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January 16, 2007
"Cry Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war - Shakespeare
If Tehran Knew
asharq alawsat
In America, they lie for tactical reasons, stating over and over that military action against Iran is unlikely. However in Iran, out of ignorance, they reiterate that American military action against their country is impossible because the US is "unable" to do so!We say and hope our analysis is wrong. A possible military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is in the final stages. Unless a political miracle occurs that revives the halted dialog between Iran and the international community, Iran and its neighboring countries should not be surprised by a scenario that includes American military action.
There are a number of common illusions in the Arab and Muslim mind in general, illusions that on several occasions in the past have been tried and proven unsuccessful. It was proven that the Arabs confuse their hopes with reality, and between what the other wants and what we think they are planning for.
There is an illusion that Iran is a huge military state with decisive striking power. This would be true if Iran was to confront one of its neighbors, but the fact is that in any confrontation between America and Iran, Iran would be a tiny helpless state. It will suffer what the Arabs suffered in 1967 and what Iraq suffered when Saddam stubbornly rejected all peaceful solutions. America will be able to impose its conditions. This has nothing to do with love or hatred. Geographically and historically, Iran is closer to us than America, and the cultural and historical relations we have with Iran outweigh our ties with America. Rather it is the facts, reality that show that the balances of power tilt flagrantly in favor of the United States and the Western alliance, particularly the European one!
Another illusion is that America is "rolling in the Iraqi mud." I wish that the Arab world would not believe such a statement; Iraq is not another Vietnam, and America is able to conduct more than one war because of its huge political and technological capabilities.
Tehran needs to reconsider its political discourse. The clamor of hollow threats has not succeeded once in modern history. No one ever succeeded without using one's mind and knowing one's capabilities and acting accordingly, pursuant to the rule "God favors those who know their self worth".
Israel has a nuclear arsenal but no Israeli official dares to mention Israel's possessions of nuclear weapons; they even deny the existence of these weapons. In Tehran, they are still in the early stages of enrichment; yet we hear a language of threats, menace and stubbornness.
If only the Iranian leadership thinks of the interests of its peoples, seeks to understand today's complicated international political equations and realizes that big words do not change political facts and that seeking practical alternatives and solutions with the international community is more feasible and useful than the antiquated words that think that louder voices mean a stronger argument!
Wild Thing's comment.......
I read Victor Davis Hanson often and sometimes save what he has written. This is excellent and I am going to put some of that he wrote here. I agree with what he said so I will leave it as my comment............
The Dogs of War - Lessons of the 20th Century
"When the dogs of war slip loose, accurate prognosis is almost impossible; the surreal becomes the typical."
"I would not wish to fight the United States - either militarily, politically, or culturally. For every threat, our history teaches us that Americans offer not just a rejoinder, but the specter of a devastating answer of a magnitude almost inconceivable to those now chanting and threatening in the streets of the Middle East. Do they have any idea of what sort of dangerous people we really are? Do they understand the history of the names of those ships now off their coasts, like the USS Peleliu or Enterprise, or the pedigree of the 82nd or 101st Airborne? "
"The Saudis' princes tease us with polite lectures about our errant policies, more obliquely suggesting that our bombing may lose "friends" among the moderate states. Yet America, unlike Saudi Arabia, has not merely the veneer of modern civilization, but is its wellspring. In a real war, despite severe dislocation we can survive, as in the past, without Saudi oil. The royal family and the faux-culture of the Gulf cannot. Fifteen of their citizens helped to murder 6,000 unsuspecting Americans in a time of peace - a single wing of American fighters could end their entire regime in a few days of war. Such are the frightening and horrendous realities that lurk beneath the unspoken surface when the dogs of war are unleashed. Battle indeed is the ultimate nightmare because accustomed rhetoric recedes before the truth of abject military power; and so the more the United States is shrilly hectored, in still more stark contrast loom the silhouettes of aircraft carrier groups and B-52s."
"Reviled by those in the Middle East, caricatured on campuses at home, and second-guessed by pundits of every persuasion, our military and its leadership - by any military standard of the past - have been rather brilliant in waging a war of unprecedented logistical challenges against an elusive enemy."
Complete article is here.........
Posted by Wild Thing at January 16, 2007 01:55 AM
Comments
All the more reason to use unrestricted military power. We marched against Saddam twice, with relative ease. But, we held back each time and it has cost us. We could have driven Hanoi to the surrender table anytime from 1965 on. But, we held back and ultimatelty gave up a victory.
America is terrible at foreign relations/politics. We are supreme at fighting. It we utterly destroy an enemy, we will have fewer nations and groups willing to test us. Dabbling around, giving in to political concerns makes us appear weak to others. Our devastating firepower and willingness to use it will garner more respect for America, and ultimately more peace, than all the treaties, Peace Corps' effort and UN funding we have ever negotiated.
Posted by: TomR at January 16, 2007 01:39 PM
The US military has the training, the weapons, and the drive to win any battle. It is the leadership of the country that holds them back in an effort to wage and win a PC war. Cannot be done. Do not fight to win the hearts and minds. Fight to win - period.
Posted by: raz0r at January 16, 2007 09:17 PM
These idiots have no clue what we are capable of.
I would suggest that anyone who thinks otherwise google up "Option Zero John Ringo".
Nuke an American City and it will happen.
Posted by: Kristopher at January 16, 2007 10:23 PM
Tom, I agree so much with what you said and this is really good.
"Our devastating firepower and willingness to use it will garner more respect for America, and ultimately more peace, than all the treaties, Peace Corps' effort and UN funding we have ever negotiated."
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 17, 2007 03:23 AM
razOr, yesss "Do not fight to win the hearts and minds. Fight to win - period."...I agree.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 17, 2007 03:24 AM
Kristopher, thanks for the information. Your right,they have no clue of our power.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 17, 2007 03:26 AM
One of the most confining and eventually lethal aspects of Arab and Persian culture is ignorance. Add stupidity.
When a theocracy employs resentment as a means to justify itself, as Islam does in its view of The West, it prohibits evaluation both of itself, and the enemies it faces. In a way, the Democrats do the same thing.
The outcome for both of them, over the long term, is defeat and ignominy. How long it takes is always the question.
Posted by: Rhod at January 17, 2007 08:11 AM
Rhod that is great how you put it and so true too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 17, 2007 12:37 PM
