THE METHOD TO IRAN'S MADNESS

The Role of Holocaust Denial in the Ideology and Strategy of the Iranian Regime - Yigal Carmon
The Iranian regime's Holocaust denial is not a manifestation of irrational hatred, but a premeditated and cold-blooded instrument to achieve its goals. The first of these goals is the attempt to deny any legitimacy to the creation and continued existence of the State of Israel as a safe haven for the Jews after the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad is aware that as long as the world remembers the Holocaust, it will resist any new attempt to perpetrate another genocide against the Jews. Thus, eradicating the memory of the Holocaust is essential to achieve his goal.

Demonization is a necessary precondition for genocide. To this end, Iranian state-controlled television produces TV series that include classic blood libels, depicting Jews as using the blood of non-Jewish children to bake their Passover matzos, and as kidnapping non-Jewish children to steal their body parts. Jews are reduced to sub-human levels, depicted as pigs and apes. However, it is not possible to demonize a people as long as it is viewed as a victim of the Holocaust. Therefore, Holocaust denial is vital in order to wipe out the image of the Jews as victims. (MEMRI)

Ahmadinejad's Ravings Are Part of His Plan - Abbas William Samii
Ahmadinejad is pursuing what for him and Iran is sound and perfectly strategic policy. His rhetoric only echoes the opinion of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the sentiments of Iran's current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As a Shiite and mostly Persian state in a majority Sunni and Arab Middle East - with grand ambitions to lead the region - Iran must work hard to position itself as Palestine's greatest defender and supporter. In addition, by portraying itself as the victim of Great Powers that are trying to restrict the progress of developing countries generally and the Muslim world specifically, Iran earns points in the developing world, whose populations admire his anti-Western bravado. The writer is a regional analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses. (New York Daily News)