Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

[touchring]

Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel could not do a "damn thing" to stop the Islamic state's nuclear programme.






Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad


"The Zionist regime and its backers cannot do a damn thing to stop Iran's nuclear work," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the central city of Isfahan.


"The Zionist regime (Israel) and its (Western) backers can not do a damn thing to stop Iran's nuclear work," Ahmadinejad told a crowd to chants of "Death to Israel" and "death to America".


http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/80...out-iran-nukes

[snowman111]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

I wonder if the translation is fair in conveying the aggressiveness of the quote. Maybe its more then fair and the quote would be more accurate to include more colorful adjectives.

[don]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

The internal politics of Iran can be safely framed as "unknown" to the average Americano....me included. If Ahmadinejad was an America, what would his economic ideas be associated with :eek:

Iran’s Plan to Phase Out Subsidies Brings Frenzied Debate

By ROBERT F. WORTH

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The outside world may be focused on Iran’s intensifying confrontation with the West over its nuclear program. But at home, Iranians are more concerned with an ambitious and risky new effort to overhaul the country’s troubled economy.

If it goes awry, the plan to phase out Iran’s system of state subsidies, which has existed for decades, could profoundly destabilize the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has aggressively championed change. But it could also help wean Iran from its dependence on foreign gasoline and insulate the economy from new sanctions — which are a strong possibility if Iran continues to defy Western pressure over its nuclear program.

The new plan has been the subject of frenzied debate in shops, blogs and homes across Iran, not to mention the Parliament. Lawmakers across the political spectrum have warned of catastrophic price shocks once subsidies are lifted. Conservatives seem deeply worried about the repercussions, with some saying the plan could lead to a crime wave, or worse. Opposition leaders like Mir Hussein Moussavi have begun hinting that the government’s failure to stem economic pain could become their new rallying cry.

There is widespread agreement that selling everyday goods at far below market prices, which costs the Iranian government an estimated $100 billion a year, makes little economic sense. It encourages overconsumption of gasoline and other products, discourages domestic production and makes Iran more dependent on imports, economists say. The subsidies are also regressive, because the rich pay the same artificially low prices as the poor and consume far more. And they encourage smuggling.

Previous governments tried to eliminate subsidies and build a more dynamic, market-oriented economy, but retreated in the face of popular pressure. President Ahmadinejad — who has long cast himself as a champion of the poor and a scourge of Iran’s privileged elite — has pushed hard on the issue, and last month Parliament gave him full authority to begin paring subsidies this year.

Mr. Ahmadinejad, not known in the past for favoring strong pro-market medicine for Iran’s ailing economy, has presented the measure as a matter of economic justice. He says half of the money the government saves by eliminating subsidies will go to helping poorer Iranians adjust to higher prices.

But the measure also has clear political motives. The changes would hit hardest at the urban middle class, which has tended to favor Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents. And the president clearly hopes to carry out an important policy change that two predecessors, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani — now leaders of the opposition — tried and failed to achieve.



“The reality is that with subsidies reform, you will put a lot of pressure on the population, and Ahmadinejad will be walking a fine line,” said Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council.

Removing price supports would instantly quadruple the price of gasoline, and the follow-on effects could result in similar increases for basic goods and an inflation rate of 60 percent or more, according to the Majlis Research Center, the research arm of Parliament, which is run by a conservative lawmaker, Ahmad Tavakoli.

In addition to the effect on consumers, Iran’s ailing industrial sector could suffer. The head of the chamber of commerce in the northern city of Sari, Mousa Vafayan, recently told the Khabaronline news Web site that 30 percent of factories had already been forced to suspend production because of rising prices, indiscriminate import policies and inflexible interest rates. The government’s own refineries depend on artificially low prices, making it harder to predict the overall effects on the economy when they are removed.

Some lawmakers have called the overhaul a betrayal of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, who promised, “We will build real estate, make water and power free, and make buses free.”

Even those who favor an overhaul tend to distrust Mr. Ahmadinejad’s ability to carry out such vital economic surgery. Some in Parliament insisted at first that the legislative body supervise the process, but last month it gave Mr. Ahmadinejad the leeway he requested to pursue the changes.

The distrust is rooted in experience. In May 2007, the government raised the price of gasoline 25 percent, and a month later it introduced gas rationing. The plan was widely considered an effective one, but it was introduced ineptly, setting off panicky rumors, widespread antigovernment protests and the burning of at least 19 gas stations.

This time, the changes are far more sweeping, and less predictable. There are serious questions about the reliability of the government’s data for a crucial element: identifying those who would receive financial help under the proposed law, said Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Even if poorer Iranians get the help they need, most of the urban middle class — with just enough income to be exempt from assistance — will suffer most from higher prices. That group is already the backbone of the opposition to Mr. Ahmadinejad, Ms. Farhi said, and more economic pain could further alienate them.

Oddly, one thing that might make subsidies reform easier is more sanctions, the tool most widely discussed by Western leaders as a final option to put pressure on Iran if current nuclear negotiations fail. Economic sanctions or a gasoline embargo (assuming one could even be organized) would force down consumption and help the Iranian government’s finances, because there would be no more need to pay for gasoline imports, Mr. Parsi said. That could disguise the pain of subsidies reform, allowing the government to blame the West for any ensuing inflation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/wo...ef=todayspaper

[rj1]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

Sure they can.

[MulaMan]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

This quote has a 100% chance that it is miss-translated to scare the cowards of America into spending more of thier children's future on defense contractors.

The general meaning of the quote is correct.

What right does Israel have - a religious nutcase state with a massive number of nukes - to demand another religious nutcase state that they cannot have nukes as well?

I would prefer America returned to values of freedom and liberty and to lead by example.

Then if these religious retards want to blow each other up, it will benefit the human gene pool.

[nitroglycol]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

Gwynne Dyer thinks he knows what Ahmadinejad is up to:

The next election is probably what is driving policy in Iran, too. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the conservative clerical faction with which he is allied lost most of their political credibility during the rigged elections and the subsequent street protests last spring. They have stabilized the situation by killing dozens of protesters in the streets and jailing and torturing hundreds of others, but that is only a temporary solution.

The only thing that could rebuild popular support for the present government is a foreign attack on Iran. That can only come from the United States and/or Israel, and what would motivate them to do such a thing? Well, we could announce that we are going to build ten new uranium enrichment plants.

Think about it. Why would Iran ANNOUNCE such a thing in advance? Hitherto, it has always kept what it is doing in the nuclear domain secret as long as possible. Besides, it simply lacks the resources to build 10 uranium enrichment plants at the same time, or even five.

Moreover, it knows that this announcement will panic those in Israel and the United States who obsess about Iranian nuclear weapons. So what’s the point?

The point of the provocation is to get the Americans and/or the Israelis to attack Iran. The country is too big for them to invade, so the attacks would just be air strikes. Whatever they destroyed could be repaired after they stop—and they would stop. Iran can shut the Gulf to all tanker traffic by using sea-skimming missiles, and the world cannot do without Gulf oil for more than a few weeks.

If the U.S. or Israel attacks Iran, Ahmadinejad and the clerics will be in power for another 10 years. That’s worth putting up with a few bombs for. The decision has been made in Tehran. Now Washington has to decide if it is going to fall for the provocation

Source.

[touchring]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

Gwynne Dyer thinks he knows what Ahmadinejad is up to:

Source.

I think Gwynne Dyer has overestimated the power of the electorate in Iran. The president of Iran is appointed by the clerics, and like elections in countries where a single party or group of people rules, the election is a show.

With or without war, regardless of who is the president, the clerics will be in power for another 30 years.

As for nuclear research, what would a country with the world's 2nd largest gas and 3rd largest oil reserves do with nuclear power?

The answer is political influence. I don't see the chance of nuclear war unless the terrorists (real fanatics) get hold of them.

Once Iran has nukes, the US will have to choose between them or Israel. More likely the US will choose to support and appease Iran when that happens.

[touchring]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

I think Gwynne Dyer has overestimated the power of the electorate in Iran. The president of Iran is appointed by the clerics, and like elections in countries where a single party or group of people rules, the election is a show.

With or without war, regardless of who is the president, the clerics will be in power for another 30 years.

As for nuclear research, what would a country with the world's 2nd largest gas and 3rd largest oil reserves do with nuclear power?

The answer is political influence. I don't see the chance of nuclear war unless the terrorists (real fanatics) get hold of them.

Once Iran has nukes, the US will have to choose between them or Israel. More likely the US will choose to support and appease Iran when that happens.

It appears that Ahmadinejad is right. And the US is starting to appear to support Iran as I have predicted 3 years ago. Israel now risks becoming the enemy of the USA instead.

If I were Israel, I will drop all demands for Iran to stop their nuclear program because Iran is GOING to get the nukes in any case since it will be futile.

Let the Iranians get their nukes, let the Saudis have them also, and eventually let Al Qaeda get hold of nukes from their Wahabi supporters....

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

It's at times like these I wish I could read Farsi/Dari for myself.

I would also want to look at the media channels from which all of these statements are coming......such as differences in content and tone for domestic and international/foreign consumption.

In times like these the opportunity for things being lost(intentionally/unintentionally) in translation can have a magnified effect.

[astonas]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

It's at times like these I wish I could read Farsi/Dari for myself.

I would also want to look at the media channels from which all of these statements are coming......such as differences in content and tone for domestic and international/foreign consumption.

In times like these the opportunity for things being lost(intentionally/unintentionally) in translation can have a magnified effect.

+1. Language remains the greatest cultural divider. It's one of the pain reasons, in my opinion, for pessimism about not just the MENA, but Europe.

[Raz]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

This quote has a 100% chance that it is miss-translated to scare the cowards of America into spending more of thier children's future on defense contractors.

The general meaning of the quote is correct.

What right does Israel have - a religious nutcase state with a massive number of nukes - to demand another religious nutcase state that they cannot have nukes as well?

I would prefer America returned to values of freedom and liberty and to lead by example.

Then if these religious retards want to blow each other up, it will benefit the human gene pool.

Israel is definitely NOT a religious state - 60%+ of the Israeli Jewish population is non-traditional or agnostic/atheist.
No more than 20% of Israeli Jews can be called religious in the traditional sense.

As for a "massive number of nukes" - they have about 75 - 200 fission warheads. The United States has more than 8,000 fusion warheads (thermonuclear).

[vt]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

Don't count out Israel yet:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9545597/Armada-of-British-naval-power-massing-in-the-Gulf-as-Israel-prepares-an-Iran-strike.html

[touchring]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

It's at times like these I wish I could read Farsi/Dari for myself.

I would also want to look at the media channels from which all of these statements are coming......such as differences in content and tone for domestic and international/foreign consumption.

In times like these the opportunity for things being lost(intentionally/unintentionally) in translation can have a magnified effect.

Well, does it matter? Israel can't do a damn thing about Iran nukes. This is the FACT.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Ahmadinejad: Israel can't do a 'damn thing' about Iran nukes

Well, does it matter? Israel can't do a damn thing about Iran nukes. This is the FACT.

Of course it matters.

Having the opportunity to develop a perspective at lower risk of being intentionally shaped on my behalf will always matter.

And while for all intents and purposes you are correct that Israel is in a poor position to "do a damn thing about Iran nukes" without things going REALLY pear-shaped, it's worth reminding folks about historical close calls such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Able Archer 83, and the Norwegian Rocket Incident.

The US and Soviet Union had decades to develop robust crisis communication systems, as well as redundant nuclear command and control systems. We were fortunate to survive some close calls.

Most already forget, or never even knew, about US investment in Pakistan's nuclear command and control systems the genuine fear was that considerable.

While the time/space issues facing Israel/Iran are not the same as Pakistan/India(some easier, some far worse) it would be worth considering the fact that while the US/SU avoided a nuclear war, there is nt guarantee the same will be avoided between two of the growing list of nuclear armed adversaries.

The FACT is that there IS something Israel could do about it.

But the LIKELIHOOD of Israeli action being in the immediate short-term seems to have gone down a bit.

"Never Again" will become top of mind again someday.