August 22, 2006

August 22 Came and Only the Romanians Noticed

Earlier this month Islam scholar Bernard Lewis wondered if Iran would do something earth-shaking on 08.22:

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time--Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as "by the end of August," but Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement was more precise.

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (cf Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

Being a historian means you're a better examiner of the past than predictor of the future. The big news is Iranian troops captured a Romanian oil rig in the Persian Gulf:

Romania's Foreign Ministry called on Iranian authorities to immediately free Romanian crew members being held by the troops who took over the rig. The rig operator said seven Indian crew members had been released but 20 Romanians were still detained.

"We are dealing with a commercial dispute that is being treated in an extreme way by the Iranian authorities," Medar told Realitatea TV. He added that Iranian authorities had not confirmed the incident. Iranian officials and state media offered no immediate statements.

Bloomberg has details on what happened:

An Iranian naval vessel fired on the rig owned by Romania's Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) in the Salman field and took control of its radio room at about 7:00 a.m. local time, Lulu Tabanesku, Grup's representative in the United Arab Emirates said in a phone interview from Dubai today.

"The Iranians fired at the rig's crane with machine guns,'' Tabanesku said. "They are in control now and we can't contact the rig.'' The Romanian company has 26 workers on the platform, he said.

Who knew the Iranians had it in for the Romanians? They do want to be a part of the prosporous West therefore they're the infidel. To the Iranian mullahs nothing good will happen to the infidel.

Dan Riehl sees this as Iran flexing its muscle in the Strait of Hormuz.

Since Romania is a member of NATO this could be construed as an act of war against the whole alliance. But any alliance that includes France is worth as much as Jacques Chirac's word when it comes to Lebanon. It's time to think about turning some of Ford's excess production capacity into war-time use just in case Iran doesn't want to be contained. The Marines could use some new equipment.

del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | reddit | Spurl | Yahoo MyWeb