Obama On Terrorism

[jhood001]

And sometimes, when a guy like Ahmadinejad threatens to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth", you need to believe that's exactly what he wants to do.

He never said that. Our western media said he said that.

So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in Farsi:
"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "regime." pronounced just like the English word with an extra "eh" sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).
So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped from the map"? The answer is: nothing. That's because the word "map" was never used. The Persian word for map, "nagsheh" is not contained anywhere in his original Farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's president threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." despite never having uttered the words "map." "wipe out" or even "Israel."
The Proof:
The full quote translated directly to English:
"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
Word by word translation:
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).


We said we wanted Saddam removed from power. A vastly different desire than eradicating Iraq and all of it's people in it's entirety. I don't mean to defend the guy. He's a moron, but it seems to me that every single reason we use to paint Iran as a threat is either misinformation, or intentional disinformation.

[Bailey Guns]

Gee...I guess I'm failing to see the distinction.

Do you believe what he was referring to was the destruction of Israel? I do.

[ronaldrwl]

Terrorist are just 'folks'. Right?

[jhood001]

Terrorist are just 'folks'. Right?

Not in my book. They're evil bastards. But by weighing in with this comment, are you implying that Iranians are terrorists?

[jhood001]

Gee...I guess I'm failing to see the distinction.

Do you believe what he was referring to was the destruction of Israel? I do.

No, I do not. I think they desire a change in leadership in Israel. Just like we do in NK, Iran, Venezuela, Libya (this month anyway), and so on and so on. 'Destruction' is again, your word.

But again, we're back to using rhetoric as a basis for killing a whole shit-load of people in another foreign nation.

So setting rhetoric aside.... again, can anyone explain to me what the real threat of Iran is?

[tmckay2]

Is this a joke? I'm serious. Is this a joke? The reason Iran and north Korea are such a threat is that their people have zero power, they have nut job dictators that just might be crazy enough and in the case of Iran they are somewhat driven by a religion that states their very purpose in life is to kill infidels (for those keeping score at home, that's us). The Russians had their problems but the fact was they had too many people that would have to ok such an action and they have always had their security and beat interest at heart. They're crazy but not that crazy. Any of the above, however, are fully capable of handing a small nuke to some extremist and sneaking it into the country. No one cares until it's their building of work at the epicenter. There is no reason to seek nukes except to threaten us and our allies and god forbid possibly use them. The fact that both regimes keep pushing to develop them regardless of our warnings should at least make you alarmed. I know several Iranians. The people aren't the enemy, nut job dictator an lunatic religious fanatics are.

No, I do not. I think they desire a change in leadership in Israel. Just like we do in NK, Iran, Venezuela, Libya (this month anyway), and so on and so on. 'Destruction' is again, your word.

But again, we're back to using rhetoric as a basis for killing a whole shit-load of people in another foreign nation.

So setting rhetoric aside.... again, can anyone explain to me what the real threat of Iran is?

[Bailey Guns]

I've done a little research from the article that was C&P'd above re: what Ahmadinejad actually said. I can't find a lot about Arash Norouzi...except he's really popular on sites like the DailyKos and HuffPo.

I guess that explains why I haven't read or heard much about him.

As a matter of fact, every place I found that article published was a far left, anti-war website of one sort or another. Granted, I didn't look at every single result.

So I'm hopeful if you'll forgive me for thinking you're just a little disingenuous and quite hypocritical by posting:

...anyone that actually believes they would, let alone could do anything to the US homeland is simply buying into a massive lobbying effort by AIPAC and other more imperialistic minded lobbies.

It's obvious that you're simply buying into the same lobbying effort from the far left if you can't see the ultimate wish of Ahmadinejad is to destroy the Jews, specifically those in Israel.

You can pick nits all you like...it doesn't change the basic premise of what he said.

[Bailey Guns]

WTF??? Are you nynco reincarnated? Where are all the lefties coming from lately?

[jhood001]

Is this a joke? I'm serious. Is this a joke? The reason Iran and north Korea are such a threat is that their people have zero power, they have nut job dictators that just might be crazy enough and in the case of Iran they are somewhat driven by a religion that states their very purpose in life is to kill infidels (for those keeping score at home, that's us). The Russians had their problems but the fact was they had too many people that would have to ok such an action and they have always had their security and beat interest at heart. They're crazy but not that crazy. Any of the above, however, are fully capable of handing a small nuke to some extremist and sneaking it into the country. No one cares until it's their building of work at the epicenter. There is no reason to seek nukes except to threaten us and our allies and god forbid possibly use them. The fact that both regimes keep pushing to develop them regardless of our warnings should at least make you alarmed. I know several Iranians. The people aren't the enemy, nut job dictator an lunatic religious fanatics are.

So you're presenting the case that that if they get nukes, their leaders are crazy enough to use them on us or our allies through a proxy. And by using a proxy, they can somehow stay out of our crosshairs for retaliation. I can buy into that.

I know several Iranians. The people aren't the enemy, nut job dictator an lunatic religious fanatics are.

Thank you for clarifying that. I think that far too many people fail to see the distinction.

[jhood001]

I've done a little research from the article that was C&P'd above re: what Ahmadinejad actually said. I can't find a lot about Arash Norouzi...except he's really popular on sites like the DailyKos and HuffPo.

I guess that explains why I haven't read or heard much about him.

As a matter of fact, every place I found that article published was a far left, anti-war website of one sort or another. Granted, I didn't look at every single result.

The mis-translation got a brief bit of play in the MSM and that is how it originally caught my intention. Regardless of who the author is, or what is political leanings are, the translation still stands.

So I'm hopeful if you'll forgive me for thinking you're just a little disingenuous and quite hypocritical..

Forgiven!

It's obvious that you're simply buying into the same lobbying effort from the far left if you can't see the ultimate wish of Ahmadinejad is to destroy the Jews, specifically those in Israel.
.

I'm not buying into anything. I just don't think they're out to be jew-slayers. And I tend to question things when the focus of our military ambitions is repeatedly in the same resource rich sandbox when we have just as many other seemingly pressing issues elsewhere in the world.