"John McCain's Top Ten Funniest Ways to Kill
Iranians." This gem of wit and wisdom is found
on the Senator's website: www.JohnMcCain.com.
On it he says, "My friends, in these trying times
in which we live, there's one thing all Americans
can agree on: killing Iranians is hilarious."

That's doubly false: no Christian can agree with
it (McCain clearly isn't one, despite his Baptist
affiliation), and there's nothing funny about
killing your neighbors, like them or not. What
this reveals, besides being achingly sad, is that
McCain understands neither Christianity nor
Iran. The latter has threatened no one, except
possible attackers of their people or territory.
I frequently hear on TV that "Iran has threatened
to destroy Israel." That is utterly false! "Iran"
has done no such thing. Some people in Iran
may say things about Israel. Like us, they have
an unpopular president who often doesn't make
sense, and doesn't speak for his people. Theirs
denies the Holocaust, ours denies everything
else: torture, illegal spying, going to war on false
pretenses, global warming, the recession, you
name it! He'll deny it!

Their flaky president, who does not make foreign
policy or control the military, expects God to de-
stroy Israel. He has, in fact, predicted that God
will do so. But he has never threatened to do
the job himself (as far as I can learn), and
couldn't if he tried. The facts are that the coun-
try is run by the Supreme Leader who is also
the religious ruler of the country. Islam only
allows war in self defense, as this Ayatollah
has said repeatedly, and that they do not want
war or plan war against anyone.

Iran will, of course, fight if attacked. Which
McBush are pushing for us to do. He (Mc)
thinks our threats and warnings constitute
"excellent lines of communication" with Iran
(his words.) That's even though our express
policy toward them is "regime change." And
we have long demanded as a precondition
for any negotiations with them that they
agree to stop enriching uranium. In other
words, we won't talk unless and until they
first agree ahead of time to concede on the
major point to be discussed! So much for
the excellent lines of communication the Sen.
is so thrilled about.

Reza Aslan, an Iranian-born American Muslim
has written a monumental (and definitive) work
on Islam: No God But God. (I have mentioned it
in previous blogs.) He stays in close contact
with friends and relatives in Iran, and reads the
Iranian press and government pronouncements.
He says their whole posture is defensive, and
everything they do must be seen and understood
in that light. They have no interest in attacking
Israel or anyone else. They want to negotiate
areas of tension with us, including their con-
derable involvement with Iraq next door. Like
Iran, Iraq has a large Shia majority.

Vali Nasr is another Iranian-American scholar
who echos similar sentiments in his excellent
book, The Shia Revival. Google these two
writers, along with Fareed Zakaria, if you want
a balanced view on Iran and its interests and
intentions. McCain hasn't a clue! He still
confuses Shia and Sunnis.