GLENN BECK, HOST: Plus the one and only Nancy Grace with the latest twist on the JonBenet case. You are not going to believe what that dude`s lawyer had to say. All that and more, next.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode of GLENN BECK is brought to you by “My Three Toms,” the wacky new sitcom starring Tom Cruise, Tom Arnold, and President Tom of Iran. Be there.
BECK: All right. The U.S. and Europe are deciding today whether to move ahead on Iran with sanctions within the United Nations Security Council, after Tehran said it was willing to open up serious talks on its nuclear program but it wouldn`t freeze uranium enrichment.
Yesterday, at a rally in Tehran, Iran`s supreme leader said, quote, “America`s hands are tied, and they`re unable to do anything.” It is spooky to listen to these people talk.
All right. We`ve known for a while now the leadership in Iran is full-fledged nuts. Man, they want the messiah to come. I can wait myself. But the people of Iran? You know, they`re kind of like us. You know, they like nice clothes. They like Levis. They like gadgets, pop music. So are they starting to unite behind President Tom and the nut parade?
Remember back in the 1980s when we had a real enemy? I mean, an enemy with a flag. It was great and spooky at the same time, you know. It was spooky, because I remember going to bed in the Cold War and being a kid, thinking, “We`re going to be vaporized at any minute.” It was great because we had somebody to root against during the Olympics.
President Tom of Iran is such a good politician he`s making America the team to root against at the Olympics for the Iranians. He`s made us what the Soviets were during the Cold War. And President Tom is beginning to unite the Iranians and all of the Middle East. This is the scary part. He`s been able to unite the Shias and the Sunnis. That`s a big deal in the Islamic world.
In this country, that would be — you know what? That would be like uniting the KKK and the NAACP. You know, it just doesn`t really happen very often. But in Iran, and increasingly, across the entire Middle East, they`re all starting to band together, because President Tom has given them something that doesn`t happen very often in the Middle East: self-respect and a real place at the world table.
Here`s how I think he`s doing it. Would you rather live in the old Soviet Union, you know, with the bread lines and the gulags, or would you rather live in freedom? Well, most people would say freedom, right? But believe it or not, if you look at the numbers over in Russia, some Russians are pining for the good bad old days, the days when they had those intimidating statues and flags and symbols everywhere because those were the symbols of their power.
They used to be somebody, and that means a lot to a society. I think it means a lot to Iran as well.
President Tom is basically telling the most hated man in the world, that evil President Bush, to sit down and shut up. It`s what Jacques Chirac`s been trying to do for years. That`s what he`s tried to do. He`s tried to have a place at the table. The Iranian people are just happy to be a major player in the game with some self-respect, because you know, at this point, it`s really not about right and wrong with a lot of people in the Middle East. And in Iran, it`s currently about nationalism.
So here`s what I know tonight. When Iran`s supreme leader said that our hands are tied, you know what? I think he may be right. But he`s only right because most Americans don`t understand the full scope of this problem. Furthermore, most politicians don`t really understand the full scope of this problem.
Furthermore, most of our stupid politicians — my eyes just shoot blood out of them. They`re sitting around. They`re playing donkeys and elephants. They`re losing sight of the fact that we`re all on the same team. They`re busy trying to get reelected instead of solving what potentially is the biggest crisis this nation has ever faced.
I also know that the people of Iran are our good friends. So far, they like us because we`ve never negotiated with their nut job clerics. However, the nut job clerics are starting to have more street cred, and from what it sounds like with the stupid United Nations, we might be on the verge of negotiating with the nut job clerics.
This is not good news for us in the future. Because the Iranian people will see us the same way as the Saudi people do, the Egyptians see us, not as friends, but as opportunists who don`t really stand for anything, who will do or say anything just to hang on to power and oil.
Here`s what I don`t know. I don`t how to stop this crazy train. You know what I mean? I mean, what are the options? We can impose sanctions on Iran and then have that a rallying cry for the entire country and the Middle East, because it doesn`t hurt the clerics. It hurts the people.
Or we could negotiate with the clerics. But they`re still going to build the nukes anyway. Do you think that`s really going to stop them?
The only other option I can come up with is stay the course in Iraq. Most Americans don`t even understand that. It`s about planting democracy there and hoping it spreads to Iran and it gives the people the courage to stand up and topple their own government.
But you know what? At this point I don`t know if that will even work. Most Americans don`t have any real idea why we went into Iraq to begin with. It wasn`t about WMDs. It was about Iran.
I also don`t know how, assuming our only hope is through the average Iranian, I don`t know how to unite those people for us. But maybe our next guest can. Farid Ghadry, he is the president of the Reform Party of Syria.
Farid, what a great opportunity to have you on.
FARID GHADRY, PRESIDENT, REFORM PARTY OF SYRIA: Thank you.
BECK: So many people I hear say how come we never hear from any good Muslims who are out there fighting the fight with us? You are one of them, sir. Am I not — am I mistaken?
GHADRY: No, you`re not, Glenn. And thank you for having me.
BECK: Absolutely. Tell me, sir, am I wrong on the assessment of the Middle East with — when it comes to Iran and the people?
GHADRY: No, you`ve given a very good picture, Glenn, however, I`d like to add something to what you said. I think there`s a lot that this country can do. If we remember the times when we had problems with Milosevic. And when this country decided that Milosevic has to go, everything and the president at that time signed an executive order.
Everything, all assets of this country turned towards undermining Milosevic, and I think this country has to get to that point where actually the president, President Bush, will sign an executive order saying that regime change is in the best interest in Iran — and Syria is in the best interest of the United States and the people of Iran and Syria.
Once he does that, then you`re going to see all the assets that this country can muster turn against these regimes, and in and by itself that`s going to create critical mass for the reformists and the people inside the country to gather momentum and go after the regime itself.
BECK: Farid, I agree with you. I mean, it`s kind of like what we were saying with Apartheid, you know.
GHADRY: Right.
BECK: You`ve got to be against it.
GHADRY: Right.
BECK: The problem is — do this favor for me. People like me in this country, I`m labeled a nut job. I`m labeled a hate monger. I`m, you know, whatever; fear monger. You don`t have that label. Convince the American people right now that Iran is a global threat as big as what we`ve seen since the Nazis.
GHADRY: Look, we`re worried Iran on a daily basis but some — I`ve heard some of the news saying, well, Iran is about 10 years away from owning a bomb. Iran is not a danger, an immediate danger, and we can negotiate with them.
These people miss the point. Iran could tomorrow go shop for enriched uranium. And I believe the North Koreans will be more than happy to — to please them on that score. And all of a sudden, we`re going to wake up one day and we`re going to see the Iranians testing an atomic bomb without our knowledge.
BECK: Right. But wait, wait. Explain this, because most people will say, well, hang on. Pakistan has a bomb or Indian has a bomb. It hasn`t really been that bad. They want to control the entire Middle East, do they not?
GHADRY: Beyond that. They — Ahmadinejad is a president, as you mentioned, and Ahmadinejad thinks that only through apocalyptic measures he can bring the twelfth imam into this world, and the last the imam with the Shia to rule the world.
And so he, in his own view and his own vision, he`s got to be — he`s got to bring chaos and — and Armageddon of some sort to the region in order to bring that twelfth imam.
And how can he do that? He`s doing it through Hezbollah. We`ve seen this in the last month or so. But I believe the atomic bomb is his only way and the best way to actually bring about this apocalyptic future that he — that he envisions for to bring the twelfth imam. I think the danger of Iran is a little bit more different than Pakistan and India.
BECK: A lot different.
GHADRY: An understatement here.
BECK: Yes. Do you — do you believe our friends in the Middle East – – because we do have some friends in the Middle East.
GHADRY: Right, right.
BECK: And we also have some people who are on our side because they`re terrified themselves, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
GHADRY: Right.
BECK: Do you believe they even trust us after what we`ve seen with Israel after Hezbollah, I mean — I don`t think Hezbollah — I was trusting that Israel could go into Iran and strike those nuke — those nuke bunkers. I don`t think they can. I don`t think they have the stomach to do it. Do they — do our friends in the Middle East feel this way about us?
GHADRY: Well, they do. There`s still that trust. And Saudi Arabia, I believe, is doing its best to appease the region and not inflame the region. And I — and I think the Saudis have gotten to a point where they have a weapon of their own that they can use at any moment to actually — to actually stop Ahmadinejad, and that is the Sunni versus Shia. And I think — and I think Saudi Arabia, if it feels that — that Ahmadinejad is going to just take over, they`re going to try and bring this issue up front.
BECK: Farid, thank you so much. We`ll have you again.
GHADRY: Thank you.
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