2 thoughts on “The West Needs a Strategy to Counter Iran’s “Ring of Fire””
pre-Boomer Marine brat
Khomeinist Iran had/has a goal of a Shi’a Crescent stretching from Iran’s south, up through Iraq, into Syrian & Lebanese Levant. It would be a not-so-metaphorical claw, aimed at the destruction of Arabian Sunni-ism.
When elected as Ruhollah’s successor in 1989, Khamenei was something of a back-country preacher. No marja by any stretch of the imagination, he’d risen by becoming close buddies with the Sepah Pasdaran leadership during the war with Iraq. My hunch is that his ascension marked the IRGC’s taking ultimate political control of the nation.
I’m wondering if the IRGC’s long-running hatred of Israel and Judaism might be something of a cover for the deeper Shiite hatred of the Sunni (going back to the plot by Umar to capture control of the Companions after Mohammad’s death.)
As you wrote last October, hatred of Israel is rooted in the Cold War. By tagging on, Iran can certainly be “conventional”, thereby triggering the containment feelings which precluded nuking the Soviets. Might it also have been a cover for Iran’s well-documented assistance to al Qaida? (Some of bin Laden’s children thought of Soleimani as a second Papa.)
In the end, might conquest of Israel be a way to completely surround the “evil Sunni” heartland? Recruiting the Houthi ‘Fiver’ Shias certainly was. Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of Eqypt’s government (not to mention helping Erdogan form the AKP) might have been.
And I don’t think today’s West has either the unity, the brains or the cojones to reach (much less, hold) a strategy such as you suggest. Its fragmentation is cultural, which politics can’t overcome. In a metaphor, it’s “social media.”
Kyle Orton's Blog 
Khomeinist Iran had/has a goal of a Shi’a Crescent stretching from Iran’s south, up through Iraq, into Syrian & Lebanese Levant. It would be a not-so-metaphorical claw, aimed at the destruction of Arabian Sunni-ism.
When elected as Ruhollah’s successor in 1989, Khamenei was something of a back-country preacher. No marja by any stretch of the imagination, he’d risen by becoming close buddies with the Sepah Pasdaran leadership during the war with Iraq. My hunch is that his ascension marked the IRGC’s taking ultimate political control of the nation.
I’m wondering if the IRGC’s long-running hatred of Israel and Judaism might be something of a cover for the deeper Shiite hatred of the Sunni (going back to the plot by Umar to capture control of the Companions after Mohammad’s death.)
As you wrote last October, hatred of Israel is rooted in the Cold War. By tagging on, Iran can certainly be “conventional”, thereby triggering the containment feelings which precluded nuking the Soviets. Might it also have been a cover for Iran’s well-documented assistance to al Qaida? (Some of bin Laden’s children thought of Soleimani as a second Papa.)
In the end, might conquest of Israel be a way to completely surround the “evil Sunni” heartland? Recruiting the Houthi ‘Fiver’ Shias certainly was. Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of Eqypt’s government (not to mention helping Erdogan form the AKP) might have been.
Hmmm.
LikeLike
And I don’t think today’s West has either the unity, the brains or the cojones to reach (much less, hold) a strategy such as you suggest. Its fragmentation is cultural, which politics can’t overcome. In a metaphor, it’s “social media.”
LikeLike