It is not funny. Waking in Tel Aviv this morning, I go to my laptop. There are reports on Israeli websites of an Iranian attack. No, not on Israel. But on a Romanian oil rig--the Orizont--off the island of Kish in the Persian Gulf. The rig had been there since October 2005 under ownership of Oil Services Group, a private Bucharest petroleum company operating under a contract with Dubai-based Oriental Oil Company. (This information comes from an Associated Press article on CNN.com. No other U.S. news source I can find as of Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time, has yet reported this news that happened at least ten hours ago.) In any case, what occurred was that, without any advance warning or, as far as I can determine by speaking to contacts around Israeli intelligence, any prior conflict with regard to this rig, the Iranians attacked the installation from helicopter gunships, and then Iranian military boarded it from an Iranian warship. Bullets were flying. The OSG has lost contact with its crew. Maybe they are alive.
Or maybe not. Today is August 22, coinciding with the Muslim holy day of the 27th of Rahab, during which, according to scholars, all kinds of eschatological augurings may occur. It was on this day (or, more properly, night) that Mohammed took his night flight with his winged horse Burak to heaven and back and also when Saladin conquered Jerusalem. So what does this assault augur? The conquest of Romania by Persia?
Oh, and by the way, according to The New York Times this morning, Iran's "supreme leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, (not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who increasingly and wrongly is being treated as a comic figure instead of a madman with post-modern arms at his disposal, an Islamofascist, in fact), announced yesterday that his country will "forcefully" pursue its uranium enrichment nuclear programs. Anyway, greetings from Israel, the first and already designated target of these activities. Don't blame the Israelis if they take these threats seriously.
--Martin Peretz
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
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