Doug Ross @ Journal

"...Man learns nothing from History..."

On August 23rd, the bipartisan House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released its Report on Iran (PDF). It makes for ominous reading. I've culled out a few of the more foreboding bits for your review:

“The annihilation of the Zionist regime will come... Israel must be wiped off the map... And God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism” “They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets.” “I officially announce that Iran has joined countries with nuclear technology.” -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ...Threats against the United States and Israel by Iranian President Ahmadinejad - coupled with advances in the Iranian nuclear weapons program, support for terror, and resistance to international negotiations on its nuclear program - demonstrate that Iran is a security threat to our nation... - Iran has conducted a clandestine uranium enrichment program for nearly two decades in violation of its International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement, and despite its claims to the contrary, Iran is seeking nuclear weapons... - Iran likely has an offensive chemical weapons research and development capability... - Iran probably has an offensive biological weapons program... - Iran has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. The U.S. Intelligence Community has raised the concern that Tehran may integrate nuclear weapons into its ballistic missiles... - Iran provides funding, training, weapons, rockets, and other material support to terrorist groups in Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, and elsewhere... - Elements of the Iranian national security apparatus are actively supporting the insurgency in Iraq... ...The IAEA reported on February 27, 2006 that Iran has produced approximately 85 tons of uranium hexafluoride (UF6).20 If enriched through centrifuges to weapons-grade material - a capability Iran is working hard to master - this would be enough for 12 nuclear bombs... Iran is currently enriching uranium to weapons grade using a 164-machine centrifuge cascade at this facility in Natanz. Iran claims it will have 3,000 centrifuges at this site by next spring... ...To produce plutonium, Iran has built a heavy water production plant and is constructing a large, heavy water-moderated reactor whose technical characteristics are well-suited for the production of weapons-grade plutonium. In support of this effort, Iran admitted in October 2003 to secretly producing small quantities of plutonium without notifying the IAEA, a violation of its treaty obligations...

And for those slow "progressives" in the audience, it's crystal clear that Iran has been simply lying its collective buns off regarding the purpose of its nuclear program:

...there is no rational reason for Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program in secret and risk international sanctions when the International Atomic Energy Agency encourages and assists peaceful nuclear programs. If Iran sincerely wanted a peaceful nuclear program, the IAEA would have helped it develop one... ...One of the most disturbing aspects of the Iranian WMD program is its determined effort to construct ballistic missiles that will enable Tehran to deliver conventional or, potentially, chemical, biological, or nuclear warheads against its neighbors in the region and beyond. Iran claimed last fall that its Shahab-3 missile can currently strike targets at distances up to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), including Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and southeastern Europe... It is believed that Iran's Shahab-4 will have a range of 4,000 km (2,400 miles), enabling Iran to strike Germany, Italy, and Moscow...

Allowing Iran to continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons is akin to the appeasement of Hitler in 1938. That year, Hitler's forces marched unimpeded into Austria and the Sudetenland while Britain's Neville Chamberland proclaimed, "I believe it is peace for our time." After the latter incursion, Hitler announced the formative stages of a thousand-year Reich and stated, "Thus we begin our march into the great German future."

With little media fanfare, Ahmadinejad -- like Hitler -- has plainly announced his intentions. His stated goals include the destruction of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. His agenda includes the acquisition of nuclear and biological capabilities along with ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's words -- "History teaches us that man learns nothing from history" -- remain as true today as the day they were written.