By M.R.Tamehi
President Bush in 2001 declared war on terrorism and now President Obama in 2014 has declared another war on terrorism. In the 13 years between these wars what lessons should be taught in order to lead the present war on the right path?
I think Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the actual God Father of the Islamic State not mincing his words gave the precise answer this question in his interview on 15 Sep as he was discharged from hospital; “the Americans should know that if they continue the present policy (he means the policy of striking terrorists in Iraq and Syria) they would face the same problems which they experienced during the past decade in the region!!”
In 2001 war was spearheaded against Al-Qaeda and Taliban but it was the Iranian regime who cashed in the huge political and strategic profit of this war at the cost of tens of thousands of lives of innocent Iraqi and Syrian people. On top of this the bombardment of Iranian resistance bases in Iraq by coalition forces melted like a delicious cake in the mouths of the mullahs ruling Iran, who were sitting back watching the show. This gift on a golden plate to the Mullahs in Iran clearly disrupted the geopolitical equilibrium in the region, a fact which as time passes by proves itself ever more. As the Iraqi people and the American soldiers were killed by daily car explosions detonated by bombs manufactured in IRGC factories in Iran, Mullahs in Iran filled the vacuum by virtually sending in truckloads of clergy and armed militia into Iraq under the command of Ghassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s terrorist Quds force.
Therefore as the result of “great strategic mistake in US foreign policy over Iraq” the Godfather of terrorism was given the golden and free of charge opportunity to extend its claws strategically to Iraq and Syria.
Now as an international coalition has been formed to fight against terrorism the question is, “What will be the outcome this time?”
General Petraus correctly hit the head of the nail when he said that the US air force should not become the air support for the Iran-controlled militia in Iraq. This is hard won experience of General Petraus in the war against terrorism on the ground in Iraq.
Choosing 4-star General John Allen as the commander of the operation against extremists, excluding the Iranian regime from Jeddah and Paris international conference are clearly steps in the right path.
Terrorism and fundamentalism all stem and breathe under an umbrella which gives them the logistical, moral, intelligence, communication and most importantly ground to move and maneuver. This is the reality that the appeasement policy towards the Iranian regime has tried for years to neglect.
The Iranian regime tried hard to elbow itself in to the campaign against ISIS but as it was rightly pushed aside, it started to downplay the international coalition resorting to hollow threats and trying to muddy the water. We in Iran have a saying that when the cat cannot grab the meat it says it is rotten.
Therefore the second international coalition against terrorism will only succeed if the snake is snatched at its head otherwise it will turn around and bite you again.
The Iranian resistance has for years argued for the policy of evicting the Mullahs from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine as the only path to root out terrorism in the region for good and has paid dearly to prove this reality.
So we should wait and see if the hammer will continue to hit the head of the nail correctly until it’s flattened.
I very much hope that this time it the result of this war would be the final nail in the coffin to Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East.
Iran Liberty 