Qatar, Saudi followed long term (about 40 years) Marxist/Islamist strategy infiltrating western institutions fueled by money and power. The Yuri Bezmenov, former KGB agent, interview from 1954 provided the textbook.
I will watch this when I have the time; I remember talk about Russian influence on campuses in the 60s and 70s as part of the explanation for those uprisings. I thought people were crazy. Now we see it clearly. How has there not been a law passed making it illegal to take more for any foreign country? If Qatari funds are sitting in Columbia or Harvard accounts, it should be confiscated by the government and put to good use like renovating buildings or scholarships.
And the West needs to WAKE UP .. Europe, USA, Australia and the UK, through the natural process of globalisation, have had a large influx of Muslims over the last 30 years.
With their bigger birth rate, they will, by its very nature, import islamic jihad ideology.
The latter may be less than 5% in nature, but they will get the support of their fellow Muslims.
Lucy, excellent analysis. I agree with virtually all of your points.
Anyone who has spent time studying the ideology of the Islamic Republic understands that this was never simply a dispute over borders or even Israel alone. The regime's worldview is much larger than that. It sees itself as carrying a revolutionary mission that extends far beyond Iran's borders.
That is why I think so many Western observers misunderstand the nature of the threat. They view the regime as a normal government pursuing normal national interests. It isn't. For 45 years it has funded proxies, exported revolution, destabilized the region, and openly called for the destruction of its enemies.
What makes this moment different is that, for perhaps the first time in decades, there is an American president willing to confront the problem rather than simply manage it.
Like many others, I hope the ultimate outcome is regime change. That would be the clearest path to a more peaceful Middle East. But even if that proves unattainable, a verifiable end to Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions for the next 10 or 20 years would still be a major strategic victory.
The ideal outcome is regime change. The minimum acceptable outcome is a genuinely nuclear-free Iran. Either way, the status quo was never a path to peace.
Does this imply we need a Hiroshima or Dresden approach to the eradication of the Iranian regime? Or tens of thousands of troops in Iran to find and kill as many of the enemy as possible until the regime collapses? Our military response (Israel/US) has not been effective (results so far in fact are counter effective- Strait is closed, Iran bombing U.S. military installations effectively, Iran emboldened geopolitically). Diplomacy has yielded some delays but not really solving the problems. Both Trump n Netanyahu have failed (as well as Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, Trump I, Biden). The solution seems elusive.
After the first hostage incident in '79-'80, the United States should have blown Iran back to the Dark Ages. I don't care what negotiations there were or what agreements were made. For fundamental Islamists, keeping promises is viewed as weakness. Iran only followed up with more and more and more as reported here. When will we finally get it? These are not westerners with Enlightenment values. Granted, neither was Japan, but that took two atomic bombs (no, I'm not suggesting . . . ). But seriously, Iran needs a very intense spanking. No talking. Just spanking.
This reminded me of the young comedian's routine: "pit bulls are like Muslims; they're not all violent . . . . but whenever there's an attack it's always . . .
Notwithstanding these facts,there are 400-600 mass shootings (4 or more people shot) in the U.S. each year. What percentage of those are Muslim? So there are thousands of mass shooters over the last decade and perhaps a more than representative number are Muslim. But your facts tend to skew the view that “all Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim”. This is simply false and not very helpful to identify the radicals and look for support among the rationals.
Brilliant analysis. Thank you. Will the west ever learn that a ceasefire is merely a pause to regroup and rearm???
Exactly .. ceasefire means ‘stop firing’ until the next round ..
The most evil regime ever. They are like an octopus, fingers everywhere. I am old enough to remember when this started. Evil to the core.
Qatar, Saudi followed long term (about 40 years) Marxist/Islamist strategy infiltrating western institutions fueled by money and power. The Yuri Bezmenov, former KGB agent, interview from 1954 provided the textbook.
https://youtu.be/yErKTVdETpw?si=QRXxrkqbdjwSSvEt
Thank you for sharing …
It took a while but I just finished listening to the interview! Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing this.
I will watch this when I have the time; I remember talk about Russian influence on campuses in the 60s and 70s as part of the explanation for those uprisings. I thought people were crazy. Now we see it clearly. How has there not been a law passed making it illegal to take more for any foreign country? If Qatari funds are sitting in Columbia or Harvard accounts, it should be confiscated by the government and put to good use like renovating buildings or scholarships.
And the West needs to WAKE UP .. Europe, USA, Australia and the UK, through the natural process of globalisation, have had a large influx of Muslims over the last 30 years.
With their bigger birth rate, they will, by its very nature, import islamic jihad ideology.
The latter may be less than 5% in nature, but they will get the support of their fellow Muslims.
Great points! Really enjoy your work.
Lucy, excellent analysis. I agree with virtually all of your points.
Anyone who has spent time studying the ideology of the Islamic Republic understands that this was never simply a dispute over borders or even Israel alone. The regime's worldview is much larger than that. It sees itself as carrying a revolutionary mission that extends far beyond Iran's borders.
That is why I think so many Western observers misunderstand the nature of the threat. They view the regime as a normal government pursuing normal national interests. It isn't. For 45 years it has funded proxies, exported revolution, destabilized the region, and openly called for the destruction of its enemies.
What makes this moment different is that, for perhaps the first time in decades, there is an American president willing to confront the problem rather than simply manage it.
Like many others, I hope the ultimate outcome is regime change. That would be the clearest path to a more peaceful Middle East. But even if that proves unattainable, a verifiable end to Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions for the next 10 or 20 years would still be a major strategic victory.
The ideal outcome is regime change. The minimum acceptable outcome is a genuinely nuclear-free Iran. Either way, the status quo was never a path to peace.
That is a spot on analysis of a geopolitical reality that should have been decisively dealt with decades ago. Now it’s time to call the bet.
Unconditional surrender is the west’s only option or we’re just postponing their plans for world domination
Does this imply we need a Hiroshima or Dresden approach to the eradication of the Iranian regime? Or tens of thousands of troops in Iran to find and kill as many of the enemy as possible until the regime collapses? Our military response (Israel/US) has not been effective (results so far in fact are counter effective- Strait is closed, Iran bombing U.S. military installations effectively, Iran emboldened geopolitically). Diplomacy has yielded some delays but not really solving the problems. Both Trump n Netanyahu have failed (as well as Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, Trump I, Biden). The solution seems elusive.
After the first hostage incident in '79-'80, the United States should have blown Iran back to the Dark Ages. I don't care what negotiations there were or what agreements were made. For fundamental Islamists, keeping promises is viewed as weakness. Iran only followed up with more and more and more as reported here. When will we finally get it? These are not westerners with Enlightenment values. Granted, neither was Japan, but that took two atomic bombs (no, I'm not suggesting . . . ). But seriously, Iran needs a very intense spanking. No talking. Just spanking.
This reminded me of the young comedian's routine: "pit bulls are like Muslims; they're not all violent . . . . but whenever there's an attack it's always . . .
Notwithstanding these facts,there are 400-600 mass shootings (4 or more people shot) in the U.S. each year. What percentage of those are Muslim? So there are thousands of mass shooters over the last decade and perhaps a more than representative number are Muslim. But your facts tend to skew the view that “all Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim”. This is simply false and not very helpful to identify the radicals and look for support among the rationals.