Iran Pleased with "New Direction" in US Foreign Policy

I've been more or less avoiding all the commentators and columnists going on and on about the recent elections and what they mean. But that doesn't mean I'm not interested in what our enemies think the recent elections mean. Do you remember when Quaddafi gave up his nuclear program because he was afraid of George Bush? To show how things have changed, here's what Ayatollah Khameini said last Friday: "With the scandalous defeat of America's policies in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, America's threats are empty threats on an international scale." This from Reuters:

Khamenei calls U.S. elections a victory for Iran

By Jon Hemming

TEHRAN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called U.S. President George W. Bush's defeat in congressional elections a victory for Iran.

Bush has accused Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, being a state sponsor of terrorism and stoking sectarian conflict in Iraq, all charges Tehran denies.

"This issue (the elections) is not a purely domestic issue for America, but it is the defeat of Bush's hawkish policies in the world," Khamenei said in remarks reported by Iran's student news agency ISNA on Friday.

"Since Washington's hostile and hawkish policies have always been against the Iranian nation, this defeat is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation."
The Democrats wrested control of both houses of Congress from the Republicans in this week's mid-term elections, partly because of voter concern over the war in Iraq.

Khamenei, a senior cleric in power since 1989, has the last word on matters of state in Iran's complex system of Islamic rule, while the government, under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in charge of day-to-day decision making.

"The result of this election indicates that the majority of American people are dissatisfied and are fed up with the policies of the American administration," the IRNA state news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Khamenei said military manoeuvres in the Gulf this week in which Iranian forces tested new missile systems showed Iran was ready to face any threat.

But, he said: "With the scandalous defeat of America's policies in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, America's threats are empty threats on an international scale."

Khamenei condemned Israel for its artillery attack on Wednesday in Gaza which killed 18 civilians, and also the "silence" of Western nations over "this great oppression".

The daily crimes by the savage Zionists in Gaza once more prove that holding talks with this occupying regime is of no use."

What this means is that Iran intends to increase its challenges to American policies in "Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan," and, of course, Israel. You may notice there are growing demands from jihadists that we abandon our alliance with Israel. The psychological war has already led to a bending (I'm not quite ready to say breaking) of the American will to win in Iraq. The jihadists are only going to increase the pressure now.

There is no way that Congressional leadership such as Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, and John Conyers are going to have backbone enough to stand up against threats with anything but hapless talk about problems "to be resolved." Today former President Hashemi Rafsanjani "also warned the US not to consider military intervention in Iran, saying Washington's 'iron fist policy' has failed." Why does he say "failed"? We're still in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't we?

But for how much longer? These guys know the history of the Democrats better than we do. They don't even have to wait until we pull out of Iraq to start kicking sand in our face again.

It is not possible that what Khameini and Ahmadinejad consider a victory for one of our bitterest enemies can possibly be a victory for America as well. And it is not.