Is that what Tōjō said to FDR? I forget.

So Dr. J, the Gormogons’ mid-south operative, writes in with the following news story and some clever analysis reminiscent of that time he dunked from the foul line.

Iran anniversary ‘punch’ will stun West: Khamenei

While everyone else is thinking that the unveiling of a nuke is the Anniversary punch, I think that it will be much more clever than that.

I am suspecting that they are trying to goad ‘the Little Satan’ and ‘the Great Satan’ into a so-called preemptive strike against their Baby Milk Factories (AKA Nuclear Facilities) such that the Great One will be a hypocrite for bashing Bush’s policy of preemption. That will be their great blow to the west, making Obama “just another Bush.”

While one can never go broke underestimating the deviousness and labyrinthine nature of Persian politics, Confucius* is a little more sanguine. One suspects Khâmene’î is referring to something—if he’s referring to anything real at all—that will flip off the West and attempt to gain the régime nationalist support, since the day he’s threatening to “punch” the West (February 11) is not coincidentally the scheduled date for the next large-scale anti-régime Green street protests.

What might this be? Probably something to do with their nuclear program, as that seems to be their most potent international card. Could be a bomb test, though one would think the Shin Bet would have ensured that that wouldn’t come to pass. Could it be further uranium enrichment? Some sort of new reactor going on-line? Other possibilities might include some sort of political ploy monkeying around in Iraq or Afghanistan. Or a big public-works or military coöperation agreement with China. Maybe announcing some sort of Islamintern with Somalia, Eritrea, Hezbollah, Jemaat-e Tablighi, et al., to both look like a major global player and simultaneously contest its hated rival, Saudi Arabia’s, prestige in the Muslim world?

One guesses this is rhetoric designed for domestic consumption, but you can never rule stuff out with the Iranians, given that they’re masters of misdirection and back-room maneuvering.

We’ll see, one supposes. Unless it’s an EMP. Then we’ll never see anything.

* For those who came in late, Confucius is the Gormogons’ Œcumenical Volgi.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.