The Right State

Just when we thought it was safe to fly again, here comes news of another terrorist plot using airlines as flying bombs.

A MAJOR plot to commit “mass murder on an unimaginable scale” by blowing up several flights from the UK in mid-air has been foiled, Scotland Yard has said.

Senior sources said terrorists were believed to be planning to blow up as many as nine aircraft in a simultaneous attack. Police believe that the plot involved liquid chemical devices. The targets were flights leaving UK airports to the US.

According to reports, most of the arrested suspects were British citizens, but were also of Pakistani origin.  Big surprise there.  Officials also point out that this plot seems to have been hatched by al-Qaeda, the same terrorist group who attacked the US on 9/11.

This plot is eerily reminiscent of the foiled Bojinka terrorist plot which was to blow up eleven airliners in January of 1995.  These terrorist organizations are always on the lookout for ideas which have a large showing like the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

There is another twist to this plot.  It seems the plot was well into its advanced stage, but not imminent.  Administration officials say they did not think this group would wait until the anniversary of September 11 to set the plan into motion.  So that makes me wonder about the comments made by the Iranian President who hold the reins of many terrorist groups.

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time—Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as “by the end of August,” but Mr. Ahmadinejad’s statement was more precise.

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to “the farthest mosque,” usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

The west has been thinking Ahmadinejad was talking about his country displaying evidence of their nuclear arsenal on August 22, but what if what he was really hinting at was another major terror attack like the one thwarted by MI-5.  In this case the Iranian leader is really showing his hand for the world to see.  It would show Ahmadinejad wants us to know he was involved.  Either the Iranian President was talking about something else entirely, or he is incredibly stupid.  He saw what the US did to Afghanistan shortly after the September 11 attacks.  Doesn’t he know President Bush would not hesitate to respond to him the same way?  Unless he thinks we are stretched too thin with troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  Surely he knows we would respond and forcefully.

Both Ahmadinejad and the Iranian mullahs seem to want to force an Armageddon, bringing forth the new mullah who would conquer the world.  In an earlier post I quoted an NRO piece by Barbara Lerner in which she describes some of the thought processes of these mullahs and the significance of August 22.

Today, Iran’s emboldened mullahs are on a triumphant roll, waging a bloody, three-front proxy war against us, using the Mahdi army to assassinate dreams of peace and democracy in Iraq, using Hezbollah to blow up those same dreams in Lebanon, again, and using Hamas to make a grotesque mockery of them in the Holy Land. Now they threaten to activate Hezbollah terror cells, here in America and throughout the world, to kill and maim us at home and inflict more carnage on our allies. This week, they mocked our efforts to prevent them from becoming a nuclear power, announcing that nothing we do — in the U.N. or elsewhere — will stop them from going nuclear, and sharing their WMDs with other rogue states and Islamofascist terror groups at will. More ominous yet, they threaten to unleash an apocalyptic surprise on us on August 22, the night they believe Mohammed lit up the skies by ascending to heaven from the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

While this may not have been what Ahmadinejad was referencing, it does make me wonder, what if it was.  And if it was, what should be our response to Iran?  Iran is a dangerous country who has been engaged in a pseudo war with us for years.  How long do we put up with their terror, their wars, and their nuclear ambitions?  It time the US responded.

Tags: Terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, Iran, President Bush, War //