Finally someone asks Israel the difficult question

[Palimino]

I do believe that you are mistaken, the old Nats gave the weapons, before the ANC came into power, to gain support and assistance from the US. America did not want an unknown black organisation to have access to nukes.

Exactly! I also think the fear of the ANC nuking some tribe who stole some cows 200 years ago, had an influence.

 

[krycor]

Well the US had their revolution eventually too. The 'nuking some tribe who stole some cows 200 years ago' is daft.. sorry, that is just stupid. go sit in the corner

 

[Alan]

I do believe that you are mistaken, the old Nats gave the weapons, before the ANC came into power, to gain support and assistance from the US. America did not want an unknown black organisation to have access to nukes.

Hardly. They didn't want nukes falling into the hands of a communist allies. No doubt they were right. Who'd feel comfortable with the likes of Zuma and future president Malema's etc having those weapons at their disposal.

 

[Palimino]

The 'nuking some tribe who stole some cows 200 years ago' is daft.. sorry, that is just stupid. go sit in the corner

It’s an analogy for deploying nuclear weapons for some trivial ANC reason or to keep them in power. I can believe that because it is the type of scummy thing they would do.

 

[Blah!Blah!]

read "the plot against south africa"

 

[McSack]

... or Ted Vos

 

[Palimino]

It’s an analogy for deploying nuclear weapons for some trivial ANC reason or to keep them in power. I can believe that because it is the type of scummy thing they would do.

The greatest danger would come from the international community. They would bristle (justifiably) at mention of nuclear deployment for ANY reason. IMO they would seriously consider a pre-emptive nuclear strike. So, because of ANC military hubris, SA is destroyed. Way to go O leadership with the collective IQ of a retarded mosquito.

 

[Fieldy]

Iran has said that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. The Israeli's probably figured they mean to do just that with their nukes

Please let it be known that this is a complete lie and a vicious piece of propaganda and willful mistranslation by New York Times and the rest of the controlled press. Just like they peddled lies for Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, this too is another quality piece of propaganda.

According to legend, Iran's President has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map". Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made

So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in farsi:

"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "Regime", pronounced just like the English word with an extra "eh" sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped from the map"? The answer is: nothing. That's because the word "map" was never used. The Persian word for map, "nagsheh", is not contained anywhere in his original farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's President threatened to "wipe Israel off the map", despite never having uttered the words "map", "wipe out" or even "Israel".

THE PROOF:

The full quote translated directly to English:

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".

This is the accurate translation and I hope that people in future will stop using the incorrect ones, however I suspect this will not happen.

 

[McSack]

Methinks you give the NY Times too much credit

One may wonder: where did this false interpretation originate? Who is responsible for the translation that has sparked such worldwide controversy? The answer is surprising. The inflammatory 'wiped off the map' quote was first disseminated not by Iran's enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official propaganda arm, used this phrasing in the English version of some of their news releases covering the World Without Zionism conference. International media including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time magazine and countless others picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines out of it without verifying its accuracy, and rarely referring to the source. Iran's Foreign Minister soon attempted to clarify the statement, but the quote had a life of its own. Though the IRNA wording was inaccurate and misleading, the media assumed it was true, and besides, it made great copy. - Arash Norouzi