When even France has to admit the truth

A blog friend says: Hezbollah is controlled by Iran and enabled by Syria. So this from Powerline should come as no surprise:

…in a speech to a Muslim conference in Malaysia, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the solution to problems in the Middle East is the destruction of Israel:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis is to destroy Israel. In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders, Ahmadinejad also called for an immediate halt to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Ahmadinejad, who has drawn international condemnation with previous calls for Israel to be wiped off the map, said the Middle East would be better off "without the existence of the Zionist regime." Israel "is an illegitimate regime, there is no legal basis for its existence," he said.

Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel was coupled with a demand for a cease-fire in Lebanon:

"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," he said.

Ahmadinejad obviously wants a cease-fire not in the interest of peace in the region, but as a tactical move that will contribute to the ultimate destruction of Israel.

Which illustrates why neither the government of Israel nor the Bush administration wants a cease-fire. One has to wonder: do other leaders who urge an immediate cessation of fighting, like Kofi Annan and various European heads of state, have motives that are purer than Ahmadinejad's? Or do they share his view as to how peace should ultimately come to the Middle East?

Good question, no? Of course last Monday we had this:

Iran is a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilizing role, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said earlier Monday in Beirut.

"It was clear that we could never accept a destabilization of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilization of the region," Douste-Blazy said in Beirut.

"In the region there is of course a country such as Iran - a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region," he told a news conference.

Captain Ed Morrissey takes up this thread:

The French just figured out exactly what kind of stabilization Iran has in mind for the Middle East. Just days after his jaw-dropping description of the radical Iranian mullahcracy as a "stabilizing force" in the region, the French Foreign Minister had to eat his words:

Days after calling Iran a "stabilizing" force in the Middle East, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy issued a statement harshly criticizing Iran's call on Thursday to destroy Israel.

"I totally condemn these words," Douste-Blazy said on France-Inter radio, in response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement Thursday that the solution to the current Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel.

"Peace and security in Lebanon and its borders has to be preserved by the Lebanese government and people. Deployment of foreign forces is not acceptable in any shape unless it is just, based on UN rules and preserves the unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon," he said.

The words are "absolutely unacceptable on anyone's part, especially from a head of state," Douste-Blazy said.

Douste-Blazy said that the crisis had presented an opportunity for Iran to "show that it can play a positive and stabilizing role in the region," but added that Ahmadinejad's statement "confirmed that this is not the case."

Not to be rude, but no s**t, Sherlock. And France wonders why no one trusts them?

It doesn't take a genius to understand that someone who keeps asking Europe to dismantle a sovereign nation and move them onto the Continent isn't interested in "stabilizing" the region.

I'm not sure what Phillipe Douste-Blazy actually does for a living, but it certainly has nothing to do with actually reading what Iranian leaders have written and spoken for the last several months.

Perhaps Douste-Blazy has had a “Road to Damascus” moment today. At least one can hope that someone with the demonstrable cluelessness of Douste-Blazy has the capacity for some intellectual growth. Now maybe we can get some real progress not just on allowing Israel to complete its mission against Hezbollah but also regarding the mullahcracy's nuclear-weapons programs.

In the meantime, though, CQ would like to give Douste-Blazy the Captain Louis Renault award for being “shocked, shocked” that Iran plays a malevolent role in international affairs.

Notre Capitaine had an epiphany at the end of Casablanca about working with appeasers and collaborators in their pursuit of genocide.

Dare we hope that Douste-Blazy also tosses the Vichy water into the trash and thinks about starting a beautiful friendship with the West?

Let's hope so but I wouldn't bet you a day's supply of Vichy water on it.

A thank you to Mike Williams, the best blogger not blogging.