8-Jul-06: Some of what we're up against

From a distance, Israel's situation is sometimes perceived as that of a strong and powerful force, arrayed against an oppressed, militant, dispossessed neighbour. It's a painful theme to many Israelis because of the nonsense and superficiality that are wrapped up in the approach. It also ignores plain reality.

This morning, Israeli forces discovered and destroyed yet another tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip used by the Hamas terror organization to smuggle weapons. And on Friday, a total of 16 more missiles were launched into Israel from the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

But the immediate, visible terrorists perched literally on our borders and lobbing explosives into our towns are not the whole story. There are additional insane-with-religious-dementia enemies, armed to the teeth, foaming at the mouth and giving the clearest possible signs that they plan to destroy Israel, Israelis and Jews just as soon as they consider they can get away with it.

Exaggeration? Consider this report. It's from today.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on Islamic countries to mobilise against Israel and "remove" the "Zionist regime". "The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilise to remove this problem," the president said in a speech to regional officials. He was speaking at the opening of a two-day conference in Tehran on security in Iraq. "Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region," Ahmadinejad said. "The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime," he added, before going on to attack Israel's supporters. "I am reminding them to stop the crimes of this corrupt government before it is too late, and open the way for a government arising from the votes of the indigenous people of Palestine, all over Palestine," the president said. He also issued an ominous warning to Western powers. "Nations in the region will be more furious every day, and it will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion," Ahmadinejad said. "The waves of fury of Muslim nations will not be confined within the boundaries of the region, and the people who close their ears to the cries of the Palestinians and blindly support this regime will be responsible for the consequences," he warned. Iran does not recognise Israel and is opposed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ahmadinejad has already called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska.

The source is Agence France Press, not exactly a know-nothing campus tabloid. The man quoted here is not some drug-crazed cultist but the omnipotent head of a member state of the United Nations and an aspiring nuclear power. He gets the attention of the world's most powerful politicians any time he wants (see picture). He's also commander-in-chief of one of the world's largest armies. And his viewpoint is consistently justified and backed up by the leading newspapers of most of the countries in our immediate neighbourhood. (The BBC did a useful survey of editorial reactions to this man's lunacy some months ago. It makes for disturbing reading.)

There are relatively few clear, black-and-white issues in international politics. The middle east conflict is certainly not one of them; it's complex, nuanced and resistent to simplistic solutions. But the role of Ahmadinejad is one of the exceptions to that axiom. Here we have a person who takes visible pride in sounding like the madman that he plainly is not; a calculating and manipulative individual whose very existence is a threat to the well-being of the civilized world.

It's deeply depressing to us that not everyone is as outraged and frightened by him as we are.