Bush Gives Speech Warning Iran; Answers Question About Apocalypse

Posted on March 20, 2006

image from Outsidenormal.com
Wow, and now on the day after, in another Q &A he has to same damn moonbat questions again. Of course its ol’ Helen Thomas! She really should consider retiring.

Today Bush gave a speech mainly focusing on progress in the war in Iraq, and the War on Terror. In the speech he gave a stern warning to Iran. He said he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would “use military might” if necessary to defend Israel. I have given my opinion on this before. Diplomacy should always be the first effort, but I personally think that it will not work in the case of Iran. You can see the entire transcript here.

“The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That’s a threat, a serious threat. It’s a threat to world peace,” the US president said after a speech defending the war in Iraq.

“I made it clear, and I’ll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel,” said Bush, who was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call for the destruction of Israel.

On the atomic dispute, Bush said he hoped “to solve this issue diplomatically” with a “united message” to Tehran from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin as well as Russia “hopefully” and China.

The message would be that “your desire to having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable,” he said.

The speech had many interesting points, but what perked my ears up , and I found very entertaining was in the followup questions when a woman asked if President Bush thought that the War on Terror was a sign of the Apocolypse. Expose the Left has the video.

WOMAN: Thank you for coming to Cleveland, Mr. President, and the city club. My question is that author and former Nixon administration official Kevin Phillips, in his latest book, American Theocracy, discusses what he calls radical Christianity and its growing involvement into government and politics. He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the War in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this: that the War in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse and if not, why not?

This of course elicited chuckles across the room, including the from the President who responded that he hadn’t ever really thought of it that way. While it was quite humerous and deserved the chuckles it got in response, it actually made me wonder how many people do think this way.

One reason that the question stuck in my mind is not because it was so nutty, but because there is a major player in all of this that believes just that. Mr. Ahmadinejad is devoutly motivated by apocalyptic religious beliefs that is driving much of his motivation.

Via Daniel Pipes.

Thanks to the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a new word has entered the political vocabulary: mahdaviat.
Not surprisingly, it’s a technical religious term. Mahdaviat derives from mahdi, Arabic for “rightly-guided one,” a major figure in Islamic eschatology. He is, explains the Encyclopaedia of Islam, “the restorer of religion and justice who will rule before the end of the world.” The concept originated in the earliest years of Islam and, over time, became particularly identified with the Shi‘ite branch. Whereas “it never became an essential part of Sunni religious doctrine,” continues the encyclopedia, “Belief in the coming of the Mahdi of the Family of the Prophet became a central aspect of the faith in radical Shi‘ism,” where it is also known as the return of the Twelfth Imam.

Mahdaviat means “belief in and efforts to prepare for the Mahdi.”

In a fine piece of reporting, Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor shows the centrality of mahdaviat in Mr. Ahmadinejad’s outlook and explores its implications for his policies.

As mayor of Tehran, for example, Mr. Ahmadinejad appears to have in 2004 secretly instructed the city council to build a grand avenue to prepare for the Mahdi. A year later, as president, he allocated $17 million for a blue-tiled mosque closely associated with mahdaviat in Jamkaran, south of the capital. He has instigated the building of a direct Tehran-Jamkaran railroad line. He had a list of his proposed cabinet members dropped into a well adjacent to the Jamkaran mosque, it is said, to benefit from its purported divine connection…

A little more…

But listen carefully to the utterances of Mr Ahmadinejad – recently described by President George W Bush as an “odd man” – and there is another dimension, a religious messianism that, some suspect, is giving the Iranian leader a dangerous sense of divine mission.

In November, the country was startled by a video showing Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September.

When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: “What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow.”

The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president’s belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.

One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad’s government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour – denied by the government but widely believed – is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a “contract” pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.

So, while President Bush says he has never thought about things this way, it seems to be the way those we are trying to have diplomacy with are thinking. This is one major reason that I do not believe Diplomacy will work with Iran. Their leader is a radical that is motivated by Religious zealotry, and pure hatred for the Jews.

And many other sects of Islam believe very similar things.

“Islamic clerics point out that the signs in the heavens are propitious for such an event,” writes Williams. “This year, Muslims will experience solar and lunar eclipses during the holy month. These great heavenly signs, according to Islamic visionary Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Sahib, foretell the coming of the “Mahdi,” the mighty warrior of the Apocalypse, who will defeat the army of Yajuj wa-Majuj (”the infidel unbelievers”), led by the Dabbah or “the Beast.” He will lead the Muslims to great victory and bring forth the Day of Islam, when all of creation falls before the throne of Allah.”

Who do they think this “Mahdi” is?

Millions of Muslims worldwide already regard bin Laden as the “Mahdi,” say Williams and other analysts of Islam.

This is the mindset we are dealing with folks.

Other interesting thoughts at Aaron’s CC who thinks the focus should be more on Israel defending herself.
Wizbang
All Things Conservative
The Political Pitbull
Flopping Aces
Blogs For Bush and here.

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One Response to “Bush Gives Speech Warning Iran; Answers Question About Apocalypse”

jimmy on March 21st, 2006 2:46 pm

“This of course elicited chuckles across the room, including the from the President who responded that he hadn’t ever really thought of it that way. While it was quite humerous and deserved the chuckles it got in response, it actually made me wonder how many people do think this way.”

If you want to ignore all the political commentary, this still answers exactly the question you’re asking. It also, unfortunately, makes the question a whole lot less wonky. When polls are showing that nearly half of Americans think the rapture/Armageddon is coming in their lifetime then asking the President’s opinion about it kind of makes sense.

Just watch the clip, if nothing else: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/21.html#a7601

“This is the mindset we are dealing with folks.”

Unfortunately, more than you seem to acknowledge.