“…..The strange coincidence is that the militias and proxies had their real expansion in the region under former President Obama during the negotiations of 2013, 2014, and 2015….”
Nothing to do with being able to finance that expansion with the $15 Billion appeasement bounty that Obama gave to Iran then?
Below is a link to this authors, basic thesis. I see this as underpinning all of her writings. Henry P is correct and if you read this essay that I have linked, I think you’ll understand why the liberals get it wrong every time. Their frame of reference is de-colonialization, which is well past its expiry date.
To address your specific argument, “Decolonisation”, and its handmaiden ‘Reperations’, is being sold to us on the basis of some notion of redistributive justice. In reality it is just another covert strand in the Marxist informed agenda for the redistribution of wealth.
Judging by policy directives recently coming out of the UN, and the grovelling acquiescence of institutions such as the Church of England, far from being past its “sell by date” Decolonisation is becoming the latest attempt to scam the Developed World.
I’m all for the Developed economies using reparation funds to directly invest in infrastructure projects in supplicant countries to improve the lives of their populations. Unfortunately history has shown that just handing over large sums of money to countries with undeveloped civic structures is in many cases just a recipe for wholesale looting by those in power.
Looting, thy name is Ukraine. Apparently it’s a real gong show.
Good comment thank you for that. Based on what you said, I’ll change my wording to “should be” past its expiry date, but unfortunately, it is not. In fact the de-colonial moral framework may be in the ascendancy.
Here is a chestnut from our author on this de-colonial moral inversion:
“Anti-American regimes are treated as agents of resistance regardless of their conduct, while American action is treated as suspect, evil, and ignorant, irrespective of its purpose.”
Thank you for a very insightful discussion. The theological motivation of the IRGC is rarely reported in the mainstream western media. I believe it is because nearly every reporter and editor is either ignorant or uninformed.
It is important to understand this to fully understand the actions of the IRGC.
Not just Americans! But I agree that this is uniquely valuable as with the exception of a few X accounts, it’s very difficult to get a feel for how the Arabs see Iran and the problems it poses for its neighbours.
مقال جميل لقراءة دقيقة لنظرة العالم السني للعالم الشيعي ،وهي نظرة بحساسية شديدة تصل العداء بدأت منذ ذاك اليوم الذي قتل فيه حفيد النبي محمد ومستمرة الى الان ولا نعلم متى ستنتهي لان امهات كتبهم تعلمهم ذلك العداء ووصتهم بالتقية عند الضعف وتعدهم بالجنة لمن يقتل سنيا
"A beautiful article for a precise reading of the Sunni world's view of the Shiite world. It is a view with extreme sensitivity that reaches hostility, which began from that day when the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed and continues until now. We do not know when it will end because their primary books teach them that hostility, advise them to use Taqiyya (dissimulation) when weak, and promise Paradise to whoever kills a Sunni."
I find ChatGPT-based apps translate Arabic way better than Google as it handles idiom in both languages. “A beautiful article offering a detailed analysis of the Sunni world's view of the Shia world—a view marked by extreme sensitivity bordering on hostility. This hostility began on the day the Prophet Muhammad's grandson was killed and continues to this day. We do not know when it will end, as their primary texts teach this animosity, instruct them to practice dissimulation (taqiyya) when weak, and promise paradise to those who kill Sunnis.”
It is hard to play a complex game wisely or well when your command & control is trashed daily. One doubts Iran can now coordinate effective diplomatic/military responses to the U.S.. The 12ver Shia hidden Iman cult may maintain morale for a while longer but once they run out of money by the blockade can it last long? Like to know how/if moves in this game were planned in advance? I knew that Iran could close the gulf & that the U.S. could easily blockade Iran at the entrance as a checkpoint. There was thus never any reason for a Marine assault. It was a bluff. Did they wait until Iran closed the gulf to GCC traffic to mount the U.S. blockade? IDK. Possibly, US did not have the naval force assembled until recently. As a student of Islam and particularly Shia Iran, I think this site can explain 12ver end times theology more succinctly than any other source I have seen. This is not a regime that can be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. It would tempt them to accelerate the end times by striking Israel. The EU plays the game it does out of necessity due to the absence of effective military relevance.
Oh lord…what to say. The last paragraph gives it all away. Take some facts and spin an elaborate fantasy around it and post it as a serious article. This has no journalistic value, even as an opnion piece it’s weak as it doesn’t reflect the writer’s opinion as much as it’s trying to shape yours. Garbage
“In my opinion, Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei was present at the incident when his father was killed. He and his mother were taken to the hospital. His condition was critical. He was admitted to the hospital, and there he disappeared. He disappeared, meaning he was in a severe coma, severely injured, and hidden for the benefit of the Revolutionary Guard.”
Maybe that’s the Hidden Imam right there! Great writing! Bravo!
Most interesting insights into the differences between Islamic VOODOO, now seemingly well matched by venal Crusader VOODOO.
I think there is much wishful thinking here as regards the potential resolution and to the ever scheming resolve of the Arab States.
I remind you that, as always, because of its constantly existential position in the Middle East 'schema', it is Israel which has both the inside info on all this AND the pragmatic determination to survive both the mahdis and the Trumpists.
“ I must say, it [the Koran] is as toilsome reading as I ever undertook. A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite; endless iterations, long-windedness, entanglement; most crude, incondite; — insupportable stupidity, in short! Nothing but a sense of duty could carry any European through the Koran . . . It is the confused ferment of a great rude human soul; rude, untutored, that cannot even read; but fervent, earnest, struggling vehemently to utter itself in words . . . We said "stupid:" yet natural stupidity is by no means the character of Mahomet's Book; it is natural uncultivation rather. The man has not studied speaking; in the haste and pressure of continual fighting, has not time to mature himself into fit speech . . . The man was an uncultured semi-barbarous Son of Nature, much of the Bedouin still clinging to him: we must take him for that. But for a wretched Simulacrum, a hungry Impostor without eyes or heart . . . we will not and cannot take him. Sincerity, in all senses, seems to me the merit of the Koran; what had rendered it precious to the wild Arab men . . . Curiously, through these incondite masses of tradition, vituperation, complaint, ejaculation in the Koran, a vein of true direct insight, of what we might almost call poetry, is found straggling. [Carlyle 64-67]”
I think this is what it’s like to negotiate with the Iranian’s eastern mind: chaos, illogic, eruptions of sincerity and a “straggling” desire for truth.
They have to be told what they’re going to get and be forced to accept that. Grudgingly they will come to see that we did them a favor.
Israel full well knows this with the Palestinians: rough, rude, desert souls.
The western left-wing support for these people is rooted in decolonization theory. It is a cartoon picture of the world, it insists that we just haven’t done the negotiations correctly and that a proper solution is scientifically possible:
“Modern man, in his embittered disillusionment, is no longer content with the mere professions of faith. He wants guarantees, and he finds these guarantees in the scientific method. He is prepared to believe anything, provided it is presented as scientific, and nothing less than this will suffice. The veneer of science is thus used to mask spiritual hunger.”
— Carl Jung
Israelis were justified in their actions after October 7. It’s a terrible thing to say, considering all the killing. Hopefully it will end soon.
In a week in which Pete Hegseth “quoted Ezekiel” by parroting a speech from Pulp Fiction, it’s the Eschatological Iranians who are looking like the responsible adults here.
Let’s not forget that the Eschatological Evangelicals in the US were backing the Israel project as early the late 19th century - long before most of Europe’s Jews had even considered the idea - and by the 1930s it became imperative for them, not out of concern for those 1.3 million Jews seeking to escape Russian pogroms, but to prevent them from emigrating to the USA (and England), their preferred destinations.
Those Eschatological Evangelicals are still a formidable force in US politics, and their wacky ideology remains a key driver of US support for Israel.
Very interesting beginning description of the foundation of the IRGC and how control is exerted. I was reminded of how Trump and his devotees are maintaining their control.
I understand that the IRGC has now taken power and that the ayatollahs have less say-so on governance. Would that change your analysis? Is the IRGC less fanatical?
“…..The strange coincidence is that the militias and proxies had their real expansion in the region under former President Obama during the negotiations of 2013, 2014, and 2015….”
Nothing to do with being able to finance that expansion with the $15 Billion appeasement bounty that Obama gave to Iran then?
Below is a link to this authors, basic thesis. I see this as underpinning all of her writings. Henry P is correct and if you read this essay that I have linked, I think you’ll understand why the liberals get it wrong every time. Their frame of reference is de-colonialization, which is well past its expiry date.
https://zinebriboua.substack.com/p/why-american-power-is-always-on-trial?r=j0s6f&utm_medium=ios
To address your specific argument, “Decolonisation”, and its handmaiden ‘Reperations’, is being sold to us on the basis of some notion of redistributive justice. In reality it is just another covert strand in the Marxist informed agenda for the redistribution of wealth.
Judging by policy directives recently coming out of the UN, and the grovelling acquiescence of institutions such as the Church of England, far from being past its “sell by date” Decolonisation is becoming the latest attempt to scam the Developed World.
I’m all for the Developed economies using reparation funds to directly invest in infrastructure projects in supplicant countries to improve the lives of their populations. Unfortunately history has shown that just handing over large sums of money to countries with undeveloped civic structures is in many cases just a recipe for wholesale looting by those in power.
Looting, thy name is Ukraine. Apparently it’s a real gong show.
Good comment thank you for that. Based on what you said, I’ll change my wording to “should be” past its expiry date, but unfortunately, it is not. In fact the de-colonial moral framework may be in the ascendancy.
Here is a chestnut from our author on this de-colonial moral inversion:
“Anti-American regimes are treated as agents of resistance regardless of their conduct, while American action is treated as suspect, evil, and ignorant, irrespective of its purpose.”
Not a coincidence..
Thank you for a very insightful discussion. The theological motivation of the IRGC is rarely reported in the mainstream western media. I believe it is because nearly every reporter and editor is either ignorant or uninformed.
It is important to understand this to fully understand the actions of the IRGC.
These are interviews you’ll never see reported in most of the Western media.
Great reporting and analysis, Zineb! Very timely the inclusion of the two Arab TV commentaries
… you’re providing vital information to American readers.
this is mandatory reading
Not just Americans! But I agree that this is uniquely valuable as with the exception of a few X accounts, it’s very difficult to get a feel for how the Arabs see Iran and the problems it poses for its neighbours.
At last, you are coming to the politico-theological part, the most dangerous, but enchanting, core.
مقال جميل لقراءة دقيقة لنظرة العالم السني للعالم الشيعي ،وهي نظرة بحساسية شديدة تصل العداء بدأت منذ ذاك اليوم الذي قتل فيه حفيد النبي محمد ومستمرة الى الان ولا نعلم متى ستنتهي لان امهات كتبهم تعلمهم ذلك العداء ووصتهم بالتقية عند الضعف وتعدهم بالجنة لمن يقتل سنيا
Google translation:
"A beautiful article for a precise reading of the Sunni world's view of the Shiite world. It is a view with extreme sensitivity that reaches hostility, which began from that day when the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed and continues until now. We do not know when it will end because their primary books teach them that hostility, advise them to use Taqiyya (dissimulation) when weak, and promise Paradise to whoever kills a Sunni."
Poor translation. What is “extreme sensitivity that reaches hostility” meant to mean?
Ask Google.
I find ChatGPT-based apps translate Arabic way better than Google as it handles idiom in both languages. “A beautiful article offering a detailed analysis of the Sunni world's view of the Shia world—a view marked by extreme sensitivity bordering on hostility. This hostility began on the day the Prophet Muhammad's grandson was killed and continues to this day. We do not know when it will end, as their primary texts teach this animosity, instruct them to practice dissimulation (taqiyya) when weak, and promise paradise to those who kill Sunnis.”
It is hard to play a complex game wisely or well when your command & control is trashed daily. One doubts Iran can now coordinate effective diplomatic/military responses to the U.S.. The 12ver Shia hidden Iman cult may maintain morale for a while longer but once they run out of money by the blockade can it last long? Like to know how/if moves in this game were planned in advance? I knew that Iran could close the gulf & that the U.S. could easily blockade Iran at the entrance as a checkpoint. There was thus never any reason for a Marine assault. It was a bluff. Did they wait until Iran closed the gulf to GCC traffic to mount the U.S. blockade? IDK. Possibly, US did not have the naval force assembled until recently. As a student of Islam and particularly Shia Iran, I think this site can explain 12ver end times theology more succinctly than any other source I have seen. This is not a regime that can be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. It would tempt them to accelerate the end times by striking Israel. The EU plays the game it does out of necessity due to the absence of effective military relevance.
Oh lord…what to say. The last paragraph gives it all away. Take some facts and spin an elaborate fantasy around it and post it as a serious article. This has no journalistic value, even as an opnion piece it’s weak as it doesn’t reflect the writer’s opinion as much as it’s trying to shape yours. Garbage
“In my opinion, Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei was present at the incident when his father was killed. He and his mother were taken to the hospital. His condition was critical. He was admitted to the hospital, and there he disappeared. He disappeared, meaning he was in a severe coma, severely injured, and hidden for the benefit of the Revolutionary Guard.”
Maybe that’s the Hidden Imam right there! Great writing! Bravo!
🤣🤣🤣
Quoting Bernard Lewis at the outset, gives the game away, oi vey🤭
Most interesting insights into the differences between Islamic VOODOO, now seemingly well matched by venal Crusader VOODOO.
I think there is much wishful thinking here as regards the potential resolution and to the ever scheming resolve of the Arab States.
I remind you that, as always, because of its constantly existential position in the Middle East 'schema', it is Israel which has both the inside info on all this AND the pragmatic determination to survive both the mahdis and the Trumpists.
Vous etes geniale. And by coincidence, your effort may help Leo XIV to be back on earth! God bless.
Shia Islam is stupid, apocalyptic nonsense.
Robert Carlyle on the Koran:
“ I must say, it [the Koran] is as toilsome reading as I ever undertook. A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite; endless iterations, long-windedness, entanglement; most crude, incondite; — insupportable stupidity, in short! Nothing but a sense of duty could carry any European through the Koran . . . It is the confused ferment of a great rude human soul; rude, untutored, that cannot even read; but fervent, earnest, struggling vehemently to utter itself in words . . . We said "stupid:" yet natural stupidity is by no means the character of Mahomet's Book; it is natural uncultivation rather. The man has not studied speaking; in the haste and pressure of continual fighting, has not time to mature himself into fit speech . . . The man was an uncultured semi-barbarous Son of Nature, much of the Bedouin still clinging to him: we must take him for that. But for a wretched Simulacrum, a hungry Impostor without eyes or heart . . . we will not and cannot take him. Sincerity, in all senses, seems to me the merit of the Koran; what had rendered it precious to the wild Arab men . . . Curiously, through these incondite masses of tradition, vituperation, complaint, ejaculation in the Koran, a vein of true direct insight, of what we might almost call poetry, is found straggling. [Carlyle 64-67]”
I think this is what it’s like to negotiate with the Iranian’s eastern mind: chaos, illogic, eruptions of sincerity and a “straggling” desire for truth.
They have to be told what they’re going to get and be forced to accept that. Grudgingly they will come to see that we did them a favor.
Israel full well knows this with the Palestinians: rough, rude, desert souls.
The western left-wing support for these people is rooted in decolonization theory. It is a cartoon picture of the world, it insists that we just haven’t done the negotiations correctly and that a proper solution is scientifically possible:
“Modern man, in his embittered disillusionment, is no longer content with the mere professions of faith. He wants guarantees, and he finds these guarantees in the scientific method. He is prepared to believe anything, provided it is presented as scientific, and nothing less than this will suffice. The veneer of science is thus used to mask spiritual hunger.”
— Carl Jung
Israelis were justified in their actions after October 7. It’s a terrible thing to say, considering all the killing. Hopefully it will end soon.
In a week in which Pete Hegseth “quoted Ezekiel” by parroting a speech from Pulp Fiction, it’s the Eschatological Iranians who are looking like the responsible adults here.
Let’s not forget that the Eschatological Evangelicals in the US were backing the Israel project as early the late 19th century - long before most of Europe’s Jews had even considered the idea - and by the 1930s it became imperative for them, not out of concern for those 1.3 million Jews seeking to escape Russian pogroms, but to prevent them from emigrating to the USA (and England), their preferred destinations.
Those Eschatological Evangelicals are still a formidable force in US politics, and their wacky ideology remains a key driver of US support for Israel.
Very interesting beginning description of the foundation of the IRGC and how control is exerted. I was reminded of how Trump and his devotees are maintaining their control.
Zineb, great article as always!
I understand that the IRGC has now taken power and that the ayatollahs have less say-so on governance. Would that change your analysis? Is the IRGC less fanatical?