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Originally Posted by MothBalls
Iran said that Israel needs to be wiped off the map.
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1. Iran has never said that. One person, the President has made statements that have been mistranslated (perhaps even innocently)
cf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud...nism.22_speech
Wiped off the map is an English Idiom. There is no equivalent idiom in Persian. Therefore it is most unlikely that the President would use the words that would be translated in to the English "wiped off the map".
As a clarification, President Ahmadinejad compared Israel to the Soviet Union in the first speech. This part is often not included in English translations. Now the Soviet Union was not destroyed by military action, it was "destroyed" from within. What President Ahmadinejad meant was that the people of the area would dissolve the state of Israel and form a new jointly governed state representing all the people of the area.
2. President Ahmadinejad has no authority over the military at all. It is confusing as he holds the title of President which usually means the boss. Even if he did mean that he wanted the destruction of Israel (which was not the meaning in Persian) he simply can't do anything about it.
3. The person who does have authority over the military is the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He has made two separate official declarations that Iran has no intention of attacking Israel. One in 2005 and one in 2007.
So this raises an interesting question
Why do we put credence on the words of the person who does not have control over the military but we don't put credence on the words of the person who does have control over the military?
The answer is that the words of President Ahmadinejad (when mistranslated) support our perception of Iran and the words of the Supreme Leader Khamenei refute our perception of Iran.
However if the media keeps repeating that Iran wants to destroy Israel enough times, it becomes a "fact".