Touching Base
by Mindfriedo
Commitments and hard times in “Meat Space,” as Saker calls it, have kept me from contributing to the Saker and his unrivalled dedication to the truth. Having said that, I will try and sift as much as I can, from whatever news is out there and post it as often as I can, which I hope to be at least once a week.
Iraq:
I begin with Iraq and where we left off. Iraq is now a Shia country. And looking at how the Shia treat Christians and other minorities, it is more or less inclusive. The ones left out and left with nothing but sand, to their great misfortune, are the Sunnis. For Daash has caused the most damage to Sunni Muslims, to their own self image and their faith. Mosul is with Daash and looks to remain so for a while.
The turning point in Iraq, like in Syria (Qusayr), came with Jurf Al Sakhar (now Jurf al Nasr or the banks of victory). The town, situated to the south of Baghdad, was a staging area for attacks by Daash against the Shia south. The effort to cleanse the area of Daash and safeguard Arbaeen was undertaken in October. (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sayed-mahdi-almodarresi/arbaeen-pilgrimage_b_6203756.html). One of the reasons that Arbaeen was so successful, was that Sistani is have reported to have told the Iraqi government to waive the visa fees of those wishing to visit Iraq for pilgrimage. He did this because of Daash’s/Saudi’s plans to prevent Arbaeen from being commemorated. His office agreed to compensate the Iraqi government for any loss in revenue (Rumored to be more than $600 million).
Following the threat to the pilgrims, the Shias decided to act. The Operation carried out in October was named Operation Ashura. That name itself indicates Iran’s involvement, most of whose recent military exercises and human wave attacks against Iraq during Saddam’s Whirlwind War/Khumaini’s Imposed War were named similarly.
The Iranians did what they had done in Syria and in Qusayr. They scorched everything. They gave residents time to flee and then they moved in. details of the actual confrontation are scarce. But the militias backed by Iran and funded by Iraq played a big role. They provide both manpower and are a morale boost for the Iraqi Army. They are also battle tested in Syria.
An example of the type of tactics that were employed can be gleaned from how the battle was fought in Qusayr. Hizballah when fighting door to door with the Takfiris, did not bother about the local architecture or humor the opposition with prolonged fights. They had vacuum bombs brought in from Iran that they used to fire as projectiles, like RPGs, that brought the buildings down on the Takfiri fighters. This was a kind of quick martyrdom that severely demoralized the Takfiris there. The militias in Iraq are believed to have demolished the homes of some Sunni residents and asked them never to come back. A kind of preventative ethnic cleansing took place. The militias suffered casualties too. Mortar rounds hit them during a victory dance after they at first thought that Daash was finished. The bodies of Daash fighters were left unburied. To be eaten by “dogs” as carrion.
The fear that Daash had started to feel after the fall of Jurf Al Nasr can be gauged by the fact that they detonated a bridge leading south from Mosul on the 31st of December 2014. But over time the fear dissipated.
The tactics of Daash also evolved. They have tried repeatedly and at times succeeded in eliminating high value targets (http://www.northsouthnews.com/index.php/mena/9790-iranian-general-killed-by-sniper-in-the-iraqi-city-of-samara). The Israelis were even reporting the targeting and injuring of General Sulaimani. The process of identifying and hitting of high value targets suggests sophistication and guidance.
It is the support being given to Daash by, first and foremost, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the ineffective US air strikes and Israel that is slowing Iran’s progress in ridding Iraq of Daash.
Not to be forgotten here or anywhere is the epic struggle of the Kurds of Kobani in keeping the Daash dogs out of their town, and doing it when all the odds were against them. Turkey’s role in helping Daash became manifest for all to see with its shenanigans of keeping the border open for Daash but closed for the Kurds.
Lebanon:
The latest news has been the killing of Iranian General Abu Ali al-Tabtabani, Senior Hezbollah figure Mohammed Issa, Jihad Mughniyeh, and another four Hezbollah fighters in a missile strike. The attack has left everyone on edge. The fear of retaliation have also resulted in the Israelis communicating directly with Hezbollah trying to contain any backlash and having them give out statements that they were unaware that such a high value target was in the convoy. But as Ian Fleming pointed out there are no coincidences in the intelligence game. The likelihood is that Israel saw this as a good opportunity and worth the sorrow of a limited escalation with Hezbollah. The killing is also in line with the Israeli tactic of killing/assassinating senior officials, nuclear scientists and high value military targets through its proxies in Iraq. For Hezbollah, a measured response---and Israel probably realizes this---is to off a senior Israeli in turn.
Iran Nuclear:
Bhadrakumar’s latest piece (http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2015/01/20/india-iran-ties-need-reset/) suggests that a Nuclear deal is imminent. What the repercussions of this deal will be are hard to tell. That Iran will change is inevitable. How long will the Pasdaran hold the dam against the Guccis is to be seen.
Although media coverage suggests that there is a rift between the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia over how to proceed with Iran, with Obama unclenching his fist and the latter two trying to crush the head of the snake, it might be the exact opposite. With all three working to get rid of the Iranian regime either by hook or by crook.
Saudi Arabia:
The mainstream media suggests that Saudi Arabia is trying to break not only Iran’s back by lowering oil prices, but that of the Shale Gas (Ponzi scheme) industry in the US. But that Saudi Arabia would increase prices without the US having a say is highly unlikely. It has also been referred to as a Reagan era tactic of bringing the Russian economy to its knees.
Saudi Arabia has also of late tried to wash its hands clean of Daash (http://www.aawsat.net/2015/01/article55340407/print/). It has gone far enough to suggest that Iran and Assad allowed fleeing Al Qaeda members to enter Iraq and Syria. And that Saudi Arabia was only an innocent bystander.
Daash is now viewed as a project, a sort of Plan B that the West, Israel, Turkey and the Gulf Arabs implemented after all else failed. All else included the wooing of Assad by Saudi King Abdallah back in October 2009, where the King was appalled to see a framed photograph of Hassan Nasrallah on Assad’s bureau.
But Saudi Arabia is the one most responsible for spreading the venom of Takfir. This lecture given by Ammar Nakshawani on the 8th of Moharram, sheds light on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xArTRV2INSY
The points he puts forward are these:
1 The main culprit is Saudi Arabia: It has been propagating the works of Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya and of Ibn Taymiyyah and that Sunni mosques everywhere have books written by these two. (Both these Wahabi preachers justify the killing of Shias and Christians)
2 Sunni Scholars who come forward to condemn the killing of Shias, in their next sermon praise these two preachers who call for just that: the killing of Shias.
3 He points out that Sunnis are 20% of the Iraqi population. He wants to know what they want: Do they expect to rule Iraq?
4 Sunnis today do not know what they are, there is an identity crisis. Whether they are Ahle Sunnat, Ahle Hadees, Salafi, Wahabi, Maliki, Shafi…
5 Palestinians are fighting on the side of Daash. And that not a single Sunni country is helping the Palestinians today then why are they backstabbing the Shia?
6 The Ideology of Daash allows a Mushrik to live but targets Shias and Christians. The fleeing Christians came to Najaf to the shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) for protection.
7 He points out that so many Imams are buried in Iraq, including Imam Husain (as), so how hard does a man’s heart have to be to continue being a Sunni in Iraq.
8 The Prophet Mohammad (sawa) and his successor Ali (as) both foretold the coming of Daash and that Daash and its kind existed since the Battle of Siffin
At the end of the sermon is a eulogy for Husain’s (as) brother Abbas (as), killed while bringing water for Husain’s children. It moves his audience to tears and captures the essence of Shiism.
Free Speech:
This is part of a cultural war being waged, nothing more, and nothing less. Muslims have to be made to feel embarrassed of their beliefs, their religion, its laws and its Prophet. The same is true of Christians and Christian beliefs. The clash is not Christian vs Muslim or Jews vs Muslim, but more or less faithlessness against faith. The “West” has “cleansed” itself of Christianity and is confronting/making a mockery of other faiths.
The double standard is glaringly obvious. The Former Editor of Charlie Hebdo is being condemned for speaking his mind http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-founder-says-murdered-editor-dragged-staff-to-death-with-provocative-cartoons-9979104.html
The fact that anything spoken against Israel or Zionism can land you in jail in the West, but everything else is game, speaks volumes.
Muslims keep trying to point out that the attackers are worse than the Cartoonist http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/01/09/3610080/hezbollah-leader-says-islamic-extremists-have-hurt-islam-more-than-cartoonists/
But this makes little difference. The harm the attackers did is already done.
Muslims:
There is a lot of introspection that the Muslims need to make as well, particularly those living in non-Muslim countries. There is a lot of freedom they enjoy that is a luxury in the Middle East. Where I stay I can visit a mosque anytime I want. But in most of the Middle East, UAE and Iran included, the doors of mosques are shut, other than during prayer time. There is a greater level of assimilation needed. More often than not Muslims are being screwed over, by their own co religionist mostly, but to overcome, they have to follow the example of the very man the West is so keen to vilify, Mohammad (sawa).
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