July 20, 2007

A Hot Summer?

It may not have been the most provocative statement Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ever made in public, but it may be all the more ominous for its ambiguity. While traveling to Syria to meet with Iran's closest ally, Bashar Assad, and with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the Iranian president promised a "hot summer" in the region, which he hoped would lead to the "defeat for the region's enemies":

It's going to be a "hot" summer in the Middle East, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following a surprise meeting with Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday evening, Channel 10 reported.

Nasrallah allegedly entered Syria via an underground tunnel, the television channel said.

"We hope that the hot weather of this summer will coincide with similar victories for the region's peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region's enemies," Ahmadinejad added, in an apparent reference to Israel.

During his one-day trip to Damascus, Ahmadinejad held talks with counterpart Bashar Assad which focused on the Iraq situation, Palestinian territories and Lebanon, where both Teheran and Damascus wield influence.

It's less bloviating than his normal pronouncements, but it sounds more specific in its way. After all, Syria has reportedly started mobilizing on the border with Lebanon, and rumor has it that they will once again re-enter to tamp down any anti-Syrian momentum. Hezbollah has sufficiently re-armed enough to launch another series of attacks on Israel at almost any time they wish. Hamas has Gaza in its grip.

Alternately, Ahmadinejad could be talking about the US. The latest report from General David Petraeus notes the heavy involvement of Iran in the Iraqi insurgencies, especially in the Shi'ite militias. Could Iran expand their twilight offensive against the US in Iraq? With Congress looking for an excuse to flee, Ahmadinejad may be thinking of turning up the summer heat at this critical juncture.

Or he could just have decided to become a weatherman. As unlikely as that is, we'd hope that he finds that a more enjoyable profession than instigating genocides and oppressing millions of people. Maybe he can convince Bashar Assad to go back to optometry while he's at it.

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