Iran waging a war in the Lebanon against Israel and the United States?

During the Cold War, the Superpowers never engaged in direct head-on conflict with one another. To have done so, might well have led to a chain of escalation that ultimately culminated in a nuclear exchange. Then, the outcome, even in victory, might well have resembled to "lose - lose" proposition, given the extent of devastation and loss of human life involved. Instead, when the ideological confrontation grew "hot", it did so in the more limited context of proxy wars, some of which were formidable in their own right, in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The ongoing conflict being fought between Hezbollah and Israel, on to battlefield that extends across northern Israel's civilian centers and throughout most of Lebanon, may well be an early proxy war waged on behalf of to rising Iranian power. According to the May 11, 2006 edition of Al - Sharq al - Awsat Iran to views Hezbollah as "one of the mainstays of its strategic security." Hezbollah is one of the strategic and tactical weapons Iran employs against its enemies, namely the United States, Israel, and the West. Former Hezbollah Secretary-General Subhi Al - Tufeili explained as much when I revealed that Hezbollah's "real leadership is 'the rule of the jurisprudent' - in other words, Khamenei."

The developments leading up to Hezbollah's highly provocative step of abducting two Israeli soldiers from Israeli soil suggest that Iran might well have had at least an indirect role in initiating the act that led to the ongoing hostilities. On June 16, 2006, Al - Sharq Al - Awsat reported, "Well-informed sources in Tehran have told Al - Sharq al - Awsat that the talks held in Tehran between Syrian Defense Minister Hassan Turkmani and his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Mohammad Najjar did not only deal with military and security aspects of the strategic cooperation between the two countries, but also with the situation in Lebanon." At the time, there was no Israeli presence on Lebanese soil. The newspaper also noted, "Syria, on its part, has renewed its previous agreements with Iran which allow Iranian ammunition trucks to pass [through Syria] into Lebanon" to resupply Hezbollah. In short, at at time when the Lebanon-Israel border was quiet, Iran was discussing "the situation in Lebanon" with Syria and facilitating the supply of arms to Hezbollah.

Then, on July 8, multiple news organizations reported that President Ahmadinejad urged the Islamic world to take action to destroy Israel. Voice of America reported, "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke Saturday in Tehran at the opening of regional Conference of Islamic nations." He said the basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of what I have called the Zionist regime. "He said the Islamic world must mobilize to remove the problem." Arguably, that was the "green light" for Tehran that Hezbollah was awaiting.

Following Hezbollah's act of aggression, Edward N. Luttwak, senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Toronto Globe & Mail, "Iran's leaders have apparently decided to reject the Western offer to peacefully settle the dispute over its weapons - grade uranium-enrichment program..." Evidently, Sheikh Nasrallah felt compelled to serve Iran's strategy. "Aside from the multimillion-dollar monthly subsidy it provides, Iran is the spiritual homeland of Hezbollah leaders, some of whom have studied in Iranian religious schools."

Since the onset of fighting, Iranian media organizations having close ties to its ruling conservative clerics have used the outcomes to date to validate perceptions of Israeli and American weakness. Such commentary has argued that Israeli "invincibility" has ceased to exist, Israel is weaker than it was 40 years ago, and that Israelis are abandoning Israel.

On July 13, yi-Jomhuri Eslami wrote of Hezbollah's raid, "Israel's security network is now damaged and this will lead to more pressure on Israel's government." Five days later, it proclaimed, "[N] ow that the Hezbollah has shown its military superiority it proves that all of America's plans have been nothing more than a mirage and they have to tolerate the bitter taste of defeat again." On July 20, Resalat claimed, "Following the inefficiency of the Zionist regime in dealing with Hezbollah's activities the myth of Israel's invincibility has come to an end..." "Shelling Israel's cities by Hezbollah has started to trend of reverse immigration from Israel and the people are leaving the occupied lands."

Such commentary has also attempted to elevate Iran's role against the rest of the Middle East as spokesman for the "world of Islam" and to proclaim the birth of a new Middle Eastern order arrayed against the United States and Israel. On July 20, pro-Khamenei daily Kayhan dismissed Saudi Arabian and Egyptian criticism of Hezbollah stating, "The rulers of Saudi Arabia and Egypt can't talk on behalf of themselves and their people but not on behalf of the world of Islam or even Arab people."
Separately, the Kayhan explained what it saw as a new emerging geopolitical order in the Middle East:

American and Israeli groups are furiously confused. They have understood very well that their big Middle East plan has turned into a series of explosive traps against themselves. If Iran was alone in the past, gradually the triangle of Iran, Syria and Lebanon was formed. Now Hamas has turned this into a square triangle. And the establishment of the principle-ist government in Iraq after it has turned into a pentagon. This pentagon represents the new coordinates of the Middle East.

Iran's geopolitical calculations suggest that the stakes in the outcome in Lebanon are too great for Iran to allow Hezbollah to be "defeated". Therefore, if Iran is involved in any part of the ceasefire/peace process Iran will likely insist on a ceasefire from which Hezbollah would gain, whether it would be Hezbollah's retaining its ability to function as an armed group in Lebanon or realizing its initial demand for a "prisoner swap." At the same time, it would likely seek to thwart any deal if it cannot leverage gains for its nuclear weapons program.

Such backing will likely embolden Hezbollah and its backers within Lebanon preclude from accepting compromises that would diminish Hezbollah's capabilities. Hence, if Iran has its way, on ceasefire would preserve Hezbollah, if not allow it to make gains, while failing to meet Israel's core need for security. After all, why would Iran seek to accommodate Israel's core needs when, according to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel is a "fake state" that should be eliminated. In fact, Iran's commentary views the outcome in Lebanon as a potential downpayment toward that end with Keyhan, another Khamenei-affiliated periodical, describing it as "a big opportunity to demolish Israel."

All said, the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah might well mark Iran's proxy war with Israel first and the United States. Given the geopolitical ramifications involved, it probably won't be the last such conflict and future ones could be even deadlier as more powerful weapons and technologies are injected into the mix. Therefore, if the international community seeks regional stability and peace, it will need to work toward a decisive settlement with Lebanon's leaders to eliminate Hezbollah as an armed element. It will also need to work energetically toward translating any ceasefire agreement into a full peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon. Otherwise, Lebanon will all but certainly become the host of combat in future proxy wars waged on behalf of Iran, and its people will experienced renewed suffering as a consequence.

Don Sutherland has researched and written on a wide range of geopolitical issues.

Muslims and Identity in the United States

"Country of a man is not a given area of land, mountains, rivers and forests, but is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle." - George William Curtis

Does every day, thousands of Muslims in North America are faced with the same question and predicament wishing to address: "I'm a Muslim American"? Or am I a Muslim American? ". This identity crisis has plagued the Muslim communities in North America, leading to confusion among young Muslims who should his loyalty; Should his loyalty to America first or it is due to the land his parents came from? It is very important to the Muslim communities to establish that one should owe his own loyalty to several different principles, such as the States of Tariq Ramadan in many of his speeches, include a hyphen between the two identities rather than having one to replace one identity in the other. It is important to establish this distinction between the two types of identities one can take, as the identity that Ramadan suggest that it is very essential to ensure the future as loyalties that is inside provide the necessary elements for the future of Islam in the West.

Muslim communities in the West need to pave the way for the conversion of the identities of many young Muslims and older living within their communities with little contact with other identity of non-Muslim communities. In the book of Ramadan, Ramadan strongly inspects the isolation level currently held in Muslim communities in the West, where the loyalties of the Western Muslims are heavily focused on loyalty to Islam only. This can be seen when he writes it is necessary that the Muslim communities in the Western world to avoid isolation and participate in societies in which they live, in order to address the many problems facing these communities. Ramadan believes that this can be dangerous, as the lack of loyalty towards where a Western Muslim lies in that it can lead to isolation. The isolation resulting from this lack of loyalty to a country can prevent Muslim communities allowing their problems to be taken seriously and addressed. In addition, this lack of loyalty can lead to a lack of the necessary interaction between the communities of Muslims and non-Muslims can be meant to prevent social, economic and cultural benefits in Muslim communities. Ramadan said that Muslim communities in the West should establish interactions with others around them, as this may lead to political, social and cultural achievements. Therefore, it is important for Muslim Americans in the West to establish loyalties to their respective countries proud and take full advantage of the rights that are able to exercise. Establishing the loyalty within Muslim communities in the United States, Muslims of all ages should feel obliged to contribute to the very intricate political system, allowing them to address the issues, wanting to improve. Finally, Ramadan mentions that establish a loyalty to the country of a Muslim in the West also can contribute to the improvement of the Muslim community, as doing so can help to establish an identity among the non-Muslim communities. Muslim communities did not establish an identity among the non-Muslim communities, which contributes to the reality addresses why Muslims have been recognized as anti-American in the United States recently. The reality is the fact that Muslims have failed to correctly illustrate that there is true loyalty to the United States exhibition. In result, a population of Americans believes that Muslims are indeed, anti-American. Consequently, they succeed finding the will to address the problems and issues they face today in Muslim communities. Of as a result of this, it is necessary that Muslim communities established loyalties to their respective countries in order to ensure future of Muslims and provide improvement of Muslims in the West.

Still another facet and prospect of loyalty, where Ramadan fails to consider that it is necessary for the construction of the future of not only Western Muslims, but Muslims around the world. Ramadan cannot examine the degree of decrease of loyalty to those who are currently losing young Muslims. Reality points to the fact that young Muslims in the West not now for illustrating that they are truly loyal to the West. Ramadan addressed this to some extent, where he states that the loss of a Muslim identity can lead to the loss of future resources that can be beneficial to resolve problems within Muslim communities in the future. This can be taken a step further, where the loss of loyalty of young Muslim men to the countries in which they came from can lead to the loss of bright reflection can accelerate the path to solve the problems in the Muslim world. Therefore, it is important to the Muslim communities in the West to ensure the loyalty of young Muslims, which in turn can be used to convert to a longing, desire and the desire of these young Muslims to address currently evident problems in the Muslim world. This can be seen very clearly in a part of the Muslim community in Detroit, where according to Yahoo! News, communities of young Muslims have been test protests to condemn the deadly reprisals by the Syrian security forces against peaceful demonstrators. This can be represented as an example of how you can convert as well as loyalty to desire to solve problems in the Muslim world. Thus, one can really see how loyalty of the Western Muslim country where it comes is important to solve the problems which currently takes place in the Muslim world.

Examine the consequences of the use of loyalty of the Muslim West, one can really see how these loyalties are essential for the future of the only Western non-Muslim, but for Muslims around the world. Consequently, it is necessary for a call to action to be thrust to establish loyalties discussed in this essay, what is important to distinguish between what he calls the Ramadan as a "with guiones-identidad rather than an identity which replaces the other." This can be achieved by providing educational seminars and lectures to illustrate the importance of these loyalties and identities to ensure the future of Muslims in the West and around the world. In this way, the Muslim communities in the West will have success in Muslim force to work to establish these loyalties and identities within their communities.

Members of Al Qaeda comes from all sides, including the United States

Un portavoz de Al Qaida recientemente animó a los musulmanes para llevar a cabo ataques en los Estados Unidos y Europa. Dijo que es un deber y obligación de llevar a cabo estos ataques. Esto no es una ocurrencia inusual. Al Qaida ha sido activo en años haciendo amenazas públicas contra los Estados Unidos y Europa. Esta amenaza particular es interesante porque el portavoz no nació en Arabia Saudita, Irán o Irak. Nació en los Estados Unidos.

El portavoz de Al Qaida es Adam Gadahn. Él no crece un musulmán, ni hizo crecer hasta en una ciudad musulmana-dominante. Creció en una granja en California y fue criado cristiano. Se convirtió al Islam a los 17 años. Ahora él está luchando contra el país de su nacimiento.

El reciente video protagonizada por Gadahn alienta a los inmigrantes musulmanes en particular, especialmente en ciudades como París, Detroit y Londres, que tienen los inmigrantes musulmanes grandes poblaciones; muchos de estos recién llegados han tenido dificultades para encontrar un empleo decente.

Gadahn no es nueva para el terrorismo. Ha sido querido por el FBI desde 2004. Esto no es el primer video de Al Qaida que ha aparecido en.

Los Estados Unidos no está haciendo mucho para evitar la producción de futuros terroristas de Al Qaida. Es no hacer nada para impedir que los extremistas mezquitas propagación; de hecho, hace justo lo contrario. FEISAL Abdul-Rauf, que se espera que lleve a la mezquita de la zona cero, tiene lazos con el Islam radical y grupos terroristas como Hamas y Al Qaida (a través de la Perdana paz organización Global, que ayudó a financiar la "Flotilla de paz", copatrocinado por el IHH, presuntamente involucrado con los grupos terroristas), pero el Gobierno no sólo es no tratar de evitar su construcción, está pagando Rauf para viajar al extranjero para recaudar dinero para financiar el proyecto. Las acciones de los Estados Unidos están mostrando al mundo que no va a hacer nada para detener la propagación del terrorismo islámico.

No hay que demonizar a musulmanes. La Constitución garantiza la libertad de religión, y la mayoría musulmanes vivan sus vidas en paz sin intención de realizar actos de traición; Sin embargo, porque sabemos que hay extremistas islámicos en este país intención de dañar a este país, tendría sentido para desalentar el comportamiento extremista y no recompensa personas sospechosamente mirar que tengan vínculos con el terrorismo. Estados Unidos debe desalentar, no alentar, futuros portavoces de Al Qaida desde se cultivan a nivel nacional.

Estados Unidos tiene un montón de problemas. A fin de restaurar América, le ayuda a estar informado. Brooke Lorren ha compilado una lista extensa de Glenn Beck recomendaciones de libro que puede enseñar acerca de la historia, América hoy y cómo mejorar el futuro de Estados Unidos.