May 17, 2007:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
declared victory over the United States. Since the U.S. is hardly likely attack
Iran, he can proclaim a victory and look good. That's because he's under
pressure at home. Apparently he's fallen out with the religious extremists as
well as the moderates. He offended his Islamic conservative supporters recently
when he kissed the gloved hand of one of his former teachers, and was captured
on video. The woman's got to be 70 or so, but it didn't matter with the wackos,
and they are calling for Ahmadinejads head. The moderates never liked him,
mainly because Ahmadinejad was known to be close to Islamic scholars who
believed democracy is un-Islamic. So these days, Ahmadinejads best friend is
his publicist, who helps him get photo ops showing the beleaguered president
acting heroic and victorious. It's all for show, but it's all Ahmadinejads got
at the moment.
The downside of this is that, if Ahmadinejad gets
desperate to deal with his domestic enemies, he may authorize a missile attack
on U.S. warships or aircraft, hoping to bring an American counterattack, which
would rally Iranians around him, at least temporarily. If Iranian missiles
should damage American ships or aircraft, it's bonus time, and headline
pictures of Ahmadinejad handing out
medals.