From: Michael Freund To: Justin Raimondo Subject: Tantrums and Mudslinging
Justin,
What a shame.
I was looking forward to seeing how you dealt with the substantive points that I raised in my last message. But you couldn’t hack it. Instead of rolling up your intellectual sleeves and going about this dialogue in a reasoned and respectful manner, you attempted to drag it down to the level of a schoolyard brawl. You launched into an angry tirade of personal attacks and extraneous taunts, demonstrating the truth of the adage that “those who cannot argue inevitably choose to vilify.”
Justin, your temper tantrum and verbal mudslinging cannot obscure the fact that Iran remains a threat to
Israel, the United States, and the entire Western world. Tehran’s illicit rush to acquire nuclear weapons has raised concerns across the political spectrum in both Europe and the United States. Ignoring this danger will not make it go away.
I showed that three of your key assertions were entirely baseless and without merit. I brought you facts, quotes, and proofs, and challenged you to rebut them. Here are several other questions for you to consider, and once again I challenge you to address them head-on:
If Iran had nothing to hide about its nuclear program, then why did they conceal its existence from the international community for over 18 years? And if their program was intended solely for peaceful purposes, then why have they repeatedly interfered with inspections and imposed restrictions on access to their nuclear sites?
If Iran does not wish to threaten the U.S., then why are they racing to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach North America? If their sole aim were to destroy Israel, then why is Iran investing so much time, effort, and money to develop warhead delivery systems that can reach Washington and New York?
If Iran has no devious intentions vis-à-vis Israel and the U.S., then why does Tehran provide training, guidance, and financial support to terrorist groups committed to their destruction and defeat, such as Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, and the Iraqi insurgency?
If Iranian leaders do not wish to destroy Israel and the U.S., then why have they consistently and repeatedly said in public that that is precisely what they wish to do?
In between the name-calling and ad-hominem attacks in your previous reply, you challenged the veracity of quotes in which senior Iranian officials call for the destruction of Israel and the United State. You seem to think the lack of hyperlinks in my e-mail somehow casts doubt on the authenticity of these statements.
Well, if it is hyperlinks you want, here are a few you might find enlightening. First, this Associated Press story from August 3, 2006, headlined, “Ahmadinejad: Destroy Israel, End Crisis,” which quotes the Iranian president at length on his desire to eliminate the Jewish state. I suggest that you also read the New York Times report here, in which Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
In addition, I refer you to compilations of quotes from the Iranian leader, which can be found here and here. A simple Google search reveals many more such results. All of this demonstrates conclusively that Iran’s top political and spiritual leaders have genocidal intentions—not only towards Jews, but towards Americans as well.
The logic behind your opposition to bombing Iran has boiled down to this: We do not need to fear Iran because, well, we just don’t.
Now, that kind of reasoning (if one can call it that) might be adequate when you are discussing, say, the merits of Barry Bonds’ record-breaking homerun totals over a couple of beers. But when it comes to addressing issues of grave international significance, this sort of “logic” is neither compelling nor useful.
The bottom line is this: the Iranian leadership openly threatens Israel and the United States with destruction, and they are investing heavily in the tools necessary to carry this out. How we choose to respond to this threat will determine not just the fate of our families, our children, and our societies, but of our very way of life.
Justin, you and others prefer to hide your heads in the sand and ignore this uncomfortable reality. But for those of us who take issues of life and death just a wee bit more seriously, there is no escaping the unavoidable and necessary conclusion: Bomb Iran now, before it is too late.