Culture of Death

From IBD:

Posted 2/14/2006
Axis Of Evil: Now that the media have had their fun with Dick Cheney's hunting accident, maybe they can refocus on something truly important — like Iran taking the first steps to build a nuclear bomb.

We hate to be killjoys, but it seems that Iran's feeding of hexafluoride gas into centrifuges at its experimental nuclear facility at Natanz is a heckuva lot more momentous than someone taking birdshot from the vice president's hunting gun in what was clearly an accident.

Here's why: Hexafluoride gas, also called UF-6, can be refined into nuclear fuel by using Natanz's highly specialized centrifuges. Refine the UF-6 a bit more, and you get weapons-grade nuclear material — the kind used in bombs.

We'd like to believe Iran when it says it has nothing but peaceful intentions in wanting to develop nuclear technology. But somehow, we doubt it.

Maybe it's the way President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks about annihilating his enemies — as he did over the weekend, when he led a group of Iranian fanatics in a chant of "death to America," and again later, when he vowed to "remove" Israel.

Let us repeat: We're not against Iran having nuclear power for peaceful purposes, such as electricity. But we're curious how a nation with the world's second largest reserves of oil and gas would suddenly find itself in an energy bind. Very curious.

No, we think the Iranians have something far more nefarious in mind — like the creation of an Islamic terror weapon, a nuclear device that could be put atop Iran's Shahhab missiles for lobbing at Israel or its Sunni neighbors, or given to terrorists to explode in London, New York, Los Angeles or any number of other major cities.

Those who think we should do nothing would do well to remember the dark days before World War II, when Britain's hapless Neville Chamberlain waved a piece of paper with Adolf Hitler's signature and vowed "peace in our time."

There was no peace, of course. Hitler was a madman bent on world domination and the destruction of inferior races.

Ahmadinejad, too, is a cunning madman. He despises others — infidels, but Jews most especially — and wants to wipe them out. He believes in jihad — a religious war to the death, pitting Muslims against infidels everywhere.

Ahmadinejad also follows the obscure belief that the 12th Imam of Shiite Islam, known as the Mahdi, will return to Earth and that right-thinking Muslims must purify the world for his return. In such a context, why not nuke Islam's enemies? Why fear anything?

As we discovered with Hitler — and Stalin and Mao — extreme nationalism, totalitarian thinking and racial or religious mysticism can be a potent combination, leading to the death of millions. We should have learned from our past mistakes.

We are dealing with a dangerous man — one who believes dangerous things and who certainly will act on those beliefs.

For now, it's good to know France and Russia are calling Iran back to the table for talks on how Iran might get access to nuclear technology but not build weapons. After rejecting those talks Monday, Iran said Tuesday it was just postponing them until Feb. 20.

We'll see. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. On Feb. 4, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible action. On March 6, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei will report back on the extent of Iran's nuclear program.

If Iran doesn't comply with legitimate requests to stand down from its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons, the U.S. and Europe will have little choice but to act. Better that than to wait for an American or European city to be incinerated.