This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Iran’s statement on Syria shows signs of desperation
- U.S. Marines land in Philippines after massive Typhoon Haiyan destruction
Iran’s statement on Syria shows signs of desperation
Mohamed Javad Zarif being interviewed on BBC on Monday
A statement by Iran’s foreign minister, Mohamed Javad Zarif, to a BBCinterviewer is so completely full of falsehoods that it sounds likedesperation. Zarif expressed outrage at terrorism and extremism bySunni jihadists, while totally ignoring 30 years of Iranian Shiaterrorism through the Revolutionary Guard Corp and through directfunding of Hezbollah and other violent terrorist groups. Sunnijihadists are now targeting Hezbollah, Iran’s allies in Syria, and Iranitself. Call it kismet, call it karma, or call it comeuppance, Iranis now facing well-deserved retribution.
Zarif began the interview by parroting the usual line — there is nomilitary solution, there has to be a political solution — not mentioning that Iran is fully involved militarily in Syria.Then, the BBC interviewer, Jeremy Bowen, asked about the role ofjihadists in Syria (my transcription):
That is a threat to all of us. The role ofjihadists, the role of extremists, these are a band of mobilepeople, most of them non-Syrian, who are moving from Chechnya toAfghanistan to Yemen, the [next] day to Iraq to Syria, andwreaking havoc in all these countries. It’s in the interest ofeverybody to understand that extremists will not be able to becontained in one country. If they give rise to extremism, this isa fire that will engulf them and will burn them. We’ve got tounderstand that extremism has no boundaries. Terrorism has noboundaries. We need to collectively deal with them thru seriousmeasures to prevent them from wreaking havoc.
This is exactly the point that I’ve been making for months, exceptthat I place the blame squarely on Iran and Russia. Iran and Russiahave been supplying fighters and weapons to Shia/Alawite Basharal-Assad, who is trying to exterminate all the Sunnis in Syria. So ofcourse the Sunni jihadists from countries near and far are going toflock to Syria to fight al-Assad. Are the Iranian and Russian leadersso incredibly stupid that they didn’t think that would happen?Apparently so. But that’s typical of the utter stupidity ofmany politicians in many countries.
As I’ve said in the past, I believe that a tipping point has alreadybeen reached in Syria, and that there’s no way to stop the risingsectarian conflict in the Mideast. With hundreds of thousands ofdeaths, and many millions of refugees, the countries around Syria arenow so destabilized that there’s no way to recover without afull-scale war.
At this point, Bowen said that the war in Syria has increasedSunni/Shia tensions. He asked Zarif how serious this sectariantension is for the Mideast and the world:
I think it’s probably the most serious securitythreat not only to the region, but to the world at large. And Ithink all of us, and Iran is committed to this and when I was inTurkey with our Turkish friends, regardless of our differencesover Syria, we need to work together on this sectarian issue.
When I was in Iraq we agreed with the Iraqi friends that we needto work together, that this was the single most important problemthat we all – we ALL face. And I believe we can work witheverybody in the region, with Saudi Arabia, with the countries inthe Persian Gulf, with other countries in the region, with others,in order to contain this threat, because this — some people havefanned the animosity for short-sighted politicalinterests.”
At this point, Bowen interrupted and said, “Saudis – you mean theSaudis.” Zarif was obviously talking about Iran’s hated enemy, theSaudis, but refused to say so.
The more that Zarif spoke, the more his words rang hollow.Iran not only has NOT been working to “contain this threat,”but in fact Iran has been the principal cause, along withRussia, of the sectarian threat.
Iran’s economy is on the ropes because of the international sanctions,while Saudi Arabia has an almost unlimited amount of money to fundanti-Assad fighters in Syria. (See “11-Nov-13 World View — Saudi Arabia’s plans for Syria intervention face many obstacles”)
So now Zarif is whining that the Saudis have “fanned the animosity forshort-sighted political interests,” ignoring that’swhat Iran has been doing for years.
I’m talking about certain countries that have calledvarious names about Shia Crescent, and all of that — thisbusiness of fear-mongering has been a prevalent business. I thinkwe need to come to understand that sectarian divide in the Islamicworld is a threat to all of us. Nobody can benefit from it.Nobody should try to fan the flames of sectarian violence. Ithink we should all rein this divide, and rein it in, bring it toa close, try to avoid a conflict that would be detrimental toeverybody’s security.
By this time, Zarif sounded completely desperate. Iran has beenfanning the flames of sectarian violence in Syria since the warstarted 2 1/2 years ago, and now it’s blown back on them. Thewealthy Saudis are gearing up for a fight, the bankrupt Iranians can’tcompete, and Sunni jihadists are striking within Iran itself.
For 30 years, Iran has been funding and fomenting terror throughoutthe Mideast and, through Hezbollah, around the world. Iran’sdesperation is well deserved. Even worse, the survival ofthe regime is at stake, with Iran in a generational Awakeningera and the younger generations getting very impatient withold hardline geezers running the country.
The question is how much of a change in policy can be expectedfrom this desperation. The nuclear talks this past weekendcollapsed, but there also Iran seemed almost desperate to reachan agreement that would get the sanctions eased.
There’s a final word to be said about Hezbollah. The sectarianconflict really spiked up last April when Hezbollah announced that itwould be invading Syria to fight on the side of al-Assad. Reportsindicated that Hezbollah leadership didn’t want to intervene, but wasforced to by their masters, the Iranians. (See “27-Sep-13 World View — How Hezbollah’s reluctant foray into Syria changed the Mideast”)
Analysts have noticed that, without any particular announcement,Hezbollah withdrew from Syria a couple of months ago. This reflects achange in policy of Hezbollah, but more so of Iran. That could be thefirst sign that Iran is finally realizing the disaster that it hascaused working with Russia. BBC
U.S. Marines land in Philippines after massive Typhoon Haiyan destruction
The city of Tacloban in the Philippines, with a population of over 220,000, almost totally destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan
U.S. Marines landed Monday to bring food, water, generators, blankets,mosquito nets, soap, underwear, and other critical supplies to thesurvivors of Friday’s deadly Typhoon Yolanda (called Haiyan elsewherein Asia), possibly the most powerful typhoon on record.
The nation isused to typhoons, having had 20 or so already this year, but no onewas prepared for Haiyan, with 145 mile per hour winds and stormsurges as high as 20 feet. Haiyan killed over 10,000 people andcompletely destroyed cities in its path. Almost 9.7 million peoplewere affected.
A new typhoon, named Zoraida, will make landfall onTuesday, with top winds of 34 miles per hour but with plenty of newrain to add to the misery. The U.S. is providing $20 million in aidto the Philippines, and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington,currently in Hong Kong, is making final preparations to deploy to thePhilippines and will arrive Wednesday or Thursday. President BenignoAquino III has declared a “state of calamity.” Fox News and Bloomberg
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iran, Mohamed Javad Zarif,Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia,Philippines, Tacloban, Typhoon Yolanda, Typhoon Haiyan,Typhoon Zoraida, Benigno Aquino III,USS George Washington
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