The following quotes are from the New Republic article, Ahmadinejad’s Demons, and they illustrate the religious-warrior ideology that is at the core of the Iranian regime: (Update, I just noticed Pastorius has posted more quotes in a previous entry. But see some of the links I have below for the parallels.)
“Iran's forces were no match for Saddam Hussein's professional, well-armed military. To compensate for their disadvantage, Khomeini sent Iranian children, some as young as twelve years old, to the front lines. There, they marched in formation across minefields toward the enemy, clearing a path with their bodies. … These children who rolled to their deaths were part of the Basiji, a mass movement created by Khomeini in 1979 and militarized after the war started in order to supplement his beleaguered army. … [It] was essentially a volunteer militia, most of whose members were not yet 18. They went enthusiastically, and by the thousands, to their own destruction. …
“[T]oday, it is a source not of national shame, but of growing pride. Since the end of hostilities against Iraq in 1988, the Basiji have grown both in numbers and influence. … And, last year, they formed the potent core of the political base that propelled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad--a man who reportedly served as a Basij instructor during the Iran-Iraq War--to the presidency.
“Ahmadinejad revels in his alliance with the Basiji. ... Ahmadinejad's ascendance on the shoulders of the Basiji means that the Iranian Revolution, launched almost three decades ago, has entered a new and disturbing phase. A younger generation of Iranians, whose worldviews were forged in the atrocities of the Iran-Iraq War, have come to power, wielding a more fervently ideological approach to politics than their predecessors. The children of the Revolution are now its leaders.
The above quote reminds me of the warrior religion that propelled Japan’s militaristic culture in the first half of the 20th century. We knew the appropriate manner of dealing with a warrior religion back then as Prof. Lewis explains here. It’s not yet clear what will be required to defeat the current enemy but as our President has said recently “all options are on the table.”
4 comments:
Overwhelming force is needed to defeat absolute evil. Humiliation, intimidation, and the installation of quaking fear are needed to convince those who believe that they are blessed by forces beyond this world.
Sherman did it right in the American Civil War, and we did it right in Japan (Hiroshima) and Germany (Dresden).
This is what we should have done in Fallujah and Najaf in Iraq.
Unfortunately, we didn't. And now, we have al-Jafaari.
I'm starting to think we have lost both Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, I believe, eventually, we will relearn what it takes to win. I just hope it doesn't take us getting hit with nukes for us to learn.
I agree with that succinct summary, P. And I, too, believe we will relearn how to fight a vicious enemy and, yes, I hope it won't be the hard way.
Sorry, I didn’t see your earlier post until after I wrote this one but I wanted to underscore some important points. I think the point is that we are facing a threat of the same nature that our fathers or grandfathers faced and we have to mentally and materially prepare for the fight that may be unavoidable. You got the point. I hope others will wake-up, too.
Pastorius,
I believe, eventually, we will relearn what it takes to win. I just hope it doesn't take us getting hit with nukes for us to learn.
It's your second sentence which worries me.
Every time I turn on the news and hear fluff stories I wonder just how much ostriching is possible. There seems to be no end to denial.
I saw a TV interview last night with some "terrorism expert" (but I can’t remember which TV show) where he said it is a virtual certainty that America will be hit by a covert nuclear attack in the next decade and perhaps the next few years. Did anyone see that?
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