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| Iraq |
| Prepare for onslaught in Iraq? Troubling Signs. |
| 2006-07-19 |
| from Iraq the Model A few days ago we mentioned that we tend to believe that this ongoing war in Lebanon is not only about Hizbollah and Israel; that it is probably the first stage of a wider regional conflict that is going to extend far beyond the borders of Lebanon and Israel. What I want to add today is that it is not wise to try to deal with it in the same way previous conflicts were dealt with, why? Because this conflict is not like any of the previous ones. What we must realize here is the involvement of the theological (mythological) element in this particular conflict which is also the reason why this conflict has the potential to expand into full-scale regional war. It is true that religion had always been playing a central role in the numerous chapters of the conflict between the Muslims and the West but this time there's a totally different theological belief that is being used by Iran to provoke and direct this war; I think the best way to say it is that we are about to see Iran launch the mullahs' version of an 'Armageddon'. I know this may sound absurd and maybe some of you are thinking no one could possibly be thinking that way but remember, I am telling you what extremist theocrats seem to be planning for and logic has very little space in the mullahs' way of thinking. I'm not going to claim I know exactly what Hizbollah's or Hamas's hidden motives are because I don't live there but I know about those of the regime in Iran and its arm in Iraq; both Ahmedinejad and Sadr are devout believers in the 'Savior Imam' of Shia Islam who is the 12th grandson of prophet Mohammed, also known by the name 'Imam Mehdi' hence the name of Sadr's militias 'the Mehdi Army'. I must point out though that some factions of Sunni Islam also believe in the rise of the Imam but they have their own different version of the story. Both Ahmedinejad and Sadr believe it is their duty to pave the way and prepare the ground for the rise of the Imam whose rise, according to their branch of Shia Islam, requires certain conditions and a sequence of certain events; the story is too long to discuss in one post so I'll just move on to offer my observationsÂ… We are seeing some signs here that make us think that Iran and its tools in Iraq are trying to provoke the rise of the imam through forcing the signs they believe should be associated with that rise. One of the things that do not feel right is the sudden appearance of new banners and writings on the walls carrying religious messages talking specifically of imam Mehdi. These messages are getting abundant in Baghdad and in particular in the eastern part of the capital where Sadr militias are dominant and a special number can be seen in the area of the interior ministry complex. The interesting part is that these banners appeared within less than 24 hours after Hizbollah kidnapped the Israeli soldiers. Coincidence? I don't think so. The messages on the banners are sort of new too and sound different from the ones we're used to read, I've took photos of two of them that read as follows: "By renouncing sin and by integration for the sake of afterlife we become the best soldiers to our leader and savior the Mehdi" and;, "Everyone gets power from weapons and money but the loyal to the savior get their pride from almighty God" These are written on white cloth instead of the traditional black, red or green of religious banners. We pointed out in an earlier post about the organic connections between the tools of Iran in Iraq and Lebanon and how Sadr was following Nesrallah's steps and I won't be exaggerating if I said that Sadr is even using the same structural pattern of Hizbollah for his militia, not to mention that Sadr's "foreign relations bureau" is based in Beirut! What I'm interested in finding is whether Sadr is going to jump in and join this war and whether Iran's agenda is going to include creating more chaos in the "Arab" depth to keep Tehran safeÂ… Threatening with such wide-spread chaos is embarrassing to the world and especially to America and Europe and will probably move the latter powers to try to contain the crisis and prevent it from taking a wider scope than it occupies now and I'm afraid this could make the world look for symptomatic treatments instead of cures. Those banners above represent an ominous sign and I'd like to say again that one should prepare for the worst from the very unstable mixture of religion and policy. I went to a guy who knows quite a lot about this salvation war so to speak and asked him if the texts mention anything about the timing of the war and whether it's supposed to begin before or after the rise of the Imam and the answer was "After" but he added that chaos and rampant violence in the region are supposed to be among the signs and that the main battle would be "lead by the Imam himself". The thing is that we can't be sure that they are going to play by book because throughout the Islamic history rulers employed what people consider divine texts to remain in power and make people obey them; and they did this either by twisting the texts through slanted interpretations or by making up the text as in adding thousands of texts that were claimed to be the sayings of the prophet. Here we're most likely going to see a new maneuver and I expect that the "imminent" arrival of the Imam is going to be announced through the Mumahidoon (those who pave the way for the Imam) and that's what Sadr and followers describe themselves and that's the word they use for a title of their website. That's if they didn't claim they were receiving messages from the Imam via a messenger. All previous wars between Israel and Arabs were of a pan-nationalist nature and used feelings of Arabism to push the people to war. Of course religion had a role too but now religion is going to push Arabism aside and be the dominant element in Iran's planned war because of the failure of pan-nationalism to retain its influence in the region after a long history of failures. Iran's dreams in exporting the Islamic revolution were stopped by the once strong pan-nationalism in last quarter of the 20th century but today we're facing a renewed project of exporting the Islamic revolution in an attempt to fill (and take advantage of) the vacuum left by the fading pan Arab nationalismÂ… And with liberalism still not strong enough to face such a challenge, I think the future of the region is in big danger. |
| Posted by:DanNY |
| #7 Come on Guys dont act dum everybody here at Rantburg or any seasoning knew damm well Sadr/Badr are Iranian Proxies admitidly so even. We all know the Iranians are 12th Mehdi believers ring him in and all. Put two and two together and you get Sadr/Badgr must be handled Pernamentley. If Sadr/Badgr is dum enough to jump first the easier justification will be. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-07-19 23:53 |
| #6 Sherry...I had an OCS buddy die in the rubble there in Beirut. I want to see major pain inflicted on the Hezzies...all the way back to their pimps in Tehran. I want payback to be a majo b***h. I say again...all we have to do to Iran is destroy their gasoline terminals, and refineries. The Iranian people will take care of the black hats and their whores. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-07-19 23:42 |
| #5 Or Isaiah. http://www.blueletterbible.org/Isa/Isa013.html |
| Posted by: J. D. Lux 2006-07-19 22:51 |
| #4 Been many years, but maybe, a new reading of Revelations might need to go on the reading list. That August 22 date keeps arising -- Note: that August 22 of this year corresponds with the Islamic date of Rajab 28, the day Saladin conquered and entered Jerusalem. Iraq the Model's troubling signs, well, he knows more than I do. Troubling. But I trust those 135,000 guys and gals and their leaders, that are standing watch nearby. I've even convinced a couple of folks, this is the real reason we are in Iraq. Reading between the lines of some military folks, Balad is a great depot and launching post. Ready to handle major combat. That saying of revenge is best served cold, well, I know my Marine that has a permanent corner he guards in Heaven, thinks that 1979 and 1983, would consider dinners prepared in those days, as now "cold." My point? Interesting days ahead. Phones at my office have been extremely quiet this week. Maybe it's the summer vacations, but then, maybe folks' attention directed elsewhere. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2006-07-19 22:48 |
| #3 There is a reason why AhMad wanted to put off his final answer on the nuke proposal until 22 August. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-19 21:23 |
| #2 Goodness, gorb, you ask a little question about Ahmedinejab's beliefs and get the answer all the way from Iraq (via NY, but who are we to question the ways of Providence). ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-19 21:15 |
| #1 No suprise that Sadr is in on this. We made a huge mistake leaving that goat f-cker alive. But if Iran's Mr. Apocalypse wants to start a regional war he's going to have to hurry. In 2 weeks there won't be much of Hizballah left. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2006-07-19 20:52 |