In 1967, the former President of Egypt Jamal Abdul Nasser — standing amid several young and tough soldiers — said the Egyptian army is the strongest in the Middle East and also closed the sea route called Teeran that led to Israel’s Al-Aqaba Port in the Red Sea. The radio station Arab Voice broadcast several nationalistic programs, slogans and songs like “We will throw them in the sea...”

Such official slogans and announcements gave Israel justification to launch a strong attack on all Arab countries surrounding it. The war ended in six days and Israel came out victorious on all battle fronts including Sinai, West Bank and Golan Heights. This war took the world by surprise as a small country managed to confront several countries that threatened it and emerged triumphant.

History is repeating itself. It seems the loud style of propaganda followed by our Arab leaders like Abdul Nasser, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Al-Gaddafi has crossed the (Arab-Persian) Gulf and reached the other side — Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is learning similar noisy policies. He reminds us of the above-mentioned Arab leaders who made empty promises, but took no action. These leaders, however, took actions against their own people and suppressed them.

President Ahmadinejad’s increased rhetoric against the West and Israel comes without justification and provocation. It seems he is trying to mislead his people on the recent disputed presidential results and trying to calm the growing anger of opposition parties by creating tension with other countries. He hopes that the public will support Iran’s spiritual leadership if it is in a state of war.
 

The victims of such a policy will be the people of Iran who will face more sanctions. US Army Command Chief in Middle East General David Petraeus, during an interview with CNN, said “the Iranian President is the best person to help the US in gaining support for imposing sanctions on Tehran. Ahmadinejad’s enthusiastic statements and actions increase support for US policies, as well as other policies.”
We wish Ahmadinejad reads this statement and may Allah, the Almighty, help him in protecting his country from his enemies, instead of helping them.

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