Tehran Puts on a Show of Strength
By Sami Moubayed
Psychological warfare is on the rise. This weekend, a senior Iranian general, Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh, said his country was digging 320,000 graves for American soldiers scheduled to fight in Iran. "In implementation of the Geneva Conventions, the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers. We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves for each of the border provinces, or a total of 320,000," he said, pointing out that some of them would be mass graves, if necessary. This was "to reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against, and prevent the repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War".
These may sound like big words - similar to those barked by Saddam Hussein and his information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf in 2003 - but they carry real impact on the psychology of American troops. Iraq - with its weak army and corrupted regime - was impossible to chew for the Americans. Nobody can imagine how difficult a war would be against 65 million Iranians, with a well-trained, well-armed military indoctrinated with Shi'ite Islam and a strong sense of purpose against the "great Satan".
In addition to building the graves - which has actually started - the Iranians have several actions they could resort to if war were declared between now and the end of President George W Bush's tenure at the White House in January.
They can incite the Shi'ites of nations where there are US military bases; Saudi Arabia (33%), Kuwait (36%), Bahrain (80%). They can incite the Kurds of Turkey and create problems with the Shi'ites of Yemen. They can unleash hell in Iraq through proxies like the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr and the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council. The Shi'ites of these countries have strong bonds to Iran and would listen and respond, if duty calls, and if the Americans or Israel went to war against Tehran.
The Iranians can - and would - close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating the Arabian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and the North Arabian Sea. This would cause already rocketing oil prices to go through the roof, as pointed out by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad Ali Jaafari.
The strait is the world's second-busiest international water route, channeling 25% of the world's oil supplies on a daily basis. Over 75% of Japan's oil, for example, runs through Hormuz. According to Mustapha al-Sayyed, a Syrian oil expert, "if the strait is closed, alternate routes [if available] would have to be used, and this will result in a loss of more than 20 million barrels per day in the international market." He added that he expected oil prices to reach "no less than US$500 a barrel". Currently, the oil flow through the strait stands at more than 17 million barrels per day. The chaos in world markets this would cause does not need explaining.
Iran has also reportedly positioned some of its Shahab-3B missiles, with a range of nearly 2,000 kilometers, and according to certain press reports, is ready to fire at the Dimona reactor inside Israel.
The arrogant tone of the Iranians came after the New York Times ran a story saying that over 100 Israeli warplanes had carried out major training exercises over the eastern Mediterranean on June 12, in preparation for a war on Tehran. As part of the exercise, they flew the distance needed to reach the Iranian city of Natanz, where a nuclear facility is based.
One day after the Israeli provocation, Deputy Prime Minister Shaoul Mofaz was quoted in an Israeli daily as saying his country would attack Iran if it did not halt its nuclear program, which Iran maintains is for civilian purposes only. Meanwhile, an ex-Mossad (Israeli intelligence) chief, Shatai Shavit, told The Sunday Telegraph of London that the "worst-case scenario" was that Tehran would develop nuclear weapons within a year, and, therefore, require Israel to strike at Iran.
LinkHere
"Should it happen that a strong government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgment." - Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia"
Psychological warfare is on the rise. This weekend, a senior Iranian general, Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh, said his country was digging 320,000 graves for American soldiers scheduled to fight in Iran. "In implementation of the Geneva Conventions, the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers. We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves for each of the border provinces, or a total of 320,000," he said, pointing out that some of them would be mass graves, if necessary. This was "to reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against, and prevent the repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War".
These may sound like big words - similar to those barked by Saddam Hussein and his information minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf in 2003 - but they carry real impact on the psychology of American troops. Iraq - with its weak army and corrupted regime - was impossible to chew for the Americans. Nobody can imagine how difficult a war would be against 65 million Iranians, with a well-trained, well-armed military indoctrinated with Shi'ite Islam and a strong sense of purpose against the "great Satan".
In addition to building the graves - which has actually started - the Iranians have several actions they could resort to if war were declared between now and the end of President George W Bush's tenure at the White House in January.
They can incite the Shi'ites of nations where there are US military bases; Saudi Arabia (33%), Kuwait (36%), Bahrain (80%). They can incite the Kurds of Turkey and create problems with the Shi'ites of Yemen. They can unleash hell in Iraq through proxies like the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr and the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council. The Shi'ites of these countries have strong bonds to Iran and would listen and respond, if duty calls, and if the Americans or Israel went to war against Tehran.
The Iranians can - and would - close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating the Arabian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and the North Arabian Sea. This would cause already rocketing oil prices to go through the roof, as pointed out by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad Ali Jaafari.
The strait is the world's second-busiest international water route, channeling 25% of the world's oil supplies on a daily basis. Over 75% of Japan's oil, for example, runs through Hormuz. According to Mustapha al-Sayyed, a Syrian oil expert, "if the strait is closed, alternate routes [if available] would have to be used, and this will result in a loss of more than 20 million barrels per day in the international market." He added that he expected oil prices to reach "no less than US$500 a barrel". Currently, the oil flow through the strait stands at more than 17 million barrels per day. The chaos in world markets this would cause does not need explaining.
Iran has also reportedly positioned some of its Shahab-3B missiles, with a range of nearly 2,000 kilometers, and according to certain press reports, is ready to fire at the Dimona reactor inside Israel.
The arrogant tone of the Iranians came after the New York Times ran a story saying that over 100 Israeli warplanes had carried out major training exercises over the eastern Mediterranean on June 12, in preparation for a war on Tehran. As part of the exercise, they flew the distance needed to reach the Iranian city of Natanz, where a nuclear facility is based.
One day after the Israeli provocation, Deputy Prime Minister Shaoul Mofaz was quoted in an Israeli daily as saying his country would attack Iran if it did not halt its nuclear program, which Iran maintains is for civilian purposes only. Meanwhile, an ex-Mossad (Israeli intelligence) chief, Shatai Shavit, told The Sunday Telegraph of London that the "worst-case scenario" was that Tehran would develop nuclear weapons within a year, and, therefore, require Israel to strike at Iran.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 8:47 PM
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