Interesting Times

I’ve heard that “May you live in interesting times,” is an ancient Chinese curse. Whatever the true origin of the phrase, we are living in interesting times, to be sure.



The “elections” in Iran last week resulted in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his radical anti-Israel views and his quest for atomic weaponry, retaining power. It seems fairly obvious that the election’s outcome was controlled by the real power in Iran, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, who shares Ahmadinejad’s radical views.

Joel Rosenberg, who watches these things very carefully, says that the result of the Iranian elections “means a major, cataclysmic war is the most likely outcome…” (Read his views here.)

Is Rosenberg right? Let’s see: 1) Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction; 2) Ahmadinejad is seeking to make Iran a nuclear power, and the only response likely from “the International Community” are yet more “harshly worded letters”; 3) The United States, under our current leadership, is likely to just leave Israel out there alone, twisting in the wind. Hmm, it doesn’t look very good, does it? Interesting times, indeed.

And, if Iran does go after Israel, there are all those American troops, in Iraq, right between the two. If the balloon goes up, we won’t be able to stay out of this one, no matter what our president and his party may desire.

I, for one, will be watching developments very closely indeed.