Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Blames US and Israel for Iraq Kidnappings and Murders

Conspiracy theory flourishes in the Muslim world. In part, this stems from the closed nature of many Islamic, and especially Arab, societies. In part, the failure of the Islamic world to build upon its successes 700 and more years ago accounts for this -- there must be some plan by evil conspirators that keep the faithful from greatness. In part, though, there is a failure of logic, and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proves even educated people can come up with incredible nonsense. He blames the kidnappings and killings of foreigners in Iraq on the US and Israel.

Since Islam forbids the use of intoxicating substances, and because the Ayatollah is a practicing member of that faith, it is unlikely that he was drunk when the state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying, "We seriously suspect the agents Americans and Israelis in conducting such horrendous terrorist moves." During a meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in Iran, the ayatollah also said, that he "cannot believe that the people who kidnap Philippine nationals, for instance, or beheaded US nationals are Muslims."

Clearly, the ayatollah's imagination has not received its due exercise lately. Or perhaps he is suggesting that one must act like a Muslim rather than just say one is a Muslim -- in which case, the number of practicing members of the Islamic faith plunges by millions (for that matter, so would figures for practicing Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Communists). What is certain is that the ayatollah has not reasoned this through.

The Bush administration's "coalition of the willing" is embarrassingly thin. While dozens of countries have enlisted in it, the contribution of most is minimal. The Philippines is a case in point. The contribution from Manila is fifty troops on a humanitarian mission. They are leaving early because the government there caved in to the demands of kidnappers. They departure date move up one month.

If the US and Israel were behind this, their agents succeeded in getting a member of the coalition to leave the alliance. This suggests that either the operatives in Iraq are insane, working against their own interests and objective, or the ayatollah is wrong. Occam's Razor suggests that the Iranian leader is full of crap and does his people no good in telling them untruths that aren't even internally consistent. American actions in Iraq have been inept, but not insane.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


Home