Go Ahead...Make My Day
The United States is like Harry Callahan. Iran is like a punk. The punk thinks he can reach for his gun and Dirty Harry will hesitate long enough for him to use it. In the movies, the punk soon begins an expedited process of assuming room temperature. What will happen in reality?
Iran is reaching with its latest escapade of kidnapping 15 British soldiers. Iran wishes to embarrass the British and the Americans with this show of force. It also believes this will lead to a greater standing for itself in the Arab world and a quicker withdrawal of coalition forces from not only Iraq, but the entire Middle East.
Iran is unlike any enemy we have faced since Nazi Germany. Iran doesn’t care about the opinion of the international community. Iran doesn’t care about the lives of its own citizens. Iran doesn’t care about negotiations or compromises. Iran is on a mission from “god”. Iran wants to establish the worldwide caliphate; a society of all people ruled under Islamic law. This goal may be ridiculously ambitious, but Iran seeks it nonetheless.
Iran has 2 strategic objectives for furthering its cause: Drive America and its allies out of the Middle East and destroy Israel. Everything Iran has done since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 has been toward furthering these objectives. Iran is the worlds’ leading sponsor of terrorism, and until September 11th, killed more Americans than any other terrorist group. It created Hezbollah, that not only killed over 200 U.S. Marines and drove the Americans out of Lebanon, but continues to operate with the objective of fighting Israel whenever it is in Iran’s’ best interest to do so.
Iran is one of the few countries in the world today that regards taking hostages as an official form of diplomacy. It started with the takeover of the U.S. embassy in 1979 and continues to this day. Taking hostages is as natural to Iran as eating pasta is to Tommy Lasorda. The Iranian regime will continue to disregard international pressure and the Geneva Conventions because it does not recognize anything that stands in the way of its ultimate goal. Even Tommy Lasorda would cut the spaghetti a little bit if the United Nations issued a sternly-worded memo.
The position the British are faced with is dire. The hostages have already been forced to make “confessions”, which is a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions. The poor soldiers are probably already dead. Maybe not as I write this, but their chances of returning home are slim, as they would be able to tell their story of captivity once freed from their captors.
The British are pursuing the diplomatic route, which is prudent, but will be unsuccessful against a barbaric enemy. The best the British can hope for, if they want to recover the 15 soldiers alive, is an utter humiliation at the hands of the Iranians. Iran will make demands that must be met before the return of the soldiers. If the Brits acquiesce, Iran will have won its propaganda war. I can only hope that Tony Blair will borrow at least one of Margaret Thatcher’s balls.
The response from the Americans has been conspicuously quiet. Out of respect for one of our better allies, the U.S. has remained silent at the request of the British. No one from the Bush administration has publicly commented. Contrast this with the pleas from the Bush Sr. administration for Israel to constrain itself from retaliation after Sadaam launched Scud missiles against Israel during Gulf War I. The Americans are NOT requesting that Great Britain show restraint, yet we are not asking them to do anything. The position is “no comment”.
Bush and his advisors know that war with Iran now is the best thing that can happen for Western civilization. War with Iran is inevitable, just as World Wars I and II were inevitable. Despite the well-intentioned diplomacy and appeasement that preceded each war, appeasement was not enough to prevent it. Winston Churchill said of his predecessor Neville Chamberlain, “Chamberlain had a choice between war and dishonor. He chose dishonor, and got war”.
If the Western world is hesitant to confront Iran today, while it is practically bankrupt and using ancient Soviet weapons, what will happen when Iran gets a nuclear arsenal? Even the United States, under the most hawkish commander-in-chief, will hesitate to start a war that could quickly turn nuclear. If Iran reaches its goal of producing nuclear weapons before the West takes action to change the regime and end the Islamic Revolution, the Revolution will continue to expand, dominate its neighbors, take over the richest oil wells in the Middle East and eventually build an arsenal that rivals that of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Threats of deterrence will be laughably ignored.
An enemy with this much firepower plus a death wish (see suicide bombers and the 2nd coming of the Mahdi) will be a problem that mankind has never faced.
War with Iran is inevitable. Iran does not have any territorial grievance with the United States. Yet, its leadership consistently foments crowds of its citizens to chant “Death to America”. Iran wants war with America. However, it wants it incrementally. Iran knows it will get destroyed in an all-out war today, but believes that if it can hold on until it gets nuclear weapons, it will have a chance. The blustering, kidnappings and proxy wars of today are an effort to push back the United States, without declaring all-out war against the United States.
The British hostage crisis is the latest escalation in this non-declared war. At some point, Iranian attempts at propaganda will reach too far. This particular crisis may be the catalyst that causes action that should have happened almost 30 years ago. The United States will look Tehran in the eye and say, “You have to ask yourself one question, punk: Do I feel lucky”?
Iran is reaching with its latest escapade of kidnapping 15 British soldiers. Iran wishes to embarrass the British and the Americans with this show of force. It also believes this will lead to a greater standing for itself in the Arab world and a quicker withdrawal of coalition forces from not only Iraq, but the entire Middle East.
Iran is unlike any enemy we have faced since Nazi Germany. Iran doesn’t care about the opinion of the international community. Iran doesn’t care about the lives of its own citizens. Iran doesn’t care about negotiations or compromises. Iran is on a mission from “god”. Iran wants to establish the worldwide caliphate; a society of all people ruled under Islamic law. This goal may be ridiculously ambitious, but Iran seeks it nonetheless.
Iran has 2 strategic objectives for furthering its cause: Drive America and its allies out of the Middle East and destroy Israel. Everything Iran has done since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 has been toward furthering these objectives. Iran is the worlds’ leading sponsor of terrorism, and until September 11th, killed more Americans than any other terrorist group. It created Hezbollah, that not only killed over 200 U.S. Marines and drove the Americans out of Lebanon, but continues to operate with the objective of fighting Israel whenever it is in Iran’s’ best interest to do so.
Iran is one of the few countries in the world today that regards taking hostages as an official form of diplomacy. It started with the takeover of the U.S. embassy in 1979 and continues to this day. Taking hostages is as natural to Iran as eating pasta is to Tommy Lasorda. The Iranian regime will continue to disregard international pressure and the Geneva Conventions because it does not recognize anything that stands in the way of its ultimate goal. Even Tommy Lasorda would cut the spaghetti a little bit if the United Nations issued a sternly-worded memo.
The position the British are faced with is dire. The hostages have already been forced to make “confessions”, which is a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions. The poor soldiers are probably already dead. Maybe not as I write this, but their chances of returning home are slim, as they would be able to tell their story of captivity once freed from their captors.
The British are pursuing the diplomatic route, which is prudent, but will be unsuccessful against a barbaric enemy. The best the British can hope for, if they want to recover the 15 soldiers alive, is an utter humiliation at the hands of the Iranians. Iran will make demands that must be met before the return of the soldiers. If the Brits acquiesce, Iran will have won its propaganda war. I can only hope that Tony Blair will borrow at least one of Margaret Thatcher’s balls.
The response from the Americans has been conspicuously quiet. Out of respect for one of our better allies, the U.S. has remained silent at the request of the British. No one from the Bush administration has publicly commented. Contrast this with the pleas from the Bush Sr. administration for Israel to constrain itself from retaliation after Sadaam launched Scud missiles against Israel during Gulf War I. The Americans are NOT requesting that Great Britain show restraint, yet we are not asking them to do anything. The position is “no comment”.
Bush and his advisors know that war with Iran now is the best thing that can happen for Western civilization. War with Iran is inevitable, just as World Wars I and II were inevitable. Despite the well-intentioned diplomacy and appeasement that preceded each war, appeasement was not enough to prevent it. Winston Churchill said of his predecessor Neville Chamberlain, “Chamberlain had a choice between war and dishonor. He chose dishonor, and got war”.
If the Western world is hesitant to confront Iran today, while it is practically bankrupt and using ancient Soviet weapons, what will happen when Iran gets a nuclear arsenal? Even the United States, under the most hawkish commander-in-chief, will hesitate to start a war that could quickly turn nuclear. If Iran reaches its goal of producing nuclear weapons before the West takes action to change the regime and end the Islamic Revolution, the Revolution will continue to expand, dominate its neighbors, take over the richest oil wells in the Middle East and eventually build an arsenal that rivals that of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Threats of deterrence will be laughably ignored.
An enemy with this much firepower plus a death wish (see suicide bombers and the 2nd coming of the Mahdi) will be a problem that mankind has never faced.
War with Iran is inevitable. Iran does not have any territorial grievance with the United States. Yet, its leadership consistently foments crowds of its citizens to chant “Death to America”. Iran wants war with America. However, it wants it incrementally. Iran knows it will get destroyed in an all-out war today, but believes that if it can hold on until it gets nuclear weapons, it will have a chance. The blustering, kidnappings and proxy wars of today are an effort to push back the United States, without declaring all-out war against the United States.
The British hostage crisis is the latest escalation in this non-declared war. At some point, Iranian attempts at propaganda will reach too far. This particular crisis may be the catalyst that causes action that should have happened almost 30 years ago. The United States will look Tehran in the eye and say, “You have to ask yourself one question, punk: Do I feel lucky”?
posted by BoiseJag at 7:40 PM
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