Hawks on the vigil

June 13, 2008

Hawks on the vigil for bait


THERE COULD BE several explanations why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be thumping his nose at the US with provocative/inciting comments in the nuclear stand-off. The latest was his declaration that Western threats and pressure had failed to stop Iran's nuclear programme, which which the US says involves producing atomic weapons.
"With God's help today (the Iranian nation) have gained victory and the enemies cannot do a damned thing," Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday, one day after the US and the European Union said they were ready to impose more sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
Ahmadinejad definitely has an eye on the internal Iranian political front when he asserts that Western military threats and political pressure did not work with Iran and that "the Iranian nation is standing on the nuclear height."
Beyond that, he seems confident that the US would not launch military action against his country in the nuclear dispute because Washington knows that Iran could wage an intense "defensive war" that could be very damaging to the US.
Another explanation is that he believes that the hawkish camp in Washington pushing for military action against Iran has grown weak ahead of November's presidential elections. He also seems to be riding on a conviction that Israel would not opt for unilateral military action against his country.
The Iranian president could have many reasons and arguments of his own to feel himself strong and confident enough to implicitly challenge the US into launching military action. There could be many people who might share those thoughts and thus feel relieved that the region would not be subjected a new military conflict that it could ill afford. However, the thought could not be waived aside that there is an off-chance that the one-track-mind of the Washington hawks could use Iranian rhetoric as all the more reason for push for military action at a time when Republican fortunes seem to be sinking ahead of the presidential elections.
It will be in the interest of Iran and the rest of the Middle East that Iranian leaders refrain from offering the slightest pretext to the hawkish camp in the US to press their "case" for yet another disastrous military conflict in the region.