Iranians Seem Ignorant of US Military Power

Iranians Seem Ignorant of US Military Power

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Over the holidays I took time to visit a few Middle Eastern websites and read the reports of Iran’s latest naval war games.  I also read a number of comments on those sites.  I must tell you I was shocked by the comments left by those purporting to be, well, Iranians, or supporters of Iran.  Actually, the comments I read overwhelmingly demonstrated the hatred held in the region for America.  THAT is NOT what shocked me. 

We have read often of the “educated people” of Iran.  Supposedly a Middle Eastern country with a populace better educated than many, if not most, of her neighbors   After my visits to their websites, I have extreme doubt about their education in so far as it pertains to world affairs, especially anything having to do with America, American history, the American character, and/or the American military prowess.

I suppose when one lives in a closed society, like Iran, and when that society is ruled over by a group of extreme fundamentalist clerics, where life is cheap, and one is taught one’s life belongs to the mullahs and only your death has value, then wild, extreme, statements concerning the certain destruction of America (and Israel) is what passes for manliness.

It is really sad to see a people whose lives are so devoid of meaning and so filled with hate that they are willing to destroy themselves and their entire country in an attempt to prove, what, exactly?  To prove they are really BAD men?  To prove they are masculine in the extreme?  To prove their love for some god called Allah?  To prove they had rather be dead than alive?

All the bellicose threats coming out of Iran these days is only hurting Iran.  Theirs is the sort of speech that ignites wars. Theirs are the kinds of actions that will bring the wrath of the entire world down on their heads.

Most everyone knows that if you poke a tiger with a stick long enough and often enough, eventually it will tire of your sport and simply devour you.  Everyone knows that -- but Iran.

Look.  If Iran is planning on going to war with the US -- and expecting China and Russia to back them to the hilt -- they are in for a very rude awakening.  Russia simply does not have the wherewithal to do very much but provide a few munitions.  China? Well, China is not about to actually take on it’s number one customer and risk all the money America owes them in loans to defend some Middle Eastern country which has little to offer China -- other than oil.  There’s lots of oil available from a host of other countries around the globe that would be happy to have China as a customer.  Sorry Iran.  Munitions and moral support is the realistic expectation of Russian and Chinese involvement in an Iranian war against the US.

We have seen this sort of display of bravado before from chest-thumping wannabe regimes in rogue nations around the globe.  They usually wind up with the destruction of their country and a lot of dead leaders, both political and religious, and generations of rebuilding. 

Iran’s “bathtub navy” is embarrassingly impotent.  Oh, sure, they have a few good weapons and, sure, they will get in a few “hits” … before they are sent to the bottom.  One has to wonder if that is how they intend to block the Straits of Hormuz … with the sunken derelicts of their own second hand navy?

The bottom line is:  Iran is going to be attacked by the US, or Israel, or both.  And yes, Iran will attempt to close the Straits… and they may succeed… for a week, or so.  Then the hammer comes down.

Iran’s hyperbole these days is cartoonishly funny.  If, however, they are foolish enough to light the fuse on a war, America will stop laughing -- and Iran will find that it has “talked” itself onto a path to national destruction from which there is no turning back.

Just days ago, we were singing of peace on earth and goodwill toward men as the world teeters on the cusp of Armageddon. (It reminded a great deal of the kid whistling as he walks past a graveyard at night.) The entire globe, today, is one huge powder keg with a smoldering fuse.  It behooves people of sanity to tread softly, and speak softly, less that smoldering fuse sparks to life and the entire planet blows up in war. 

Many pundits and modern-day soothsayers have proclaimed that, indeed, Iran’s goal is to bring war and chaos to the earth to prepare the way for the return of the Twelfth Imam.  (Read more about the 12^th Imam HERE.)  Their ultimate goal is to conquer the entire world in the name of Islam and establish a one-world, Islamic, theocratic, government – just like the one in Iran.

There can be no doubt that unless Iran changes her belligerent attitude, there will be war, and the people of Iran will suffer greatly – and lose.  It is no secret that forces are already in motion in preparation for a war with Iran. 

Iran’s dependence on what they feel is an elite military is misplaced.  That will quickly become obvious once hostilities begin.

Someone once said:  “It is better to have an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep.”  The people of Iran would do well to ponder this proverb -- deeply -- before allowing the first shot to be fired.

 J. D. Longstreet