The Hezbollah Texas-style Alamo might become Iran's Alamo, on a scale better called Iran's Armageddon. We certainly heard a lot of US sabre-rattling and no-win implacable demands like the US made of Saddam Hussein, leading up to war with Iraq.
Bush raised up a Shiite axis from Pakistan through Iran and Iraq to Lebanon. Bush put the Shiites and Iranians in control of Iraq. Shiites represent about half of the people from Lebanon over to Pakistan. That leads us to the big question, is the plan to break up OPEC by enfranchising Shiites politically, or to mulch the Shiites in civil wars that sustain OPEC under Saudi control? The neocons want to break up OPEC and topple the Saudi monarchy, the Bush-Cheney oilmen have in the past stuck with the Saudis and OPEC, which means keeping the Shiites down and preventing Iraq and Iran from pumping oil. That policy goes back to the formation of Iraq in 1919 and would correspond to either elevating the Sunnis over the Shiites, or pitting Sunnis and Shiites against each other in a way that reduces oil production capability. The "Shia dogs" will hunt, as you can see with Hezbollah versus the Israeli master race, but James Baker of Houston, Texas, is the dog catcher. -Bob --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, Eco Man <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Iran's Armageddonists fighting the US-supported Armageddonists. See also: > http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction/message/1305 > > > ----------Start. Please forward widely.------------ > > > http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15193481.htm > > > Posted on Fri, Aug. 04, 2006 > email this > print this > > > Commentary Is Hezbollah launching Iran's Armageddon? By Omar Fadhil It's common wisdom to say that the war between Hezbollah and Israel is a regional struggle that also includes Iran and Syria, who have supported and supplied Hezbollah. What seems to be less understood is that this is the first war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, via Iran's proxy Hezbollah, and that its overarching purpose is to advance Iran's ambitions to export the Islamic revolution throughout the Middle East. > > Thus, while religion has always played an important role in prior Arab-Israeli wars, this time it has moved to center stage. It is the theological aspect of this conflict that makes it so explosive and could lead to its expansion. > > As an observer of the conflict from Iraq, I see the signs that Iran may be starting to launch the mullahs' version of an Armageddon, exploiting the religious beliefs of devout Shiites in the region. While this may sound more the stuff of prophecies than international relations, it is important to understand - especially in countries such as Lebanon and Iraq that have large Shiite populations. > > President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq are both devout believers in the "Imam" of Shia Islam. Also known as "Imam Mehdi" - hence the name of Sadr's militia, the Mehdi Army - he was the 12th grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. According to certain branches of Shia Islam, the return of the "hidden Imam" must be prepared by his followers, in a particular sequence of events. Chaos and rampant violence in the region are supposed to be among signs leading to the main battle in which the Imam will return to lead Shiites to victory. > > Whether Ahmadinejad and Sadr personally believe that it is their duty to prepare the ground for the rise of the Imam, or whether they are merely exploiting religious mythology for their own political purposes, Iran and its agents in Iraq are starting to make the connection between the current conflict and the return of Imam Mehdi. > In eastern Baghdad, where Sadr's militias are based, there has been a sudden appearance of banners and writings on the walls carrying religious messages that refer specifically to Imam Mehdi. A large number can be seen near the Interior Ministry complex, home to police forces loyal to Sadr. And reports are surfacing that Sadr's militia is recruiting fighters to travel to Lebanon. > > It is not coincidental that these banners appeared within 24 hours of Hezbollah's kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers. The messages on these banners, with their unstable mixture of religion and policy, are ominous, written in a tone that invokes the rise of the Imam. One reads: "By renouncing sin and by integration for the sake of afterlife, we become the best soldiers to our leader and savior, the Mehdi." Integration is one of those words Sadr often uses in reference to preparations for the afterlife. > > Throughout Islamic history, rulers have used divine texts to consolidate their power. They did this either by twisting the meaning of the written texts, or by inventing thousands of alleged sayings of the prophet. In this case, it looks like the way is being paved for the "imminent" arrival of the Imam to be announced through the Mumahidoon (those who pave the way for the Imam), which is how Sadr and his followers describe themselves. > > In the last quarter of a century, Iran's dreams of exporting the Islamic revolution were stopped by the once strong pan-Arab nationalism in the region. No more. Once the mullahs consolidated their power in Iran through their recent "electoral coup," in which they prohibited close to a thousand candidates from running in the last parliamentary elections and thus eliminated the reformist movement from the political scene, they were able to look outward. Now they are positioning themselves to fill the ideological vacuum left by the demise of pan-Arabist socialist ideologies with Islamic fundamentalism. > > Iran's ambitions present a danger not only to Israel, but also to the free world, whose values are fundamentally opposed to those of radical Islamic fundamentalism. It is therefore critical that the West unite behind a clear strategy to thwart Iran's ambitions. > A first step is to recognize that Iran's calculations, which may seem irrational, factor in its potential to exploit deep religious feelings and mobilize Shiite followers to fight in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere in preparation for the return of the Savior Imam. It is a wily strategy that must be recognized and addressed by the West, lest Iran's Armageddon Day become a self-fulfilling prophecy. > > > --------------------------------- > Omar Fadhil ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is a member of Friends of Democracy, a Baghdad-based organization to promote democratic values, and cofounder of the blog Iraq the Model (www.iraqthemodel.blogspot.com). > > > > ------------end-------------- > > > ----------------- > > > Both the Shia and Sunni fundamentalists are also bloody drug warriors. > Beheading, hanging or otherwise executing drug users, smugglers, etc.. > Or giving them long prison sentences. Oftentimes after sham trials. > Hmmm. Sounds just like the US drug war, too. > > Fundamentalists. > > These are the same people that caused the USA > to have the highest incarceration rate in the world. > With the drug war gone mad. > > > > > http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/forfeit.htm and > http://corporatism.tripod.com/forfeit.htm and > http://multi19.fortunecity.com/forfeit.htm > > > ------------- > > > MMM (Global Million Marijuana March): > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction > Newsweek, Nov. 14, 2005, page 36: > "The most recent evidence comes from autopsies of 44 prisoners who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in U.S. custody. Most died under circumstances that suggest torture. The reports use words like 'strangulation,' 'asphyxiation' and 'blunt force injuries.' ... A few months before the [Abu Ghraib] scandal broke [spring 2004], Coalition Provisional Authority polls showed Iraqi support at 63 percent. A month after Abu Ghraib, the number was 9 percent. Polls showed that 71 percent of Iraqis were surprised by the revelations." > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. > Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
