Enough is Enough

Over forty-one years ago, an Ayatollah came to Iran and established the Islamic Republic in the country. What has happened after that is important for understanding the dilemma the Western world faces today confronting this Shiite Caliphate State in Tehran.  

I believe the peaceful world has reached the point where on balance the harms caused by this creature well outweigh the benefits it offered.  

 

Khomeini was only an Ayatollah, a Mullah. He was good for handling the kind of people who were on streets of the Iranian cities over forty-one years ago in 1979. He was the right choice for such people whom could look up to sky to see “Khomeini’s face reflects over the moon”, or he could tell them that “economics is for donkeys”, or his proposed Islamic Republic would give them “free water and electricity … bring to their homes money from oil revenue …”, amongst other things. You then have the right person to be installed in Iran. Upon which conclusion President Jimy Carter and his administration agreed.  

 

At that point, it did not really matter what you call that movement. You can call it anything you like, call it a revolution for instance!  

 

But now, over forty-one years later, if you survey independently those Iranians ages between 56 to 76, 15 to 35 at the time in 1979, they will tell you the right name of that change. And it would neither be revolution nor pretty! If you, however, survey those Iranians ages between 42 to 51, 1 to 10 at the time in 1979, about that change; they despise you with a deep suspicion! 

 

In hindsight, having a Shiite Caliphate regime installed in the country was a prerequisite for future fruitions to come about. That creature must have had certain characteristics. It must have been able to annoy and alarm its neighbours by way of threats to the status quo of the Islamic world. It also needed to agitate Saddam Hussein of Iraq with a history of animosity between Saddam Hussein, who had a grudge over a border dispute, and the former Shah of Iran preceded in 1975. 

Craftily done, you had two good reasons to sell the true nature of the creature to others and unsettle them. First, that this new creature is coming at you by way of “exporting Shiite revolution” to other majority-Sunnis countries with Sunnis-controlled governments in the region. Secondly, that that of animosity over the border issue to Saddam Hussein. That was enough to trigger the Iran-Iraq war. (Requires a book on the benefits below)  

 

During and after those developments, what Khomeini does and/or will do to grasp firm to power would be collateral damages only. That is slaughtering all his political rivals in the name of revolution to consolidate his power or even taking hostage between 1979-81 52 US Embassy staff for 444 days.  

I need to mention here that I am not a conspiracy theorist of any kind. But there are serious questions need answers.

 

1. What was to be achieved from such change in Iran--for the people? If you prefer to call it revolution.  

 

2. Who were the ultimate winners and losers of that change irrespective of the name?  

 

3. What was Iran-Iraq war about? What was achieved from it? Answer to this is clear, billions of dollars cost to both countries followed by the same to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. With a close to a million deaths and disables collateral!  

 

4. What was the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein about? Was it a serious long-term thing or just a temporary kidding with great gains? 

 

Benefits  

 

As to the benefits of this creature is enough to say that Iran-Iraq war followed by the First Persian Gulf War cost the four richest countries, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, of the Middle East hundreds of Billions of dollars  , or Trillions forward looking, and destroyed their economies. Having an Islamic State established next to the former Soviet Union during the Cold War was also a bonus too. All of that requires a book and is beyond the scope of this blog.  

 

Harms, however, today and certainly for a gloomy future, proves to outweigh the Benefits  

 

Today, the Western world calculates every day the harms done by this creature during the past forty-one years and continues. The West, read president-elect Biden and his administration, is looking desperately to find a way to deal with this creature properly--I would say enough is enough.  

 

President-elect Biden and his administration should look closely at what president Jimy Carter administration wrongly perceived as great benefits Khomeini could offer then in 1979. Those benefits seem very little today in comparison with the damages done to the peace and stability of the Middle East and wider world. Critically, some 41 years later, the potential threat from this creature to the future peace and security of the Middle East and the international community proves unthinkable. President Jimy Carter and later president Ronald Reagan together failed to see and grasp the real danger of this creature when they helped its inception in Iran, neglected its crawl and walk around the Middle East.  

 

A creature that exploited with free hand, at least until 2018 when President Trump cut their lifeline, the country’s wealth, and resources to give birth to terrorist organisations and/or support terrorists all over the region and beyond. It moved, though in slow pace, into all countries with a pocket of Shiite minority in the Middle East and beyond began throwing money, militia trainings and weapons at them. One of their biggest expenditure was to create Lebanese Hezbollah Terrorist organisation in 1982 under the President Ronald Reagan watch. It had hundreds of Americans and French military personnel and/or their families killed by its proxy terrorist organisations. It also assassinated during the past 41 years hundreds of Iranian dissidents over 40 countries.  

 

All of these, on the other hand, triggered a legitimate and understandable response from the centuries-old leader of the Islamic world, Saudi Arabia—president Jimy Carter administration missed that too at the time, or not missed but complacent to the dilemma the Western world faces today. Saudis and its traditional regional allies, all other Sunnis dominated nations in the Middle East and beyond, were closely monitoring the movement of this creature around the region. That was going on for quite sometimes, more than a couple of decades to be exact, until the Syrian war, Yemeni conflict and other African conflicts came about and spiral out of control where the Shiite populations supported by the creature in Tehran and the Sunnis looked up to Riyadh for support.  

 

Since president Trump exited the JCPOA in 2108 and imposed sanctions against this creature in Tehran, the creature has blatantly attacked, either directly or via its Yemeni proxies Houthis, Saudis oil facilities, mined oil cargo ships at various ports around the Middle East, hijacked oil tankers over international waters and the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, the Shiite Caliphate enriches uranium at 20% and develops and expands its ballistic missiles’ range to reach targets beyond the Middle East. This creature becomes more dangerous by day. IT has now turned its head and showed the US and its Western allies its nuclear and ballistic-missiles-liked teethes.  

Whilst doing all of these, the creature has also been violated all human and citizen rights of the people of Iran domestically, brutally imprisoned, tortured and killed any dissident voice heard. The creature did all these with a free hand from the US and its Western allies to put all the West to shame in the eyes of the people of Iran. President-elect Biden and his administration along with its Western allies cannot afford to make the same mistake Jimy Carter and Ronald Reagan made--being complacent to the seriousness of the threat. Enough is Enough. 

I am quite sure president Carter’s administration would have thought twice had it anticipated the today and near future dilemma self later-day president faces when was calculating the benefits against potential harms in supporting installation of Khomeini--Shiite Islamic Caliphate-- in Iran in 1979!