When Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad popped off last week, to the effect that February 11 would bring “the demise of the liberal capitalist system,” I chuckled that February 11 would obviously be the safest day in the history of the liberal capitalist system; but I did wonder what possible motive the Iranian leadership could have for letting their loose-cannon figurehead make such empty threats. Well, it now appears we have an answer. When the country’s actual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, echoes this threat, declaring that Iran will “punch the arrogance” of the West on February 11, it becomes much more likely that the Iranian regime is plotting to do something spectacularly foolish. I think they are underestimating the U.S. and our president — interpreting his (and our country’s) desire for peace as weakness. The most spectacular miscalculation of this kind in recent memory was the 9/11 attack: Some of our country’s enemies figured that with a relatively inexperienced (in foreign policy) and politically weak (barely eight months after the Florida recount) new president, they could engage in a massive slaughter of U.S. citizens with impunity. They paid the price for that miscalculation. It’s not too late for Iran to turn back from such a disastrous course: Even evil regimes — regimes that systematically violate the rights of their own people — have the use of intellect.