Iran has not invaded another country in 300 years.
(SALEM, Ore.) - Talk is cheap, and most people who talk loud and cheap about attacking Iran probably believe they will never have to deal with the violence suggested by such an act. Perhaps some deep thought should be given to this subject, because an attack on Iran would likely be the beginning of the last of the world wars.
The people pushing for this type of military, national suicide are the Lieberman's and the Bush's and the Limbaugh's and others who only profit from war, destruction and fear. If Israel or the United States attacks Iran, then World War III will be on and it is hard to predict how many countries will be on the side of the attackers.
It seems possible that America or Israel could be as bad as any other nation in history in its quest for needless blood and unwarranted destruction. The only thing Iran has done is lay plans for nuclear power plants.
And while the right wing leaders of Israel and the U.S. point fingers at Israel, they turn their backs in real, serious problems in the world. In fact, England is a money shelter for the henchmen of Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe who has killed thousands of innocent people there and just was reelected through a rigged election. Perhaps the government of George W. Bush which stands accused of the exact same activity, has empathy.
Problems in Zimbabwe and Burma and Tibet are out of hand and military commitments from the west are all tied up. Our leaders are too busy inventing enemies in the MidEast so they can keep sending young Americans off to their deaths.
It has been repeated a million times, but the voice boxes on the right keep saying "Iran's nuclear weapons" "Iran's nuclear weapons" like a drunken parrot. Iran has no nuclear weapons, but they do have a serious military force and it would not be like anything we as a nation have had to deal with before.
Israel Hordes Hundreds of Illegal Nukes
It was revealed by former President Jimmy Carter in late May that all along, in spite of its position of being a non-nuclear country, Israel has had nuclear weapons pointed at targets all over the world, hundreds of them. The Israeli's have lied through their teeth and the United States government has been lying right along with them about Israel's illegal nukes, through all of the political negotiations that led to the series and deaths of wars in the Mideast. All that time, Israel maintained that they had no nuclear weapons, it is an amazing story.
It seems obvious that one of the reasons U.S. television networks have reduced foreign crews over the years, is to make sure this type of information stayed contained in the Middle East. We send millions to colleges and universities in this country, but we don't teach them our relationship to all of the world's most dire problems. Schools ignore the fact that Iran was completely and totally
Iran has not invaded another country in 300 years. Some of us fear that a strategic military effort will be launched that could be an excuse for the Bush Administration to "suspend" the upcoming election. That seems hard to buy, but then we are a country that believed lies about weapons of mass destruction; anything is possible.
Iran's Military
According to Wikipedia, The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: نيروهای مسلح جمهوری اسلامی ايران) include the IRIA, the IRGC, and the Police Force, total about 545,000 active personnel. That figure does not include the Police Force.
All branches of the Iranian armed forces fall under the command of General Headquarters of Armed Forces (ستاد کل نیروهای مسلح). The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics is responsible for logistical planning and funding of the armed forces and is not involved in in-the-field military operational command.
* The Islamic Republic of Iran Army consists of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. The regular armed forces have an estimated 420,000 personnel: the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, 350,000 personnel; the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, 18,000 personnel; and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, 52,000 airmen, according to Wikipedia.
* The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or Revolutionary Guards, has an estimated 125,000 personnel in five branches: Its own Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces; and the Quds Force (Special Forces). This military force is considered a "terrorist" organization by the Bush Administration, which many political insiders say is totally preposterous.
* The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer force under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Its membership is a matter of controversy, Wikipedia states. Iranian sources claim a membership of 12.6 million, including women, of which perhaps 3 million are combat capable. There are a claimed 2,500 battalions of which some are full-time personnel. Globalsecurity.org quotes a 2005 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating 90,000 active-duty full-time uniformed members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of 1 million men that can be mobilized if need be.
Iran's military was called the Middle East's most powerful by General John Abizaid chief of United States Central Command. He did not count the Israel Defense Forces, because it does not fall in his area of operations, Wikipedia states.
The Iran-Iraq War
One thing you will catch in the radio program posted below, is the mistaken belief among educated western people that Iran attacked Iraq. That is not what happened; Iraq attacked Iran in 1980 and the war raged for two years while Iran expelled Iraq from its borders, and then Iran went on the offensive for the next six years. Iran did not start the war that is also known as the Imposed War (جنگ تحمیلی, Jang-e-tahmīlī) and Holy Defense (دفاع مقدس, Defā'-e-moghaddas) in Iran, and Saddām's Qādisiyyah (قادسيّة صدّام, Qādisiyyat Ṣaddām) in Iraq, according to Wikipedia.
It lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22nd 1980, after a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long suppressed Shia majority influenced by Iran's Islamic revolution.
Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982.
For the next six years Iran was on the offensive, despite several calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council. Hostilities continued until August 20th 1988. The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.
Wikipedia relates several other interesting facts about the Iran-Iraq War, noting that it was very similar to World War I.
"Tactics used included trench warfare, manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, use of barbed wire across trenches and on no-mans land, human wave attacks and Iraq's extensive use of chemical weapons (such as mustard gas) against Iranian troops and civilians as well as Iraqi Kurds".
People in the United States, Israel and Britain, need to be clear in their understanding of what an unwarranted, illegal and irresponsible military strike on Iran would really lead to.
Iran does not have ambition to be an enemy of the U.S. and many if not most of their citizens have respect for Israel. Most absolutely love Americans and Iran is still very westernized when compared to countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, countries that still highly oppressive toward women, yet count their names among U.S. and British allies? It all makes little sense, and it is also wise to remember that the U.S. and Britain have traded allies like cards in a poker game over the years.
If western countries attack Iran, then ultimately it is an extended beating that the west has tried to administer to this nation since it first asked for fair payment for its oil in 1947. England and the United States teamed up and overthrew the first democratically elected President that the country ever had, in order to install a puppet government that would allow our countries to continue to rip off their oil. The CIA kidnapped the Shah, kept him in a camp for 9 months, then released him back into his own country where he agreed to serve U.S. and British needs, over those of his own people. By 1979, the people of Iran had enough and their Revolution happened, including the takeover of the U.S. Embassy without a shot being fired. This was the beginning of the Hostage Crisis that lasted for 444 days, from November 4th 1979 to January 20th 1981.
In Iran, the incident was considered as retribution toward U.S. influence in Iran and American support of the recently fallen Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had been restored to power by the CIA-funded coup in 1953. He had recently been allowed into the United States for cancer treatment.
Americans were outraged by the hostage-taking, but few took into account the actual reasons that preceded this happening; because acknowledging how we ripped these people off and that our government refused to be fair with them while behaving like rogue criminals, makes Americans look bad.
Pride has gotten us into more bloodshed and havoc than we could ever describe and it is never the politicians who have to get their hands dirty.
Here is George Galloway, Scottish politician, author and talkshow host, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1987, talking about the consequences of an attack on Iran:
Video
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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Today, in addition to his role as a war correspondent in Afghanistan where he spent the winter of 2006/07, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators. Tim's coverage from Iraq that was set to begin in April has been delayed and may not take place until August, 2008. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com
Lies and Fabrications are Behind the Drive to Attack IranSalem-News.com