Reply #39: We Will Probably Continue To Disagree About That, My Friend [View All]

[The Magistrate]

It does not seem to me absurd on its face to acknowledge it as a possibility, and it is the sort thing that, by its very nature, requires even a very slim possibilty it could occur be treated seriously.

It has always seemed to me a mistake to under-rate the irrational component of human beings in assessing and understanding world affairs and conflicts. People do not always behave rationally, and do not always calculate their own best interests well, or in the same way, or by the same standards, that another might employ.

A hard fanatic in a postition of leadership in Iran might view the matter in some manner that made the destruction of "the Zionist entity" seem worth the costs. He might feel that being the agent of the great deed would suffice to make the Shia confession dominant, as it would have done what the Sunni could not. He might feel that the martyr's translation to Paradise would be a blessing to the casualties, and that even if his land was destroyed materially it would be no loss but a great gain. He might even feel there would be no retaliation, but that the world would instead heave a great sigh of relief at the destruction of so many Jews. It is not my expectation this will occur, but it does not seem something that could be called impossible with any great degree of conviction.