In a previous post, I wrote of the long-term Shadow War against the Islamofascists.
Recently, given the recent insurgent activities there has been some discussion of the mechanics of this war and how the current engagements figure into this long-term fight. Of particular interest are reports that the Iranians and Syrians have been providing some measure of support for these uprisings. As of last Thursday, I had not been made aware of any direct Iranian support for Sadr, but the absence of evidence, in this case, does not signal to me an evidence of absence.
In the grander scheme of things, I would be absolutely astonished if neither nation is actively contributing to the violence - as it would mark a vast departure from tactics used previously in the last 25 years of the Shadow War.
Whether or not it is widely acknowledged, Iran has considered itself to be in a state of war with the United States since the early '80s. Going back to Beirut, a couple of Christian militants killed some Iranian diplomats. Iran, true to the logic of the "street," decided that there was no way that such an action could have been taken without the express approval of the Israelis (who were, at the time, in Southern Lebanon). As the logic goes, if the Israelis sanctioned (or even prompted) the attack, then it must have been done at the behest of the United States. For most of those in that part of the world who supplant understanding with conspiracy theories, the only open question is whether the US runs the Israelis or vice versa.
At any rate, the Iranians then proceeded to engage in their Lebanese proxy war. At first they had uniformed members of the Pasdaran were operating in Lebanon. In the first phase of Iranian operations, Iranian units were attacked directly - so thereafter, the Iranians switched to a total proxy and 'volunteer' system - reminiscent of the Russian pilots during the Korean War or the US in Angola.
A few months after the Iranians went on the offensive in Beirut, the US pulled out, following the detonation of the truck bomb at the US Marine barracks. Lo and behold, the Iranians were now convinced that they had caused the US to retreat from its imperialist ambitions far faster than even the Vietnamese. Truly, this religious/terrorist tack had proven to be effective. Moreover, even the Israelis pulled out unilaterally. This must surely be significant, as the Syrians and Iranians working through their proxies have casued the Israeli army one of their very few military defeats in the Middle East. This band of religious zealots, who in addition to killing Israelis, provided all manner of Islamic charity to Lebanon's wartorn people, had humbled the US and its puppet.
Take this with the notion that it was the fight of the faithful that ejected the Soviets from Afghanistan with money from all over the Arab world and direct Pakistani assistance. Think about the intoxcating and heady power that this group of ragtag believers managed to demonstrate - they brought a superpower to its knees. Somewhere along the line, there does seem to be a willing forgetfullness of American support for the Mujhadeen, but that's a post for another day.
Iran and the Arab world continued this battle against the Zionists and the Crusaders in a number of arenas. Abu Sayaaf in the Philipines - holding their own against Green Berets and Marines. The Russians getting slaughtered in carload lots in Chechnya. The Islamofascists fighting the Serbs to a standstill in the Balkans. Truely, this new mode of warfare was seen as a way to crush and drive out the infidel from every place that the Umma was being crushed underfoot.
Look back to the glorious early years of Islam, when the Prophet and his generals defeated the two superpowers of their day (Persia and Turkey) and converted both to Islam. Now, embracing these new tactics, given to them by Allah, they had caused the collapse of one superpower and had rocked the other back on its heels.
Fine, the Crusaders and Zionists can face any Arab army on the field of battle - but when they do so, they are fighting their war, not the war that the faithful are fighting. Not the war of the Intifada, Al Qaeda, or Chechnya, or Kosovo. For now the true believers have found a way to turn decadence and lack of faith against the unbelievers. For the Koran inspires the faithful to become martyrs in Jihad, and the soulless, decadent west fears their afterlife.
So clearly, the mode of war prescribed by Allah involves the following traits:
A) Patience and faith in the will of Allah - the battles may be slow, but their outcome is inexorable.B) The Zionists and Crusaders lack the strength of their convictions and are easily swayed by a few deaths - the followers of Islam cannot be turned away by such temporal issues.
C) Don't fight the unbelievers on their own terms - be wise. Let them arrive with their technology, let them drive their tanks - the strength of the Islamic warrior is in his heart. Wait until they sleep, and then attack.
D) Fight the kufr in a way that takes advantage of their lack of resolve. Don't send your armies into the fight - rather send your money, support, weapons into the hands of jihadis. The jihadis will fight with your support. To openly send in uniformed soldiers is to invite them to use their cowardly weapons to murder the soliders of Allah.
What this means practically, is that as the Israelis fought in Lebanon and were eventually driven out by groups supported by Syria and Iran, and the way that the support of the entire Arab world grinds the Zionists down and out of Palestine, so similar efforts in Iraq will bring the Crusaders to their knees.
What this means for the US, is that we best start making it absolutely crystal-freaking clear to these jokers that for every dollar and every gun provided to the insurgents in Iraq will result in a three times as much money and weaponry to Syrian and Iranian insurgents. Every border clash will be met with decisive force.
These folks think that they've mastered proxy war because they've been at it for 20-some odd years.
They seem to have forgotten that they themselves were only pawns in the much larger and older proxy war between the Soviets and the Americans.
It might be time to remind them of that, and the fact that we are no longer constrained by the Soviets.
Launched by Bravo Romeo Delta at April 13, 2004 08:56 PM