Barrack Obama recently said, “America is so strong it will always survive.”  But, America wants to “thrive,” not just survive.  Just as a society or the individual human being has a basic instinct to survive and grow, they will  constantly be striving to go further, get more, eliminate competition, and gain control or power over others.

Right now, America and the world is in a precipice of danger where competing interests to “thrive” creates tensions, fear, and a will to survive which creates threats to those around the world and throughout the world.  

There is a rash of protests and violence worldwide.  The effect of the will to survive and the thirst to control begets violent protests and power struggles. To date, rulers have been forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, with civil uprisings erupting in Bahrain and Syria.  Major protests have broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan, spreading like a wildfire across the world, and the United States is barely keeping the lid on Iraq as we face a serious potential for some type of war involving Iran.

Although, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, there are conflicting interpretations of Ahmadinejad’s statement at a seminar on Zionism.  Zionism was a late 18th century sect which believed Palestine had no right to exist because of Biblical claims to those lands.  Ahmadinejad made his speech in Persian, and even the experts had difficulty coming up with an adequate interpretation.  Professor Juan Cole refers to the relations between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Israel as being characterized by contentious speeches and statements, including calls to “eliminate the Zionest regime” (Israel).   Ahmadinejad has questioned the existence of the Holocaust, taken part in a seminar entitled a “World Without Zionism” and has derided Israel on numerous occasions.  He has urged regional powers to cut ties with Israel and halt oil sales. Tensions have risen over Iran’s nuclear program.

Right or wrong – in terms of an accurate interpretation – his statements have been used by America, Israel, and many other countries around the world to engender hatred and fear towards Iran with a view towards regime change.

It is very important that we examine carefully all the accusations against Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Republic and whether they are actually threatening to imminently take action against Israel and attack Tel Aviv with a nuclear weapon as soon as they can get it.

For example, Ahmadinejad is attributed with saying that he was not sure how it was determined that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.  He has said words to the effect that it could be one million, two million, or three million.  However, Ahmadinejad has never denied that there was a mass killing of Jews at the hands of Hitler.

Moreover, the statement attributed to Ahmadinejad allegedly wanting to “wipe Israel off the map” comes from a very non-threatening statement.  Ahmadinejad has also questioned Great Britain’s choice to put Israel where it is today.  Many would argue that it’s not unreasonable to question why Israel was placed where it was, in the middle of enemies against it, when there were other options available at the time.  In 1923, the British divided the “Palestine” portion of the Ottoman Empire into two administrative districts. Jews would be permitted only west of the Jordan River. In effect, the British had “chopped off” 75 percent of the originally proposed Jewish Palestinian homeland to form an Arab Palestinian nation called Trans-Jordan.  Israel was established as a country in 1948.

Recently, it was reported  in the semi-official Iranian news site Fars News, that Iran, Syria, Russia and China are planning the “biggest-ever war games in the Middle East,” although a Syrian official has denied those claims.

However, this week, Iranian military leaders gave details of a new long-range drone and test fired four anti-ship missiles in a prelude to upcoming naval war games planned in an apparent response to U.S.-led warship drills in the Persian Gulf.  The show of Iranian military readiness and its latest tool – a domestically made drone capable of reaching Israel and most of the Middle East – also came as President Ahmadinejad prepared to address the United Nations amid a deepening impasse with the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Speaking with reporters and editors in New York on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying, “Iran has been around for at least 10,000 years. They [the Israelis] have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history. We do believe that they have found themselves at a dead end and they are seeking new adventures in order to escape this dead end. Iran will not be damaged with foreign bombs. We don’t even count them as any part of any equation for Iran. During a historical phase, they [the Israelis] represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated.”  The Iranian President said in June 2008 that Israel “has reached the end of its function and will soon disappear off the geographical domain.”

With all of the tensions in the world right now, especially in the Middle East, the world is in a precarious, dangerous situation where even the slightest misstep could lead most of the world, if not all the world, into a bitter war.  We do not know how many suicide bombers are in America right now and around the world ready to strike should Iran be hit.  We don’t know the extent of Iran’s nuclear weapon readiness.  For all we know, they could already have a nuclear weapon.  We must not show any weakness and be very cautious of our every move as the fate of the world may loom in the balance.

 By D. Lindley Young