They are correct to say most Americans have little understanding of the Mideast but that's because they are grossly misinformed by the corporate media.
Iran does not need oil, it has plenty of oil, it's having trouble pumping it and US has sanctions placed on them since Clinton back to the mid 1990's under the Damatto Act, (Or something like that) It was by former NY Senator Al Damatto and it has made it difficult for them to pump and sell it. I forget the details of the sanctions but I believe it has to do with loans and banking as well as selling oil. I believe oil is their chief and basically only export.
So they have now decided to withhold oil from the market waiting for the real crunch to come in a few decades when Peak Oil hits and the demand grows from India and China, hoping to cash in on bigger profits and have more influence in world politics by having the largest supply. That may turn out to be a big mistake though because the US already has it's eye on Iran's oil and it may even tempt countries like Russia or China to consider military action in a few decades if US power and influence decreases and we get kicked out of the region. It may also have to worry about Israeli aggression.
They have decided to turn to Nuclear Power to fill in the void and allow their oil supplies to remain stable. It also may be a cover to help them develop Nuclear Weapons for security reasons. We could defuse the entire crises by withdrawing from the region and forcing Israel to accept peace and abide by International Law and live within it's legal borders.
Their economy is poor and Ahmadinejad has basically done very little to help. That's one of the main reasons for his show boating, to get Iranians minds off the poor economy and muster support. So far it has mixed success but the more the US threatens the more the Iranian people rally together. There are great reform movements in Iran and who want to diminish the control and influence of the clerics but an attack by the US will solidify the Mullahs power in the name of National Security.
The people who believe in Armageddon and a great war are the Fundamentalist Christians and Jews who believe the recreation of the bible land of Israel will bring Armageddon and Jesus' return or the Messiah for the Jews.
Iran has not attacked anyone and is not threatening anyone. Ahmadinejad never really said "Israel should be wiped off the map," that was a misquote.
In the speech he asked why did the Palestinians have to suffer for the crime of the Holocaust that was committed by Europeans. He called for the state of Israel to be moved to Europe. He did say something to the effect that the regime in Palestine should be removed, or something to that effect but he never called for the extermination of the Jews.
The origin of the misquote is supposedly from an Iranian News agency that Israeli news picked up on right away. If that's true or not I don't know but I do know it was a misquote and is misinterpreted deliberately to cause fear.
Even Hamas does not called for the extermination of the Jews but for a single state of Palestine with equal rights for all. They also believe in an Islamic State but have said they would only seek one if the majority of the Palestinian people voted for one. They would not try to impose an Islamic State against the will of the people.
Of course it is Israel that is occupying and stealing land that is legally recognized as Palestinian, and Syrian in the Golan Heights and Israel that has never renounced the claim of the European Zionists to all of Palestine and bible borders.
It is the US that invaded Iraq on lies and continues it's illegal war and occupation
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