Ken Livingstone idiotic comments about Iran

Among the many ridiculous outrages of Ken Livingstone recently this one went unnoticed. He claimed (Radio London, 28 July 2005) that there was no better example of the West's 'double standards against Muslims' than its attitude to Iran's nuclear weapons progamme. Ken feels that Muslim countries like Iran have as much right to nuclear weapons as Israel (of course that's his biggest beef) the USA and the UK. So let's spell out to Ken and his mates the reason why this is not such a good idea:

1. The constitution of Iran states that its goal is the destruction of Israel. This goal is the unifying theme of all Iran's mullahs. Even the supposedly 'moderate' former leader Rafsanjani stated this his ultimate goal was the destruction of Israel.
2. In the annual military parade in Iran the missiles are painted with the slogans "Death to Israel"
3. Iran continues to be the financial and spiritual source of most Islamic terrorist groups (including Hezbollah and Hamas) and its agents are currently paying to recruit suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories.
4. Iran is currently advertising for suicide bombers in its own country (and thousands are registering every day) to be exported to Iraq, Chechnya, and of course 'Palestine' to kill every non-muslim on 'muslim soil'.
5. Although people like Ken might not even be aware of it, Iran has no border with Israel, and Israel has never had any dispute with Iran. But that does not stop Iran wanting to wipe Israel off the map. In addition to Iran there are several Arab countries (including Syria and Lebanon) who ARE still officially at war with Israel and who, if they ever got hold of nuclear weapons, would also try to wipe Israel off the fact of the map. In fact, let's face it, when Egypt's Mubarak is eventually gone (and that might not be too far away) Egypt would also come back into that category. That's not to mention the assortment of terrorist groups in Palestine and beyond who would kill every Jew in the world if only they had the means to do so.

So you see Ken, there isn't exactly a moral imbalance when it comes to trying to stop Iran get a nuclear bomb. Israel has a very good defensive reason to retain its nuclear deterrent. Israel would never use such a weapon offensively because it has no intention of wiping its neighbours off the face of the map. But Iran (and others) are very explicit about what they intend to do once they get a nuclear bomb. When they say that it is their sworn intention to wipe Israel off the state of the map you had better believe them.