Le Pen's Latest Insanity

In a recent editorial Jean-Marie Le Pen almost says openly what some have been suggesting - that he is an ally of Islam. This man's inner motives are difficult to sort out. Even if he bears a grudge of some sort against the Jews, the move towards an alliance with Islam, however tacit, is extraordinary. The fact that he would jeopardize his own country just to gain power, to even the score with those who presumably betrayed him is an incredible betrayal on his part of the millions who have put their faith in him. This makes the job of Philippe de Villiers very clear - he has to discredit Le Pen, in such a way that Le Pen's loyal base realizes they have been duped and shift their support to de Villiers - a long shot if ever ther was one. Le Pen's people stand by their man.

The president of the Front National Jean-Marie Le Pen "does not see" why Iran should be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons, as pointed out in his March editorial in "The French First", the FN's monthly publication. "I don't see by what principle one can forbid a State from desiring to master nuclear technology for civil or military purposes", writes the president of the party of the extreme-right. "Why reproach Ahmadinejad (the Iranian president) for doing what others before him have done? We didn't fight India or Pakistan or Israel when (...) these countries acquired military nuclear technology", he went on.

Nuclear weapons are "weapons one does not use, since the one who uses them is certain to be destroyed within a few minutes", declares the president of the FN. In his editorial, Mr. Le Pen suggests that world opinion is "white hot" on the issue, because the United States and their "unconditional allies strongly wish for" a war against Iran.

"After the interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is Iran's turn, so that the oil supplies can be safeguarded, so that Israel can be protected, and perhaps too in order to wage a war of annihilation against Islam, according to the wishes of the evangelical hawks who dominate American institutions," writes Mr. Le Pen.

In the same text, Le Pen also suggests that the recent international polemic over the Mohammed cartoons is linked to the international iron fist targeting Teheran. "They have to prime world opinion for war" against Iran, and "what better way to do this than a good international argument over Islam", he states.