Memo to Ahmadinejad

Exercising the First

War? No thanks.

by Doug Lambert

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Recently, the Iran Policy Committee (IPC), a think-tank of military people and other respected experts in that area of the world, released a white paper offering a series of steps and suggestions to supplement President Bush’s latest plans for a new strategy in Iraq. Entitled “How to Make the Surge Work: A Complementary Political-Military Plan for Iraq”, it outlines a political complement to the proposed American military troop surge in Iraq. Additionally, it reveals information about the nature of the enemy and who they really are that most Americans probably didn’t know.

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Discussing the paper in a January 12th news conference, General Paul E. Vallely, USA (Ret.), co-chair, IPC Military Committee, and co-author of  “Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror” said, “Sending an additional 20,000 U.S. troops to Iraq under current military strategies and rules of engagement will unlikely make much difference.” The reason is that there is another reality on the ground in Iraq that more often than not goes unstated, due to the obvious implications. Says Vallely: “Based on the intelligence that is now available, it is very clear that Iran is the number one enemy in Iraq. But our enemy, Iran, is not fighting a conventional war against us; it is engaged in an unconventional war.” He further noted that ample evidence exists showing that the Iranians have stepped up their efforts in the past few months. “The Qods Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps secretly trains, finances, and arms an extensive terrorist network in Iraq.”

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Issuing the gist of the warning his group wishes to impart to President Bush and his war planners, Vallely stated, “To prevail, the United States has to transition from a conventional to an unconventional war footing to adjust to Iran’s tactics and make the enemy pay a heavy price for its despicable tactics.”

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“But Doug, he talked about an enemy—like we’re really at war or something! And what does he mean about Iranians in Iraq? Fighting us? Why would they? Don’t they understand? We don’t want to fight —we just have to talk to them.” 

We are in the first stages of a new world war. Whether we like it or not, it is upon us. It is not a war for territory or spoils and booty. It is a war that, similar to the great calamity of World War II, or the Cold War that followed, is one between ideologies. And like those two wars, it once again features the clash of democratic ideals and freedoms for individuals versus totalitarianism and subjugation, fueled by an additional element of rabid religious fervor. As I have often noted in this space, for America, it all started in November of 1979 with the taking of the American embassy and hostages in Iran.

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That event began a long series of unanswered attacks against the US and its interests by elements related to fanatics hailing from within the new radical fundamentalist Islamic tide that followed Ayatollah Khomeini’s seizure of power. The Beirut Marine barracks bombing. The Khobar Towers bombing. The first WTC bombing. The African embassy bombings. The attack on the USS Cole. These were all outright acts of war that were all but ignored as Americans en masse chose to pretend that they were nothing more than isolated incidents requiring no action. Our enemies watched and concluded that America lacked the will to fight. To them, despite the US’s massive military might, it was nothing more than a paper tiger that could be toppled with just the right amount of pressure.

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On September 11th, 2001, the enemy made its move. Attacking the centers of our economic and military might, along with the seat of our National government (the destination of the plane taken down by passengers of Flight 97), the goal was nothing less than the total collapse of our way of life, to be replaced with their barbaric 6th century laws and beliefs (Sharia law). Luckily, President Bush responded with real action instead of the non-response that followed the aforementioned previous attacks. Rather than appeasement and meaningless talk, the enemy finally found themselves at the receiving end of retaliatory action both in Afghanistan and Iraq. “But Doug, Iraq isn’t Iran. Isn’t our beef with Iran?”

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All one has to do is study the map of that region. If you accept the notion that Iran is the major driving force of the radical Islamic world, with whom some day we will have to reckon, then having the US military in neighboring Iraq is a good idea. Furthermore, if you consider the history of their actions, the words contained in their leaders’ rhetoric, and their pursuit of the technology needed for atomic weapons, a sense of urgency develops.

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According to an article this week in Y-NetNews.com, “Israel and the United States will soon be destroyed, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday during a meeting with Syria’s foreign minister, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website said in a report. ‘Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad… assured that the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel will soon come to the end of their lives,’ the Iranian president was quoted as saying.”

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It really sounds like this guy is planning some sort of war with us, doesn’t it? “But Doug, we don’t want war. We elected Democrats in the last election. We voted not to have a war!” Apparently Ahmadinejad didn’t get the memo.

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Doug Lambert’s column appears Thursdays. He has an opinion on almost everything. For more, visit online at www.granitegrok.com and www.gilfordgrok.com. Hear him on the radio Saturdays from 2 to 4 on 1490AM, WEMJ.

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(This first appeared in the January 25th Laconia Daily Sun on page 4)