Can we agree that Iran and Syria now constitute a single strategic problem? Surely Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, thinks so. Otherwise he would not have ordered the Revolutionary Guards to conduct a policy of all-out military, financial, and intelligence support for the Assad regime, combined with the usual deception (various public statements urging Assad to be reasonable and settle his differences with the protesters, a ridiculous fantasy). Khamenei knows that if Assad falls to anything remotely resembling a free, representative government, the consequences for Iran range from severely damaging to fatal.
The Syrian crisis is only one very dark cloud in the terrible storm that has descended upon the Iranian regime.
That is why the current announced policy of the Obama administration — “Assad must go” — is incoherent. First, because once you have declared war on a regime, you are obliged to follow through with real action, as in Libya. Second, because if Assad must go, so must Khamenei. They are fused at the belly button, part and parcel of a strategic alliance that is responsible for thousands of American deaths and tens of thousands of American casualties.
Third, if you’re going to call for the end of Assad, you’ve got to do something to make it happen.
To be sure, this president is not a big believer in telling the world what he is up to, which could be meaningful. He talks like Ganhdi and acts like LBJ (the LBJ who said “if you’ve got them by the balls, the hearts and minds generally follow”). As everybody knows, we are engaged in a very large covert war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in and around Afghanistan and Pakistan. So far, the world has accepted his Gandhian facade, accepting the cover story that the Libyan campaign was waged by NATO (when most of it was us, including the training and logistics provided to the “rebels”), and finessing the hi- and low-tech killing of terrorists, which are so very reminiscent of Israel’s campaign against Hamas. You are not going to find that comparison in the “leading” dead tree media most anywhere in the Western world.
In short, it may well be that Obama has signed the necessary “findings” authorizing our secret armies to support the foes of the Assad and Khamenei regimes. Heaven knows there are lots of foes to support (militarily, financially, and politically), from the peaceful demonstrators in both countries to the not-nearly-so-peaceful Kurds and the “New Syrian Army,” composed of defectors from Assad’s armed forces, now fighting their former cohorts in several cities. If so, and if the opposition forces want our assistance to remain secret, we should respect their wishes. And by “we,” I most certainly include the journalists and politicians who so avidly exposed the secret war conducted by the Bush administration.
Whatever we are, or are not, doing on the ground, we are certainly feckless in denouncing the evils of the Khamenei and Assad regimes, and we are not doing nearly enough to denounce their dreadful excesses. Clandestine operations do not preclude openly speaking the truth about our enemies.
That the announced “Valkyrie” policy is little more than an ideological gimmick is abundantly obvious by the administration’s silence about the Iranian campaign of torture and slaughter against its own citizens (it’s been a bit better about the Syrian mass murder).
If Obama seriously wished to defend innocent civilians against murderous regimes, he would rally to the side of one of the world’s truly heroic figures, the Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, imprisoned for more than six years and subjected to severe torture. Amazingly, he has continued his campaign from within Tehran’s grim Evin Prison. No charges have ever been brought against him, although it is obvious that he has been singled out for advocating separation of mosque and state, toleration of minority religions, and respect for the civil rights of the Iranian people. In recent days he has suffered a heart attack, but has been denied medical attention. If he dies, perhaps the winged troika of Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power, and their many admirers, will mourn the death of this fine man, whom they have judged unworthy of American support.
Not that it’s personal, mind you; this administration has always shrunk from speaking the truth about the Iranian regime, which is now engaged in a “killing spree” at the expense of the Persian nation. There have been so many executions and arrests of late that it’s very hard to keep track of them all, ranging from movie directors to Baha’is, from Christian converts to peaceful Sufi dervishes, and on to political protesters and those unlucky enough to be in the area when the security forces are unleashed.
This frenzy of repression — more a bloody orgy than a spree — bespeaks enormous insecurity as well as the great evil about which I have been warning for so long.
Want more?
An excellent post as always, Dr. Ledeen. There’ll be no peace in the region as long as Iran is ruled by these terrorists.
The last Shah of Iran was accused of corruption and presiding over a SAVAK that tortured its prisoners. Both statements are true. However allow me to put the matter in perspective. Despite the admitted corruption, which by no means is limited to an Iranian monarchy ( do the names Kozlowski, Sharpton, Waters and and and ring a bell?) the wealth of the nation certainly flowed through all the strata of the society. Today the wealth of Iran is pocketed by the mullahs and their cohorts and what is left is spent on supplying Hezbollah, Assad, Hammas and other nefarious people and groups. The majority of the Iranian people are living in abject poverty with an inflation rate that would even stump Paul Volcker’s inflation busting methods.
The political prisoners during the Shah’s regime were mainly comprised of fundamentalist muslim reactionaries and communists from active armed cells. And, yes, they were tortured and that was a bad thing. Today’s prisoners are those who want only freedom for Iran and are numbered in the hundreds of thousands as opposed to a few thousand in the late 70′s. We all know how they are treated and would be superfluous for me to go into. Suffice it to say that Tomas de Torquemada’s soul is having a ball watching the show. Gays are hanged, apostates are kllled, nine year old girls are forced into marriage with sick in the head middle aged men, women are chattel and, well, can’t forget the Jews, can we? In your article you briefly enumerated their crimes, which I will not repeat. Yet in the late 70′s all the western media and human rights groups attacked the Shah on a daily basis. Western leaders laid down the red carpet for the saviour Khomeini. Where are they now? Are you kidding me? Are you telling me that the Shah was more brutal and corrupt that this lot? Yes, I know, one evil does not exonerate another. But some balance, please. At least give me the the same level of outrage that you did then. Speak up Obama, NY Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, LA Times, The Guardian, Amnesty International and the rest of you self righteous “intellectuals”. No, Dr. Ledeen, this administration has no interest or intention in getting rid of America’s sworn enemies. Trust me on that. They only want to get rid of our friend’s and establish relations with our enemies:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/02/us-egypt-usa-brotherhood-idUSTRE7910J420111002
We have to say it as it is. The current occupant of the White House is not a friend of these United States of America as we have known it and admired it as the erstwhile shining city on the hill.
As he was burying the late Shah in Egypt, Amir Aslan Afshar, Chief of Protocol for the Imperial Court and former ambassador to the US, paraphrasing the Son of Man on the cross, said “Your Majesty, forgive the Iranian people for they do not know what they have done”.
Ba Dorood
The Hezbollah serve a purpose that His Imperial Majesty did not. They act as a bunch madmen with finger on the button – the perfect foe for the US internal politics.
Horseradish, very well said.
I wonder why no action has been taken in 32 years of this nonsense. It’s a mystery.
You mean can we get real that Hezbollah International is the real threat.
Sir, you are preaching to the choir. This Advise should be given to the powers that be , such as was mentioned…Clinton, Rice, 0buzz0..You have written a great and accurate article, but i don`t feel so confidant as you seem to be on the Sure Fall of these regimes…I know the Scriptures does not promise any great hope for Syria, and am not sure what is in store for Iran…This entire region of the areas around Israel, is in for some serious attitude adjustment by a Righteous and Holy G0d….jimi
We share a common frustration Mr.Leddeen. I’ve only one thing to add:
“–Strategic: (Islam) Iran is our major enemy and the leading killer of our people;
Moral: (Islam) Iran visits unspeakable horrors on its own people and wants to export this system worldwide;
–Regional: there is no hope for peace in the Middle East so long as this (Islamic) regime remains in power.
And so? What the hell are we waiting for? And why is there not a single candidate who will give voice to it?
“If so, and if the opposition forces want our assistance to remain secret, we should respect their wishes. And by “we,” I most certainly include the journalists and politicians who so avidly exposed the secret war conducted by the Bush administration.”
Interesting how when Bush was president, the main stream media just couldn’t wait to expose every aspect of our war on terror, whether it was bases around the world we used to interrogate terrorists to “warrentless wiretaps,” it was all grist for the main stream media’s mill.
But have you heard the main stream media criticize ANY aspect of Obama’s war on terror, let alone his support for people trying to overthrow governments in the Middle East? Even though Obama is continuing (and in some cases expanding, like the Predator drone attacks) all of Bush’s policies, is the main stream media asking Obama if Bush was right all along when Obama was criticizing him in 2008?
Did anybody think to ask if the Muslim Brotherhood would take over in Egypt if Mubarak was overthrown or what type of government would take over in Algeria after there was a revolution there? And what of Libya? We STILL don’t know who these “rebels” are, let alone what type of sharia-based government they want (and it sure ain’t a western-style government)? And now Obama wants Assad out of Syria. OK, well then who will replace him and what do they want? Will Syria turn into another theocracy, like Iran, if Assad goes? If we are trying to overthrow Assad or the Iranians covertly, wouldn’t that be against everything liberals stand for? That would be a big news item for the New York Times, yet you don’t hear much about it, do you?
It just seems that if a Republican does something covertly, it’s news. If a Democrat does something covertly, it’s a “national security issue” that can’t be reported. What hypocrites. No wonder nobody listens to the main stream media anymore.
2012 that’s what we are waiting for.
Now, I don’t know what the current leaders are waiting for.
Michael, thanks for being a voice in the wilderness, reminds me of Churchill. Regarding your last sentence, I think Michelle Bachman did make an argument for doing something, but it was lost in the political melee going on right now. But even she hasn’t made it a cornerstone of her campaign.
This cowardly feeblemindedness of our political class will come back to haunt us soon. And again, our troops will pay the consequences, and possibly our carefree citizens “And gentlemen in England now a-bed” Henry V, will have to pay a price also.
“–Regional: there is no hope for peace in the Middle East so long as this regime remains in power.”
There is no hope for peace in the Middle East as long as the Middle East remains Islamic.
We need to roll back Islam just as we rolled back Nazism and Communism – like the totalitarian political ideology that it is, and always will be.
The end of that line of reasoning is this: we must falsify Islam to its followers, so that they no longer believe and no longer submit.
Is this possible? I think it is. We have seen that reason and empiricism were wielded, with considerable success, by Westerners seeking to falsify Christianity. Islam is not vulnerable to reason or to empiricism – it is immune to them.
But it cannot be immune to everything. The images of the statue of Saddam being toppled seem to me to contain the clue. It has to do with power. Islam can be falsified by showing it to be a loser, to be the actual dar al harb.
Not to worry! Obama has had talks with the Moslem Brotherhood, funded the Lebanese army with hundreds of millions in supplies, given billions to the PA and almost a a billion to hamas!
At this rate?
We will be sending checks to syria in the not to distant future with the simple request, please dont kill our soldiers on tuesdays….
It’s an Alice in Wonderland world, thanks to many, currently led by Obama…
Great article Michael. However, the obama adm. will be dedicated this coming year to salvaging his Khamenei like regime.
What the hell are we waiting for ?
Patience; The combat droids are still in final acceptance test. >:)
…and the conventional (human-based) forces are already
over-committed elsewhere; Yes, contrary to your prediction,
I am claiming that the effort, once begun, would rapidly
escalate into another ground war, one the US cannot afford.
Tell it to the Koch brothers. Bloomberg is reporting they’ve had secret deals going with Iran for years, through a subsidiary in France. Real patriotic.
The deal (in 2007) between the Koch subsidiary and the Iranian front company was not secret. It was furthermore legal (foreign subsidiaries are not under the same law as the home offices). It was also a relatively small deal involving material that was civilian in nature but would theoretically have a military purpose. Notwithstanding that, Koch post the 2007 deal put into place procedures that would stop other deals of this kind. This goes beyond the law and beyond what some other American companies do. The bloomberg piece has a misleading headline and some other misleading wording in it.
“…hi- and low-tech killing of terrorists, which are so very reminiscent of Israel’s campaign against Hamas…”
Terrorism has an address the hated Netanyahu insisted. This at a time when terrorism was an abstraction–a dark cloud without resolution that couldn’t be effectively countered–to the press and policymakers here at home.
Give credit where credit is due. The Israelis also taught us something about the effectiveness of border fences.
That the Syrian and Iranian regimes are one dark plague is indisputable. So is all of Islam if we are talking long term strategy.
You’ll have to forgive me for lack of sympathy for stubborn greybeard ayatollahs suffering in Persian dungeons. Been there, done that. Slaughter the lot and separate the corpses of the guilty and less guilty later.
As for the troika of harpies running (ruining) our foreign policy, they’re gone with the next election along with the clueless jerk who appointed them. Then we can all take a scalding shower and say good riddance to bad trash.
Looks like the Koch brothers have been profiting a lot selling to Iran (look it up on Google news). Very patriotic of them.
As I have said here and elsewhere years ago, a couple of cruse missiles down their throats when the Syrian and Iranian governments were in session and Bingo, that problem eliminated along with their glorious leaders. Granted you don’t know who or what is next but do we know now after sacrificing thousands of lives? I guess as long as we keep buying this piece of dirt sovereign state crap over the rights of people innocents will continue dying. No matter, just make sure you look good while they die and you followed the UN’s rules of engagement.
Keep up the good work with the drones Obama, it’s about the only thing you’ve done right.
And why is there not a single candidate who will give voice to it? The contenders seem shy to step outside of the contrived boundaries of our so-called “debates”, and keep trading barbs over token issues (Ponzi vs. politeness, etc…) instead of dealing with substantial matters, like the root causes of our present funk, and our rapidly deteriorating geopolitics. We can only hope that sooner or later, someone will find the guts to speak up about what really matters, and open the debate.
Since our setbacks in Iraq, regime change has gotten a bad name, and the candidate who was elected president has exploited the fatigue, and gotten a lot of mileage with it. So the regime change attempt in Lybia has been disguised as a humanitarian effort, responding to a “duty to protect”, under UN auspices. for good measure. Under such pretenses, how much room is left to speak up plainly about the leader of the axis of evil? Right now, we are going to deal with our own domestic regime change issue, and it may well test the adequacy of our own civic reserves.
In fact, there is a presidential candidate who has repeatedly made the very exact same point as Dr. Ledeen with the same fervor and conviction. He is Thaddeus McCotter, Republican congressman from Michigan (http://mccotter2012.com/). But the media has deemed him as a minor candidate hence not worthy of airtime. Among the “major” candidates Newt Gingrich has come the closest in painting the same picture. Please correct me if I am wrong, Dr. Ledeen.
As always, I propose solutions. Step one. Drill baby drill. Frack. It seems that North America is set to become the largest oil/gas producer in the world (up from third). Step two, offer special reduced oil prices to anyone that buys Persian oil… Step three, Texas A&M has refined the coal liquifaction process down to $30-$40 per barrel oil equivalent. Put West VA. and eastern PA back to work.
Finally, Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi is Islam al Mecca. Not Islam al Medina. He has learned of the rape and hijacking of Mohamed’s Islam by the priests of allah on the road from Mecca to Medina.
Be careful what you wish for.
Obama is meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood for the overthrow of Syria and yet Obama refuses to meet with the Democratic Contigent for the overthrow of Syria. So if you want Obama to overthrow Syria, his plan is to hand it over to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Obama is Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and has the same goal as the Muslim Brotherhood to Bankrupt the United States. It is obvious with his Borrowing us into Bankruptcy and shuffling funds to campaign donors instead of stimulus programs. He knows he is making the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Obama has no intentions of stimulating the economy or creating jobs. His intention is to bankrupt America and help the One World Under Islam Cause.
Obama has recognized the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as the major and legitimate party in Egypt. Yet the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is calling for the death of any Zionist that enters Egypt, this includes Americans.
Kill all Zionists Link:
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fstories%2Fegyptian-cleric-every-zionist-who-enters-egypt-should-be-killed%2F&sa=D&usg=AFQjCNGkgSy06HpLbHRXwz4sPvwTRtJ18Q
Egypt Link:
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fweaselzippers.us%2F2011%2F10%2F02%2Fobama-officials-meet-with-egypts-muslim-brotherhood-after-announced-planned-talks%2F&sa=D&usg=AFQjCNHhGcgljtvmTLsr8KUlMYr_23_UJg
Syria:
http://canaryinthecoalmine.typepad.com/my-blog/2011/09/obama-reaching-out-to-muslim-brotherhood-in-syria-pro-west-opposition-protests.html
Clearly we are not already in enough wars. We need more not fewer conflicts. We need more dangerous weapons spreading only God knows where. What do you think Syria and Iran’s leadership will be replaced with? Our experience shows that it is usually worse. In fact it is almost certain to be worse with thousands more dying, ethnic cleansing and for Goodness Sakes what will whoever takes over the Iranian nukes do? They will certainly be our friends and allies but perhaps we could be a little more certain before we do anything to destabilize a nation with nukes.
The world is not our sandbox to play in. Our interests are not served by ever spreading conflict and while neither country is our friend, neither is likely to be replaced with anything remotely friendly. If they are really falling, let them fall. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.
And just what may be worse than the current leadership of the Islamic Republic? The Brotherhood of the Zoroastrian Assasins? The Whirling Deadly Hit Squads of the Sufi Dervishes? The Bahai’i Einsatzgruppen?
Ask Nostradamus he predicted we would hold back till it was to late. Obama, our muslim president is sure dragging anchor don`t you think? Why?
It seems that you guys simply want Obama to take a blind leap into the Iran ditch so that you can excuse Bush Jr. for taking the country to the Iraq quagmire and putting Iraq at the disposal of Iran. Obama is too smart to do that.
During the 31 years of the Mulla regime in Iran and its virtual occupation of Syria and Lebanon, three of you guys’ favorite Republican presidents — Reagan. Bush Sr., Bush Jr.– occupied the White House for 20 years. Why didn’t they do what you are now asking Obama to do?
@23. A foolish argument. We want(ed) O to do what “our favorite” presidents did not do. We (and especially Michael) were asking for something to be done then as well.
I am a hawk. I would have handled the nuke issue years ago, when it was an easier thing to do.
Since I didn’t quit smoking 20 years ago, why quit now? Since the patient was not treated while his cancerous tumor was in situ, stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3, why treat him now that he is in stage 4? Since errors were made by Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 in decisively dealing with the Islamic threat then why deal with it now? In fact, exactly because of past errors, the need for meaningful intervention is even more so urgent. Don’t you want your fella in the White House to go down in history as the man who saved the world from this apocalyptic set of players so you could stick your tongue out at the Republicans and say ” I told you so, us Libs are the real deal and you guys are nothing but hot aired phonies”? Heck, even I stick my old tongue at the Libs when I know they have goofed, which seems to be always.
“So Khamenei is entitled to be very worried”
Michael, today Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered the Iranian media for silence on the scandal of great financial corruption..it’s very clear is a deep concern for political reasons not economic as he stated! http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/52557114-edcb-11e0-acc7-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZlLWqGiP
Dr. Ledeen, this is a very graphic and disturbing picture of the public execution of the two young men who were convicted of killing one of the hard line Islamic prosecutors in Iran, which I arrived at from the link in your article on “killing spree”. If you do not post it I completely understand. However I would like to draw your attention to the label on the trousers of the unfortunate patriot just before the noose is tied around his neck. How can the US administration not support these people? How much more eloquently does Mr. Obama want these martyrs to express their love for the American people and their cry for help from its government?
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Archives/Public-Execution-in-Iran/2460/4/?ref=ma
The Jerusalem Post
October 4th, 2011
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=240472
Eleven Iranian deputies filed a complaint against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani over an embezzlement scandal of $2.6 billion in the country’s seven banks, pan-Arab daily Al Hayat reported Tuesday.
The complaint reportedly urged Iran’s Supreme Leader to “cut off the hands” of those involved in the crime, Al Hayat said, as per Iranian law.
The announcement of the complaint came after Iranian authorities issued arrest warrants for 22 people of suspected involvement in the case, including businessman Amir Mansour Ayra, who has ties to Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Al Hayat reported.
Iran’s supreme leader criticized the government on Monday for failing to prevent the $2.6 billion embezzlement, weighing into the political blame game over the biggest bank fraud the Islamic Republic has ever seen.
In his first comments on the case that has prompted calls for senior politicians to be sacked, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said officials had defied his instructions to stamp out corruption.
“I gave strong advice to the country’s officials in recent years about combating economic corruption,” Khamenei said in televised comments. “They welcomed my advice but, if correctly implemented, the recent economic corruption … would not have occurred.”
The scandal , where well-connected businessmen appear to have siphoned off a fortune , has shocked Iranians who are facing constantly rising prices, a sluggish economy and stubborn unemployment. In response to public opinion, the prosecutor in charge has said culprits could be executed.
The head of Iran’s biggest bank, state-owned Bank Melli, resigned and reportedly fled the country over the affair and some politicians have called for the central bank governor and economy minister to be fired in what has become a partisan blame game ahead of a parliamentary election next March.
Eleven members of parliament, enough to begin an impeachment procedure, have signed a letter accusing the government over the fraud, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Monday.
That adds to pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was already under fire from hardline conservatives who accuse him of being in the thrall of a “deviant current” of advisers trying to undermine the authority of Khamenei and the clergy’s role in the Islamic Republic.
The hardline Kayhan newspaper said the mastermind behind the fraud had links with Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.
The publisher of another conservative daily Siyasat-e Rouz speculated that some of the stolen money was given to the “deviant current” for use in the parliamentary election campaign.
The judiciary said the scam involved an Iranian investment company fraudulently securing bank loans on a massive scale.
Ahmadinejad has denied any government wrongdoing and has urged the judiciary to pursue the case vigorously. At least 19 arrests have been made so far.