"They confront us and deal with us in a very harsh and illegal language, but ultimately they need us more than we need them"
Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 7:17AM ARTICLE:"Iranian Says Pressure Won't End Nuclear BidIranian Says Pressure Won't End Nuclear Bid: Dismissing Sanctions Threats, President Asserts West Needs Tehran 'More Than We Need Them,'" by Karl Vick, Washington Post, 15 January 2006, p. A20.
Full story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/14/AR2006011401107_pf.html.
Ahmadinejad is not stupid. Fanatical yes, but not stupid.
We just need to understand the entirety of the "they" he's referring to. The old "we," or the Old Core, needs the New Core for our shared global economy to continue flourishing.
The Old Core may have decided that Iran can't have the security it seeks with the bomb, but the New Core (India, Russia, China) have decided they need access to Iran (for China and India, it's energy, for Russia, it's a market where their marginally competitive exports can find purchase--just like the French more and more).
When Ahmadinejad refers to "they," he's referring to the entire Core, not just the West, but we, in the West (or at least the U.S.) can't seem to see this playing field for real.
The New Core has already chosen Iran for integration. We either get with that program or we split the Core on this issue.
Iran is smart enough to see this, especially Ahmadinejad, and that is why he will continue to play us for fools until we see the larger picture.
And no, the lecturing of the sort that Tom Friedman engages in ("The Axis of Order" is a wonderful phrase though, evoking the 1930s in a neat, spooky sort of way, yes?) won't work either.
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