Is this just hot air, mere talk?

This from the IRNA today:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Saturday that the real holocaust should be sought in Palestine, where the blood of the oppressed nation is shed every day and Iraq, where the defenseless Muslim people are killed daily.

Stressing that these crimes mark western liberalism, he noted that the Zionists are about to be annihilated and that the era of occupation of Palestine is over.

The chief executive added that meanwhile, the destruction of colonial and Zionist culture is quite obvious.

Turning to the fact that Zionism has lost its philosophical foundations, he called on the Western states to resume worshiping God Almighty rather than selling the glory of enlightenment to the disgrace of being subject to the Zionists.

In another part of his speech, he referred to the recent Palestinian election as an example of the will and determination of Muslim nations and called upon the Zionist occupiers not to hinder the Palestinians' path to solve the issue, adding that the referendum in Palestine will serve as a guideline to them.

Also in the speech, Ahmadinejad said this:

Speaking at the rally held at Tehran Azadi Square on Saturday marking the 27th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he added that the enemies are not frightened of the nuclear weapons rather are concerned over the self-confidence of the Iranian youth.

"They believe that by hiding their ugly and abominable face behind the United Nations nuclear watchdog and Security Council, their ugliness will be demolished," he added.

The chief executive called upon the West, in particular the US, and said, "You do not respect the international bodies and have even defamed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by your approach." In another part of his remarks, he pointed to the proposal on enrichment outside Iran and said that there is no guarantee that they will comply with their commitments.

"They have even deprived us of the aircraft spare parts over the past 27 years and despite having paid for them, they have avoided delivering them. Therefore, what is the guarantee that we will be supplied with the nuclear fuel in future?," added Ahmadinejad.

In response to the threats by western countries to impose economic sanctions against Iran and hampering import of any product to the country, he said that Iran does not actually need the consumer goods which are being sold to it.

You can bet Israel takes very seriously Iran's statements that Israel is about to be destroyed. Why is the West so reluctant to confront Iran over such statements? Yes, there is the usual diplomatic knee twitch to shy away from aggressive rhetoric. But are the nations of the West willing to dismiss this kind of rhetoric as hyperbole? Especially when it comes from an oppressive regime who is aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons?

An Iranian cleric said this in another speech:

A senior Iranian cleric called on Muslims on Friday to direct their fury over cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad at the United States, rather than Denmark.

When crowds of worshippers in Tehran chanted "Death to Denmark" during his fiery sermon, Tehran Friday prayers leader Ahmad Khatami told them, "We shouldn’t say 'Death to Denmark'. Denmark is nothing! We must say, 'Death to America'. It’s the Americans who set up the likes of the Danes".

Khatami, who is not related to Iran’s former president, accused the European Union of "double standards" in its approach to the publication of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and Iran’s denial of the Holocaust.

"They talk about human rights and freedom of expression, but at the same time they disgustingly insult more than a billion Muslims", the ayatollah told worshippers in central Tehran.

"They justify this great crime on the grounds of freedom of expression and the stupid Prime Minister of Denmark says that they are willing to pay the price of freedom. But these very countries who claim to respect freedom of expression do not allow the smallest talk about the myths of Holocaust and persecution of the Jews", he said.

Any serious criticism of the cartoon controversy would acknowledge the United States has nothing to do with it. Yet, this cleric wants to turn the engines of hate towards the US. Why? Because there's much more involved here than insults over arguably tasteless cartoons.

The Iranian regime recognizes the United States as a power that could stand in Iran's way, and is reacting accordingly. As I've written about earlier in the week, the demonstrations may attract the average violence-prone Muslims, but the terror masters are using the demonstrations to send some not-so-subtle messages in this larger context. Through its actions and words, the Iranian regime is making threats.

I haven't yet heard US officials refer to Iran as a "partner for peace." If I ever do, I'll move the family to a mountain cabin and just wait for the end. But why aren't the nations of the West doing more to push back against Iran?

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