REPORT FROM ISTANBUL

Rice says U.S. not capable of war with Iran right now, as Ahmadinejad flexes his muscles

By Joel C. Rosenberg

 (ISTANBUL, TURKEY, November 21, 2006) -- Wrapping up three weeks in the Middle East, my sense of things is that political, military, business and religious leaders across the Middle East are reluctantly but steadily coming to the conclusion that no nation, including the United States, is ready, willing or able to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear armed power. They increasingly believe that one way or another, a devastating war is coming to the region, perhaps as early as 2007, and they deeply fear the consequences.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is reportedly telling European diplomats that the U.S. is incapable of waging war against Iran at the moment. There are even suggestions out of post-Election Day Washington that the Bush administration is going to ask Iran and Syria for "help" in establishing stability in Iraq. You've got to be kidding me. Tehran and Damascus are the problem, not the solution. That's why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is moving rapidly to demonstrate his rapidly emerging leadership of the Islamic world and declaring that Iran is closer than ever to its nuclear goals. It's also why an Iranian newspaper close to the regime is insisting that the "Great War" of Israel's annihilation may start sooner than most people think.

"The United States lacks sufficient intelligence on Iran's nuclear facilities at this time, which prevents it from initiating a military strike against them, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told European politicians and diplomats with whom she has recently met," reports Haaretz, one of Israel's leading newspapers. "Rice mentioned three reasons why the United States is currently unable to carry out a military operation against Iran: the wish to solve the crisis through peaceful means; concern that a military strike will be ineffective -- that it would fail to completely destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities; and the lack of precise intelligence on the targets' locations."

No wonder Ahmadinejad is acting as though the wind is at his back. He is telling reporters that "the Israeli regime will presently not attack Iran because it faces many problems" and is "weak" and that Iran will soon meet its goal of developing 100,000 centrifuges to enrich nuclear fuel. He is calling for a summit in Tehran this weekend with leaders from Syria and Iraq, knowing full well that there will be no peace in Baghdad so long as Iranian and Syrian-backed jihadists are blowing up innocent Iraqi Muslims and attacking American forces. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has already accepted. Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to soon. Ahmadinejad is also strengthening ties to North Korea, meeting recently with Che Tai Bek, the speaker of North Korea 's parliament. Ahmadinejad has also just met with a top Hamas leader, providing the terrorist government in the West Bank and Gaza with $120 million to buy weapons and ready its security forces to attack Israel.

"It must not be forgotten that the great war is ahead of us, [and it will break out] perhaps tomorrow, or in another few days, or in a few months, or even in a few years," declared an editorial in the Iranian newspaper Resalat, close to the regime. "The nation of Muslims must prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime, and remove this cancerous growth. Like the Imam [Ayatollah] Khomeini said: 'Israel must collapse."

The radical Islamic world is preparing for war. What is the West preparing for?