It Isn't Just Ahmadinejad

For all of you who wondered just which Iranian "moderates," if any, were truly aghast at the reckless, apocalyptically anti-Semitic rantings of their new "president," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, you can safely scratch "ruling cleric Ayatollah" (and former "president") Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani off your list. Based on his recent exercise in foreign policy candor, it's clear that Ahmadinejad insanity has the hearty and robust approval of the only people in Iran who truly matter:

[Rafsanjani] declared Friday that the Muslim world could survive a nuclear exchange with Israel - while accomplishing the goal of obliterating the Jewish state.

"[The] application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel - but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world," Hashemi-Rafsanjani said, in quotes picked up by the Iran Press Service.

"If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate," he posited.

Analysts told IPS that Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s speech, delivered at a Tehran prayer service, was the first time that a prominent Islamic leader openly suggested a nuclear attack against Israel.

Is it really that much of a stretch to believe that as soon as the mullahgarchy is able, they will follow through on their publicly stated intention to "wipe Israel off the map"?

The U.S.-led invasion of Iran cannot happen fast enough. Because, as with Saddam Hussein and Iraq, it isn't just the WMD that must be eliminated as a threat, but the regime that would build and use them.

As Michael Ledeen would probably love to say but is contrained from posting, "Faster, [bleep] [bleep] it!"

UPDATE: Patrick Devenny has a lot more on "president" Ahmadinejad and his (literal) worship of the holy H-bomb.