Above, Iran's doomsday clock for Israel.
Tehran
spared no expense in entertaining the masses during the June 2017 Al-Quds Day festivities.
Israeli and US flags were burned, inflammatory speeches were given, and a new digital clock was unveiled in the Iranian
capital's aptly-named Palestine Square. But this new clock doesn't tell the
time -- instead it counts down to the destruction of Israel, set for 2040. The
date prediction comes from a speech Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei gave on September 9, 2015, in which he stated that the "Zionist
regime will cease to exist in the next 25 years."
Israel will be celebrating its 92nd -- and supposedly last -- birthday in 2040. Our day of destruction will also festively be shared with the 100th anniversary of the first remote operation of a computer; the 105th birthday of Israeli actor Chaim Topol of Fiddler on the Roof fame; and, oddly enough, the 47th anniversary of the Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizing Israel as a legitimate state. Which one of these events will be worthy of a Google Doodle on September 9, 2040?
The
War to End All Wars
War ravaged the globe from 1914 to 1918. Millions of people were killed, new chemical weapons caused horrific injuries, and entire monarchies collapsed. No wonder people called it the War to End All Wars. Unfortunately, peace did not last long and the War to End All Wars was quickly followed up by another global war that unleashed even more destruction. The 1914-1918 war was thus renamed as the First World War.
War ravaged the globe from 1914 to 1918. Millions of people were killed, new chemical weapons caused horrific injuries, and entire monarchies collapsed. No wonder people called it the War to End All Wars. Unfortunately, peace did not last long and the War to End All Wars was quickly followed up by another global war that unleashed even more destruction. The 1914-1918 war was thus renamed as the First World War.
Donald
Rumsfeld on the Iraq War
Tensions with Iraq and the Bush administration were at an all-time high after 9/11 and everyone could see that war was on the horizon. When asked how long a war would last during a 2002 CBS radio interview, then US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, "I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." In February 2003, prior to the March invasion of Iraq, Rumsfeld told people in a town hall meeting that "And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." The War in Iraq lasted nearly 8 years and 9 months, officially ending in December 2011, and US troops remain in the country in the fight against ISIS.
Tensions with Iraq and the Bush administration were at an all-time high after 9/11 and everyone could see that war was on the horizon. When asked how long a war would last during a 2002 CBS radio interview, then US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, "I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." In February 2003, prior to the March invasion of Iraq, Rumsfeld told people in a town hall meeting that "And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." The War in Iraq lasted nearly 8 years and 9 months, officially ending in December 2011, and US troops remain in the country in the fight against ISIS.
It's
the end of world as we know it
People, in their unwavering optimism, have been predicting the end of the world for millennia. Notable failed end of the world predictions have come from Pope Innocent III, who predicted that the world would end in 1284, 666 years after the founding of Islam; Sabbatai Zevi, who claimed to be the Messiah and used Kabbalah to predict the Earth's demise in 1648; and of course, the Mayan apocalypse theory that claimed the world would end on December 21, 2012. As far as we know, the world still exists and will continue to do so -- at least until 2040 when we will all be destroyed.
People, in their unwavering optimism, have been predicting the end of the world for millennia. Notable failed end of the world predictions have come from Pope Innocent III, who predicted that the world would end in 1284, 666 years after the founding of Islam; Sabbatai Zevi, who claimed to be the Messiah and used Kabbalah to predict the Earth's demise in 1648; and of course, the Mayan apocalypse theory that claimed the world would end on December 21, 2012. As far as we know, the world still exists and will continue to do so -- at least until 2040 when we will all be destroyed.
The
cinema won't last
“Cinema is little more than a passing fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” Charlie Chaplin became one of cinema's greatest stars of all time, so he learned first-hand how wrong his prediction, made in 1916, was. Likewise as talkies -- aka movies with sound -- made their debut in 1927, Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Bros. studios, was quoted as saying, "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
“Cinema is little more than a passing fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” Charlie Chaplin became one of cinema's greatest stars of all time, so he learned first-hand how wrong his prediction, made in 1916, was. Likewise as talkies -- aka movies with sound -- made their debut in 1927, Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Bros. studios, was quoted as saying, "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
Y2K
bug fails to launch
If you were watching TV at any point in 1999, you'll remember the mass hysteria that the fear of the Y2K bug produced. According to analysts, many computers registered dates as just two digits due to a programming issue and when the new year rolled around, these computer would read 00 as 1900 instead of 2000, causing major tech crashes. People were obsessed, many thought their bank accounts would disappear overnight and horded household supplies and canned food. The new year came and went, and with some minor exceptions, the Y2K bug did not sting. I hope the canned food was returnable.
If you were watching TV at any point in 1999, you'll remember the mass hysteria that the fear of the Y2K bug produced. According to analysts, many computers registered dates as just two digits due to a programming issue and when the new year rolled around, these computer would read 00 as 1900 instead of 2000, causing major tech crashes. People were obsessed, many thought their bank accounts would disappear overnight and horded household supplies and canned food. The new year came and went, and with some minor exceptions, the Y2K bug did not sting. I hope the canned food was returnable.
A
failure of Titanic proportions
Was this a failed prediction or a huge jinx? Probably owing to its never-before-seen size, people were worried about the Titanic. However, they were reassured over and over again that the Titanic was unsinkable. A crew member exclaimed to Titanic passenger Sylvia Caldwell that “God himself could not sink this ship!” As rumors began to surface of disaster, Phillip Franklin, the vice president of White Star Line, which made the ship, told reporters, "We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable." The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, killing more than 1500 people.
Was this a failed prediction or a huge jinx? Probably owing to its never-before-seen size, people were worried about the Titanic. However, they were reassured over and over again that the Titanic was unsinkable. A crew member exclaimed to Titanic passenger Sylvia Caldwell that “God himself could not sink this ship!” As rumors began to surface of disaster, Phillip Franklin, the vice president of White Star Line, which made the ship, told reporters, "We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable." The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, killing more than 1500 people.
Iranian
Army Ground Forces commander Brig.-Gen. Kiumars Heidari has warned that Israel
can no longer threaten the Islamic Republic.
As tensions continue to rise along Israel’s northern border,
Heidari said Iran’s armed forces “are much more powerful than before” and that
“the date has been set” for Israel’s destruction, according to official news
agency Mehr. He was speaking in Tehran ahead of Iran’s Army Day.
Israeli
officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over the growing Iranian
entrenchment on its borders and the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to
Hezbollah, from Tehran to Lebanon via Syria, stressing that both are redlines
for the Jewish state.
Iran’s Army Day is marked on April 18, the same day on which Israel will celebrate its 70th Independence Day.
Heidari taunted others in the region by saying that – unlike countries such as Saudi Arabia which imports its arms from the West – the armed forces of Iran were produced locally.
Iran’s military budget for 2017 was a record $15.9 billion, up nearly 65% from 2014, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) having received the largest boost to a total of $7.01b., up from $4.52b. in 2016.
Iran’s Army Day is marked on April 18, the same day on which Israel will celebrate its 70th Independence Day.
Heidari taunted others in the region by saying that – unlike countries such as Saudi Arabia which imports its arms from the West – the armed forces of Iran were produced locally.
Iran’s military budget for 2017 was a record $15.9 billion, up nearly 65% from 2014, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) having received the largest boost to a total of $7.01b., up from $4.52b. in 2016.
Heidari’s
remarks were echoed by Iranian Defense Minister Brig.- Gen. Amir Hatami who
said on Sunday that Iran “has reached
self-sufficiency” in producing, supplying and exporting weapons
made in Iran.
Israel
is concerned that Iran is trying to consolidate its grip in Syria, from which
it can have both its proxy militias – like Hezbollah – as well as its own
troops from the IRGC Quds Force attack Israel. Israel is also concerned that
Tehran is trying to build advanced weapons factories in Lebanon in order to
manufacture more accurate missiles which are GPS-guided and could hit targets
within a 50 meter radius.
“We are determined to defend our country and the regional states’ security, and when other countries are after chaos in the region, we should equip ourselves to defend. And fortunately, today we enjoy the possibility to produce weapons better than the existing ones in the world,” Fars News quoted him as saying at a parliamentary meeting in Tehran.
“Wherever we need to change or enhance our defense achievements, we are able to turn it into a new product and use it,” he added.
“We are determined to defend our country and the regional states’ security, and when other countries are after chaos in the region, we should equip ourselves to defend. And fortunately, today we enjoy the possibility to produce weapons better than the existing ones in the world,” Fars News quoted him as saying at a parliamentary meeting in Tehran.
“Wherever we need to change or enhance our defense achievements, we are able to turn it into a new product and use it,” he added.
On
Friday, the IDF announced the Iranian drone that infiltrated into Israeli
territory in February – believed to be a copy of a US stealth drone that was
downed in Iran in 2011 – was armed with explosives and had been on a “sabotage
mission.” The announcement did not mention a target.
Last week Israel also carried out an air strike against Syria’s T-4 air base, the same base from which the drone took off in February, killing seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force soldiers, including Col. Mehdi Dehghan, who led the drone unit there.
A senior IDF official confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack, saying it “opened a new period” between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic.
“This is the first time we saw Iran do something against Israel – not by proxy,” he said, adding that the strike on the Iranians at T-4 “was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets – both facilities and people.”
Last week Israel also carried out an air strike against Syria’s T-4 air base, the same base from which the drone took off in February, killing seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force soldiers, including Col. Mehdi Dehghan, who led the drone unit there.
A senior IDF official confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack, saying it “opened a new period” between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic.
“This is the first time we saw Iran do something against Israel – not by proxy,” he said, adding that the strike on the Iranians at T-4 “was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets – both facilities and people.”
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