RACING TO ARMAGEDDON

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-35 injured in western Iran quake. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Coldest March 6 on record looked a lot like spring. 5-Muslims enthusiastic, Christians apathetic about end times. 6-German clerics enrage Yad Vashem. 7-Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in 'Jesus Tomb' as nonsense. 8-Deadly Antibiotic-Resisting Bacteria Has Killed Dozens. 9-THE ID PEOPLE. 10-Racing Toward Armageddon.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Thurs Mar 8 12:11 AM EDT

MAR 07,07
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

MAR 06,07
MAP 4.8 WESTERN IRAN
MAP 5.4 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 3.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.2 COLOMBIA
MAP 4.9 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 TONGA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.3 MONA PASSAGE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MAP 2.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 6.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA

35 injured in western Iran quake Wed Mar 7, 3:16 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) - Thirty-five people were injured when an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck the city of Daroud in western Iran before dawn on Wednesday, local officals said.

Most of the injuries were caused by shards of glass from broken windows or when dazed victims were trampled in the aftermath of the quake at 2:00 am (2230 GMT), city governor Nasrollah Rashno said, according to the IRNA agency.Rashno added that most of the casualties were only lightly injured.The earthquake in Lorestan province comes just under a year after a much stronger quake of 6.0 magnitude struck the same area, killing around 70 people and leaving thousands homeless.Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of them devastating.The worst quake in recent times hit Bam in the south of the country in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of the city's population, and destroying the city's ancient mud-built citadel.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Wed Mar 7, 7:24 AM ET

Snow flurries were falling early Wednesday across the eastern Great Lakes, southern New England, New York and the northern mid-Atlantic region. High pressure was to produce mostly sunny and dry conditions throughout the Tennessee Valley, much of the southern mid-Atlantic region, the Southeast and Florida.Frigid weather was expected to continue in the Upper Midwest and Northeast, while temperatures in the 60s and 70s were expected in the Southeast.A Pacific cold front was predicted to push inland across the West Coast, bringing some rain and high elevation snow to the Northwest and northern California.Fair skies and dry conditions were expected throughout the Mississippi Valley, the Plains region, the Rockies, the Great Basin, the Desert Southwest and southern California.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Tuesday ranged from a low of minus-30 degrees at Raco, Mich., to a high of 90 degrees at Santa Ana, Calif.

Record weather deceived
Coldest March 6 on record looked a lot like spring
BRIAN WHITWHAM - DAVE CARTER, GUELPH MERCURY GUELPH (Mar 7, 2007)

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the roads looked clear and the birds were chirping, yet about 90 schools across the Guelph region were closed.Don Drone, director of education for the Wellington Catholic District School Board, is the first to admit things weren't quite as they seemed yesterday.It's days like (yesterday) that what you see isn't what you get with the weather, Drone said.

It can be deceiving.Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said yesterday might have looked like a welcoming pre-spring day through the window, but it was actually the coldest March 6 on record for Guelph.The projected high for the day was -13 C and the temperature was still at -16 C early in the afternoon.Phillips said the previous coldest recorded March 6 was in 1901, with a projected high of about -10 C.

The only thing is that it's not quite as brutal as it was this morning because we're into calmer winds, Phillips said yesterday afternoon. But it could still freeze flesh in a matter of minutes.Several roads were closed in rural areas of Dufferin and Wellington counties early yesterday morning because of icy conditions.The frigid temperatures and the wind chill are the main reasons the public and Catholic school boards decided early yesterday to close local schools.Martha Rogers, director of education for the Upper Grand District School Board, said it's been about five years since the schools were closed because of the cold alone.

It's not something we do lightly, she said. Parents have to go to work and they reasonably expect that their children will go to school.Rogers said the boards worked together to create a policy on temperatures and wind chill about a decade ago. She said it was decided that when the wind chill hits -35 C, schools should be closed so that students don't have to walk.Rogers said the wind chill had hit -34 C yesterday around 5 a.m. and it was expected to drop further when she and Drone decided to close the schools.

She said some students have to walk lengthy distances to get to class. Grade 7s and 8s for example, walk up to 4.8 kilometres before becoming eligible to ride the school bus.I can't in good conscience condone that as something that's safe (in the cold), Rogers said. Sometimes people will agree with my call and sometimes people will disagree with my call.But it's based on the children's well-being.Drone said it's always difficult to make decisions based on weather predictions.e go with the information we have early in the morning, Drone said. If we can minimize the danger, then it's worth it.Drone said yesterday they did expect schools to be open today, but that decision was to be made this morning.

Phillips said several municipalities across Ontario set new records for the coldest March 6. Environment Canada issued a warning early yesterday morning about the wind chill, predicting it would reach -35 C in this part of the province.But he said Guelph was lucky the wind speeds slowed from about 30 km/h at 2 a.m. to about 9 km/h by 4 a.m., when the mercury dropped to its lowest point, -22 C. That took some of the bite off the wind chill, he said.Environment Canada expects a high of -5 C today and Phillips said it's expected to warm up through the week.He said the good news is Saturday's forecast predicts spring-like conditions with rain and a high of 3 C.By Saturday, spring should be here, Phillips said. I'm not saying this is winter's last hurrah. I wouldn't put the snow shovel away yet, but the good news is that winter is duking it out with spring.And in the long run, spring always wins.bwhitwham@guelphmercury.com

Muslims enthusiastic, Christians apathetic about end times
Chad Groening OneNewsNow.com February 27, 2007

Pro-Israel ministry leader Jan Markell says she is frustrated that many Christians are apathetic about the idea of the glorious return of Jesus Christ while Muslims, for the most part, demonstrate intense passion and fervor about their belief in the imminent return of their Islamic messiah.

She believes seeker-sensitive churches are partly to blame.Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, says Muslims around the world, particularly in Iran and Iraq, are causing death, violence, and destruction in attempts to hasten the return of the one they regard as the ultimate savior of mankind, their so-called twelfth Imam or Mahdi. When I look at the enthusiasm and, if I can use the word, barbarism that some of the Islamic people are perpetrating for this Islamic Mahdi to return, they are absolutely adamant that there's a great day coming, the ministry spokeswoman says, and that the Islamic messiah ... is going to transform the Earth. Unfortunately, she notes, she does not see the same kind of enthusiasm among Christians for the prophesied return of the biblical Messiah.

Part of this is because the church has dropped this issue [of Jesus Christ's Second Coming] so that the church can be more seeker sensitive and not be divisive, Markell asserts. The contemporary church has set this topic aside, she says, and therefore, the congregation isn't by nature apathetic -- they don't know anything.Muslims, on the other hand, are going to great lengths, the Olive Tree Ministries spokeswoman points out, to try to hasten what they believe will be the return of their Mahdi, according to certain Islamic prophetic traditions. They believe it with all of their heart, she says, and I would just like to see Christians getting that excited for the return of the true Messiah.

Markell says even though Titus 2:13 talks about the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus, most Christians today are not focused on that event. Apparently, she says, many believers think earthly business comes first for now.

German clerics enrage Yad Vashem
bt Etgar Lefkovits March 6, 2007 JPOST

Yad Vashem lambasted a group of visiting German Catholic bishops on Tuesday for comparing the situation in the Palestinian territories with the Holocaust, calling the contentious remarks political exploitation and demagoguery and a gross distortion of history. The sharp condemnation by Israel's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority followed reports in the German press of comparisons made by senior German bishops between conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II and current conditions in Ramallah, resulting from Israeli military activities. The remarks illustrate a woeful ignorance of history and a distorted sense of perspective, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev wrote in a Tuesday letter to Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who led the Conference of German Catholic Bishops on a 10-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The group visited Yad Vashem last Friday.

Making analogies between the mass murder that was part of the plan to annihilate the Jewish people, carried out under the German Nazi regime and the current situation in Ramallah, and using words whose rhetorical power is immense, does nothing to help us understand what is going on today; such words only further poison the atmosphere making it that much more difficult to find workable solutions to deeply entrenched and thorny problems. These unwarranted and offensive comparisons serve to diminish the memory of victims of the Holocaust and mollify the consciences of those who seek to lessen European responsibility for Nazi crimes, he wrote. The German bishops' bitterly contentious comparisons stunned Yad Vashem officials, who had hosted the senior Christian leaders just hours earlier. In the morning, we saw the pictures at Yad Vashem of the inhumane Warsaw Ghetto, while in the evening we were in the Ramallah Ghetto, Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke reportedly said.

Another visiting bishop, Joachim Meisner, who serves as the Archbishop of Cologne, reportedly described the conditions at Israeli security checkpoints as something done to animals, not to humans.In his letter, the head of Yad Vashem noted the words of of the late Pope John Paul II when he visited Yad Vashem in which he said no one can diminish the scale of the Holocaust. I urge all people to keep the Holocaust out of cheap political exploitation and demagoguery, Shalev wrote.

Such use of the Holocaust misrepresents both today's reality as well as that of the Shoah; it distorts historical facts and context, and trivializes the memory of the Holocaust's victims and events, he concluded.

Answers in Genesis founder labels claims in 'Jesus Tomb' as nonsense
Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com March 6, 2007

The president of Answers in Genesis says there's no new information in a documentary that chronicles claims by archaeologists that they have found a coffin containing the bones of Christ. Ken Ham says the recent documentary is the latest example in a string of increasing attacks on the Bible.

The documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, premiered this weekend on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, the documentary claims forensic tests support the view that six of the ten ossuaries, or coffins, found in the tomb in 1980 bear inscriptions linking them to Jesus.But Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, says the claims are nonsense.

Anyone can take a documentary and take certain evidence they find and then, because of their own anti-Christian bias or whatever it is, put their own particular interpretation on that and make it sound so good in a movie, he says.Ham says people have tried unsuccessfully to debunk the Bible for thousands of years, and notes there has been an increase in attacks of the Bible from the secular world. But he points out that eyewitness accounts from God's Word support the fact that Christ rose from the dead. When it comes to interpreting the past -- of course you weren't there in the past; you weren't there to see the things happen -- that's why it's so important to trust God's Word, who's always been there, who knows everything, who tells us what happened in the past to help us correctly interpret the present, says Ham. And of course we know from scripture that you don't find the bones of Jesus because he was raised from the dead -- and it's an empty tomb.Ham points out that Christians must be ready to give answers to such claims. Christians need to be equipped; they need to be ready for these things.

Deadly Antibiotic-Resisting Bacteria Has Killed Dozens
by Hana Levi Julian MAR 07,07

A deadly antibiotic-resistance strain of bacterium has infected hundreds and killed dozens of patients in hospitals across Israel being treated for other illnesses. The story first broke Tuesday night on the Channel 1 Mabat TV program.

The bacterium is not new to Israeli hospitals, although this latest strain, Klebsiella pneumoniae, appeared in recent months. The bacterium attacks hospital patients being treated for other illnesses, and has infected mostly those who have been hospitalized for over 25 days.Several new strains have appeared in recent years that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics have been entirely ineffective in treating this most recent strain, which has spread rapidly in hospitals around the country. Normally found in the mouth, skin and intestines, Klebsiella pneumoniae is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The germ often causes hospital-acquired urinary tract and burn wound infections, but is also known to cause bacterial pneumonia. Its identification is complicated and can involve a large number of tests.

Patients with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, are particularly at risk of contracting an illness associated with the bacterium, which is found in contaminated medical instruments and in feces.

Health Ministry officials have not released census figures on the epidemic, but according to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Galia Rahav, 130 patients at Sheba Hospital have become infected and of those, a third have died. All were hospitalized for other conditions. Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri (Pensioners) said that the problem has been known for several weeks, but was not publicized in order not to cause public panic.

Director-General Professor Avi Yisraeli told reporters that a team of medical experts has been set up to address the situation. This is not the first instance of a bacteria evolving into a strain that does not respond to antibiotics, said Yisraeli Tuesday night. It is happening abroad as well, he said, noting that the phenomenon is happening more frequently due to the overuse of antibiotics in industrialized nations. Only very ill patients in hospitals are at risk, stressed Yisraeli. The group will be led by epidemiologist Professor Yehuda Carmeli, of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. One of the main purposes of the team will be to identify and isolate patients who have become infected with the bacterium.

THE ID PEOPLE by Professor Paul Eidelberg MAR 07,07

Who and what are the ID People? No, they're not libidinous disciples of Sigmund Freud. Truth to tell, some are prime ministers. Some are foreign ministers. Others are party leaders. More than a few are academics and journalists. They are legion. And whatever their differences or diverse nationalities, they all have one thing in common: they are Intellectually Dishonest. What does their dishonesty consist in? Simply this: They know you can't make peace with people committed to your destruction.

They know you can't make peace with people who do not recognize the sanctity of human life. They know you can't make peace with people conditioned by a culture of hatred -- a hatred so deep as to induce these people to use their own children as human bombs. But this means that those prime ministers and foreign ministers and party leaders who would have Israel engage in peace negotiations with the Arab Palestinian are not merely ignorant or obtuse: no, they are Intellectually Dishonest. Their dishonesty has so warped their minds that some almost believe that peace is possible between the Jews of Israel and their Muslim enemies.

There is no point in telling these ID People about the murderous verses in the Quran or in the Hadith the recorded or reported sayings and deeds of Muhammad. It's futile to cite Robert Spencer or Bat Ye'or or Nonie Darwish or Brigitte Gabriel or Ibn Warraq or Winston Churchill and others who have written about Islam's barbaric character.

The brilliant American Lee Harris he has been called the philosopher of 9/11 agrees with Syrian-born psychiatrist Wafa Sultan, that Islam is the enemy of civilization. To expect genuine peace with the followers of a bellicose religion is to sacrifice one's intellect, that is, to succumb to Intellectual Dishonesty. (And to make much in wartime of Muslim moderates when mainstream Islam is anything but moderate is also indicative of Intellectual Dishonesty.) The Middle East expert Daniel Pipes recently admitted that Israel's peace treaty with Egypt has proven to be a failure, that the Egyptians are committed to Israel's annihilation no less than Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Dr. Pipes has also warned that it would take at least two generations to undo the murderous hatred of Jews which Palestinian leaders have instilled in their children. Dr. Pipes, a man of wisdom and courage, knows that one would have to sear into Arab consciousness a hatred of war, which could only occur as a result of their being devastated.

Ariel Sharon's protégé Ehud Olmert, knows this, and so does Benjamin Netanyahu. The trouble is they are Intellectually Dishonest and it's time they were called such. I would say the same of Condoleezza Rice.

Lady, you're not a fool; you're not deceived by Mahmoud Abbas and the hype about his being a moderate. You're just Intellectually Dishonest. This is no time for politeness. It's time to call a spade a spade. It's time to say that the Big Lie of the Middle East is the word peace. It's time to say that all those who talk about making peace between Israel and the Palestinians are Intellectually Dishonest, be they politicians, journalists, or even rabbis. And if you want to add that they are moral cowards, go to it! We have to transcend the misleading and mendacious language of public discourse. Stop calling so-and-so politically correct when he or she is simply Intellectually Dishonest. When Olmert and others advocate a Palestinian state, call him Intellectually Dishonest, because the rival clans that compose the Palestinians don't want a state; they want to destroy the Jewish state.

When Bibi calls for negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of reciprocity, a term foreign to the Arab-Islamic mind, call him Intellectually Dishonest. Intellectual Dishonesty is so rampant among politicians, academics, and journalists that it is undermining Western civilization. Western civilization has two basic sources: the Bible of Israel (on which Christianity is based) and classical Greek
philosophy.

If there is one thing these two basic sources have in common, it is this: Truth. Without truth there can be no trust. Without trust there can be no civilization. If it be objected that politeness is a necessary aspect of civilization, I answer: if politeness supplants truth, then it's nothing more than hypocrisy another form of Intellectual Dishonesty. It follows that Islam, which, by the way, makes a virtue of mendacity, is not the only enemy of civilization. No less dangerous is the enemy within: the Intellectual Dishonesty rampant among our opinion-makers and policy-makers. These ID People must be exposed. They are undermining the respect for truth which animates civilization: its rationality, its dignity, and its progress. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net

Spring 2007 Racing Toward Armageddon (REFORM JUDAISM)

Shabtai Shavit served as director of Mossad (the equivalent of the CIA in Israel) from 1989 to 1996. A former member of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Commission on Future Preparedness on Counterterrorism (for the New York Fire Department), he is a founding member of Friends of Israeli Firefighters and director of EMG Israel, a company which is working on a natural gas project from Egypt to Israel. He was interviewed by Reform Judaism editor Aron Hirt-Manheimer and managing editor Joy Weinberg.

What do you see as the main threat facing Israel today?
Iran.

What makes Iran so great a threat?
Iran is a very big country—in size, population, and natural resources, mainly oil and gas, which this year will bring in $60 billion. Iran’s national reserve is about $65 billion, about 2.5 times its national debt, and as long as world oil prices remain high, Iran will have as much money as it needs.

As it needs for what?
To explain, I have to go back to the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq fought an almost ten-year war, eventually won by Iraq. The Iranians have learned the lessons of that war. Their defeat, they concluded, was due to Iraq’s use of long-range rockets as well as chemical weapons introduced during the last stages of the war. As a result, Iran decided to shore up its military operations through chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry, and the capabilities to launch them against its enemies.

To launch against whom in particular?
In the early 1990s, when Iran began to develop and procure non-conventional weapons, it was widely assumed that they would be used as deterrents in a future conflict with Iraq. But as director of Mossad, I was very skeptical about this assessment. Following the research and development pattern of the Iranian arms industry, we discovered that the surface-to-surface missiles they were starting to develop had a range of 1,300 kilometers, which was much longer than what’s needed to hit Iraq from
the western side of Iran. Yet, that range was enough to cover all of Israel. We concluded that their objective was not to deter Iraq—but to build offensive capabilities against Israel.

Has Iran developed these weapons and missile capabilities?
Iran already has chemical and biological warheads for their surface-to-surface missiles, with launching capabilities of 3,500 kilometers, which could reach Russia and parts of Europe. They’re developing a ballistic missile with launching capabilities of 5,000 kilometers, capable of striking the U.S. They’re also investing heavily in the eventual building of submarines with missile-launching capabilities. And they are rapidly pursuing development of nuclear weapons to be launched by air, ground, and sea.

From whom are they acquiring technical assistance to proceed at such a fast pace ?
Over the years they have received nuclear assistance from Pakistan, surface-to-surface missile technology from North Korea and China, and technical support from Russian scientists—especially right after the demise of the Soviet Union, a chaotic time when Russian scientists and other technological experts couldn’t find work and make a living, and so they offered their expertise to anyone willing to pay for it. And the Iranians were ready to pay very handsome salaries for these services. Russia is still a main supplier of armaments and nuclear technologies to Iran.

You’ve been talking about capabilities; what about Iran’s intentions?
It’s a good question. As an intelligence officer, I always tried to answer two questions:

what are an enemy’s capabilities and what are its intentions?
Determining intentions is usually far more difficult than ascertaining capabilities—it’s more of an art. Let’s take Syria, for example. It is very hard to penetrate into Bashar al-Assad’s mind, to know his intentions. However, with the Iranians there are no secrets. They broadcast their intentions, telling everybody their main objective is to erase Israel from the map, destroy the Israeli people—and not only the Israeli people, but all infidels.

Who else do they want to destroy?
That answer is rooted in Iranian religious beliefs that date back to medieval times. There are many tenets—I’ll discuss the main ones. First, according to Shiite writings, Iran’s spiritual leader, who at this time is the Ayatollah Khamenei, is believed to be a reincarnation of God Almighty, infallible and incapable of making mistakes. Second, the Iranian religious leadership is authorized by God Almighty to do whatever is necessary—cheat, deceive, etc.—in order to serve the purpose of the end game; we’ll get to that in a moment. Third, there is to be no religious coexistence in the world. The Iranian people are therefore instructed by God Almighty through their supreme leader to fight the infidels—to either eliminate them or convert them to true Islam.

Their ultimate goal is to establish a global or world Muslim caliphate. And according to their ideology, which is described in many of their religious texts, the twelfth imam—the Mahdi who disappeared in the 12th century—must reappear. In order for this to happen there must be a martyrdom event on the scale of biblical proportions, an Armageddon. All devout Muslims are instructed to be proactive to
hasten the reappearance of the Mahdi. Now, if you stretch this logic further, one must conclude that Iran’s leaders are intent on perpetrating such an Armageddon. To do so, Iran would need precisely the kinds of weapons of mass destruction it is acquiring, including nuclear warheads.

How widely accepted is this ideology?
These are widely accepted, deep-rooted beliefs among devoted Shiites in Iran.

Does the Israeli leadership share your analysis?
They do.

How, then, will Israel stop Iran from carrying out its intention?
Here I am talking only for myself; I stopped working for the government ten years ago. I personally believe Israel should exhaust all political options before deciding to use force, an assessment I believe is shared by the Israeli government and the American administration. This remains a challenge. The politically correct Europeans are characteristically on the fence; unfortunately, they have to learn
lessons the hard way. China, which relies on Iran as its main source of energy, is very cynical in its strategic decisions and therefore unlikely to join an international coalition against the Iranians in the foreseeable future. Russia, which has had an adversarial relationship with Iran, including a few wars over some 700 years, has changed course and become Iran’s prime benefactor, supplying weapons
systems, building Iran a nuclear reactor, allowing Russian scientists to work in Iran, and more.

How do you account for this shift?
In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union’s demise, the Russians were badly in need of money, so it made sense for them to support Iran’s development of nuclear weaponry for a price. But today, with Russia sitting on a huge pile of oil revenues, money can no longer be the reason for the Kremlin’s continuing assistance. What is the reason? The only answer I can come up with is that Russia will do just about anything to regain its status as a superpower, and to do so Russia will oppose the U.S. at every turn. If Washington considers Iran an enemy, then Moscow will consider Iran a friend.

One day, however, the Kremlin will wake up to the realization that a nuclear Iran is not in Russia’s national-security interest.

What can be done to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions?
The Western democracies have tried everything possible—sanctions, threats, temptations, promises, you name it—to convince the Iranians to cease enriching uranium. But Iran won’t budge.

Still, there is some time before Iran reaches the point of no return—how much time is a matter of debate. One possibility is an American military strike. Another is a change of regime through a kind of implosion from within—a revolution by Western-educated Iranians, of which there are many, who are fed up with being kept in a straitjacket by the religious leadership of their country. This may be wishful thinking, but it cannot be ruled out.

If the Americans don’t unleash force and there is no change of regime from within, then the Israeli government will have to face a very hard decision.

If Israel couldn’t defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon, how could she take on a powerhouse like Iran?
It’s a wild exaggeration that Hezbollah humbled the IDF—a perception fed by the media in Israel and internationally. The reality is very different.

How so?
First, you have to reframe your perception—this war was different because in the past Israel won its wars decisively, and here the war went on for six weeks without a clear-cut victory. Still, I believe Israel won this war. The situation today is much better than it was before the war. We no longer have Hezbollah sitting on the border; instead, the Lebanese sovereign military and U.N. forces are there. A new U.N. resolution 1701 calls for disarming Hezbollah—it hasn’t been delivered, but it still strengthens Israel politically. And if you were to ask me what the chances are that Hezbollah will shoot new rockets at us tomorrow, my answer would be nil.

Would Iran’s leaders agree with your analysis?
Tehran is not happy about what happened in Lebanon because Iran built Hezbollah as a tool to use when it suits the Iranians’ interests and timetable, and then Hezbollah messed it up. In fact, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasralla publicly admitted that had he known what the Israeli reaction would be, he wouldn’t have approved the attack that launched this war.

At Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in NYC, you said, It takes a lifetime of experience to be an optimist, but I believe the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.

what makes you think the West will prevail?
To answer, I will mix realism with a bit of philosophy. Speaking philosophically, I just don’t believe that the radical Islamists, whatever their brand—Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Iranian ayatollahs—will win.

Let me try to explain with a short story. I did my master’s degree at Harvard University, where I took a class on the Cold War and the relationship between the Soviets and the Americans. Back in the fifties, all the innovative research and development was being done by the Americans, while the Russians took shortcuts—they stole, bought, cheated. The American response was to adopt a strategy where at all times the U.S. would be a step and a half ahead of the Russians. So even when the Russians succeeded in acquiring technology through espionage, America was still half a step ahead of them.

Today the adversaries are different, but the same principle applies. If you compare the translation of Islamic thinking into Western languages with Western writings translated into Arabic during the last 500 years, it’s at the rate of 100 to one. Islam has never been interested in what’s happening in the West. The same applies to technological development. The technologies they’ve acquired are not as a result of their own independent research and development; they come from others.

In short, I believe that Western ingenuity will enable us to remain at the cutting edge. Israel, too, will continue to be more innovative and technologically advanced than the Muslim states. This—our best and strongest advantage—gives me confidence that the good guys are going to win at the end of the day.