastic keys to unlock the gates of heaven.[4]

Now, in violation of the United Nations, Iran is trying to go nuclear[5] and has threatened to share the technology with others.[6]

Stand up for peace. Call the White House and tell them to enforce sanctions against Iran today.

SOURCES:
[1] Karl Vick, "Iran's President Calls Holocaust 'Myth' in Latest Assault on Jews," Washington Post, December 15, 2005; "Ahmadinejad: Courting controversy," Al-Jazeera (Doha), December 14, 2005, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/39AF3EA0-C8E9-456A-99D3-438045D4431F.htm.
[2] David Pryce-Jones, "A Particular Madness - Understanding Iran's Ahmadinejad," National Review, May 8, 2006.
[3] "Iran Responsible for 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing, Judge Rules," CNN.com, May 30, 2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/.
[4] Matthias Kuntzel, "Ahmadinejad's Demons," The New Republic, April 24, 2006, http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20060424&s=kuntzel042406.
[5] "Iran 'Ignores Nuclear Deadline,'" BBC News, August 31, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5303086.stm.
[6] "Iran Prez: I'll Share My Nuclear Technology," CBS News, December 16, 2006, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/16/world/main2274308.shtml.

I admired the way the AFPC brought the press in with the footnotes to support its arguments against Iran's regime; perhaps AFPC is assuming that the media can't be relied on to automatically jump on the bandwagon this time.

The same day, I received in the mail a review copy of a handsome book entitled, The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis (Palgrave MacMillan: New York)

I guess what this means is, Let the games begin.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo