Could Ahmadinejad Be Daniel's "King of the South"?
Some have drawn a parallel between American President Bush and Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
That there could be any comparison at all initially seems improbable to say the least! But making
the comparison yields both parallels and paradoxes, and it may predict a colossal confrontation
in the making.
by Cecil E. Maranville
President George W. Bush heads the most powerful nuclear power on earth. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heads a nation struggling to have its way to continue its nuclear program, which is apparently close to being weaponized. His and Iran's ambitions are troubling the world—with good reason.
President Bush heads a great democracy that champions personal freedom. President Ahmadinejad heads an Islamic republic that controls many aspects of the lives of its citizens.
Bush was elected in a free popular vote. Ahmadinejad was chosen by Iran's "Supreme Leader" (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and conservative mullahs; Ahmadinejad reportedly spent nothing on his election campaign, which the mullahs funded.
Bush is the U.S. commander-in-chief. Ahmadinejad is subject to the Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as to the Guardian Council, a 12-member body of clerics. And Khamenei added an additional oversight body recently, the Expediency Council, which is led by none other than Hasemi Rafsanjani, the man Ahmadinejad just defeated for the presidency! Imagine, for the sake of comparison, a religious kingmaker in American politics who selected George W. Bush to be president instead of his principal opponent, John F. Kerry, only to subsequently appoint Mr. Kerry to oversee Mr. Bush's presidency a few months after the election!
Shimon Peres, who was then the Israeli deputy prime minister, offered this frank assessment of Ahmadinejad's election: "Neither the primaries nor the recent round of elections were free, and were contests between extremists. The candidates were pre-determined, as were the results . . . The conclusion is that the dangerous combination of extremists, non-conventional weapons and isolation from the West will continue, and will generate a great deal of problems for the free world" ("Iran Poll Result: World Reaction," BBC, June 25, 2005).
Peres' words could prove true, as we watch for the alignment of nations spoken of by Daniel the prophet: "And at the end-time, the king of the south shall butt at . . . the king of the north [who] shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships" (Daniel 11:40, Modern King James Version).
