Significance of a Bow

Walid Phares

Global terrorism and Middle Eastern expert Walid Phares said that within the next five years, the radical regime in Iran would have a missile capable of reaching North America. Phares, who has conducted briefings at the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Security Council, also said Iran is definitely seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and will not hesitate to use them if they do.

Phares said, “I wrote a book on the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1987 in which I looked at a projection into the future, and we are now in the future. They always wanted to acquire nuclear power and they wanted to do so in order to protect the expansion of their interests in the region. Acquiring nuclear power for them is first of all to protect the regime from the internal domestic democratic opposition. On the other hand, keep in the mind that they are involved in Iraq. They are involved in Lebanon with Hizbullah. They have a strategic alliance with Syria. They have interests in the Gulf with Shiite areas in eastern Arabia and elsewhere. They need the nuclear power to shield anybody who’d like to challenge their interests. The nuclear program they have is going to end up becoming a military one.”

Phares added Iran is close to developing an ICBM with a nuclear warhead. “What is interesting about the Iranian program is that they are developing on two tracks. One track is the actual nuke technology. They are moving slowly on that one. And the other track is the missile technology. The missile technology they do have includes missiles that can reach not only the eastern Mediterranean but also Europe. No wonder we have a debate about whether we should have a missile shield system in Europe or not. Basically the Iranian regime will be able in the next five years, according to the projections, to reach as far as North America.”

“When the Obama administration devises a policy that says we need to reach out to the Iranian regime, without putting pressure on that regime by engaging with the actual Iranian opposition, the perception in Tehran is that the Obama administration will not use everything at its disposal to apply that pressure. Hence Ahmadinejad declared that there is no more pressure to be made on Iran, and when that is the case obviously they are free to develop the weapons they want.”

Phares declared, “Regimes in the past that are totalitarian, including Saddam Hussein, have used missiles, have used weapons of mass destruction, have gassed their own population. Hizbullah, The Iranian ally has used missiles in their confrontation with Israel. The Iranian regime, which is ideological and radical, will use them when they think they can win the war.”

Phares said Obama’s bow to Saudi King Abdullah sends a message of submission. “The image that we saw indicates that there was a political message. If the U.S. president will be seen in a picture bowing that much to the head of the Wahabis in the region, then the perception is that America is weak. Maybe the president did not want it to be seen like that, but the radicals in the region have seen it that way and so has the international community. The U.S. president is the president of the most powerful democracy on the face of the earth. Not only should he not bow to any other president but even in the Arab world we haven’t seen any other Arab king or president or Muslim sultan or head of state bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia or to any other king.”