The Iranian leadership continues to threaten Israel with nuclear destruction. "Like it or not," said Irainian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be destroyed by a single storm. The existence of this regime is an ongoing threat to the Middle East. Its existence has harmed the 'dignity' of Islamic nations."
The language used by Iran's president belongs in a declaration of war. In fact, the Iranian government is at war with Israel. And there is no path to peace except the elimination of Israel (according to the fundamentalists.) Of course, the elimination of a country is not an acceptable solution for America and the West. But it is the only solution that many Muslims will accept. And it is the only solution the Islamic Republic of Iran will accept.
The Iranians are also at war with the United States, though the Americans refuse to notice. In 1979 Iranian thugs took America's diplomatic mission hostage; but the United States did not declare war. In 1983 the Iranian government ordered an attack on U.S. forces in Lebanon. This resulted in the death of 241 U.S. Marines; and again, the United States did not declare war. One has to wonder. How many Iranian acts of war will it take before the Americans bomb Iran?
And what about Israel?
Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has boasted that Israel "does not have the courage to attack Iran, and if it commits such a blunder the defenders of Islamic Iran will put Israel in an eternal coma like Sharon." According to Najjar, the United States and Israel have been attempting to frighten the Iranian government by "using psychological warfare." But psychological warfare will never work. Iran has cards to play, and America's army is too small and preoccupied to mount an invasion that would topple the Ayatollahs. Iran's leaders can sense America's helplessness. They can sense Israel's uncertainty. The Americans and Israelis would be foolish to attack. Any strikes launched against Iran would only serve to strengthen the Islamic regime as Muslims everywhere rally to fight a defensive jihad.
According to American scholar and Near East expert Bernard Lewis, "For most of the fourteen centuries of recorded Muslim history, jihad was most commonly interpreted to mean armed struggle for the defense or advancement of Muslim power." In the event of attack by infidels, every able-bodied Muslim is obligated to take up arms. "Jihad is thus a religious obligation," noted Lewis. And how is the jihad resolved? "The presumption is that the duty of jihad will continue, interrupted only by truces, until all the world either adopts the Muslim faith or submits to Muslim rule," Lewis explained.
In his book, The Crisis of Islam, Lewis quotes from traditional Islamic texts that deal with the subject of holy war: "Jihad is your duty under any ruler, be he godly or wicked." Also, "He who dies without having taken part in a campaign dies in a kind of unbelief." And finally, "Paradise is in the shadow of swords." (This might be updated to read, "Paradise is found in the shade of a mushroom cloud.")
Admittedly, it is reasonable for Iran to defend itself. It is reasonable to arm oneself with nuclear weapons when your enemy has nuclear weapons. But notions of "martyrdom" and heavenly reward in the afterlife cast a strange question mark upon the notion of "mutual assured destruction." Furthermore, Islamic tradition maintains a double standard when it comes to matters of war and peace. "It was perfectly legitimate for Muslims to conquer and rule Europe," noted Lewis. "It was a crime and a sin for Europeans to conquer and rule Muslims." In other words, international moral norms do not apply to Islamic states because it is lawful for Muslims to begin an aggressive war against infidels. From a Western point of view, Islamic notions of war and peace are unsettling. Only by grasping at conceptual straws like multiculturalism and political correctness can the American or European have peace of mind. The Westerner believes that all people can live in harmony. The Iranian leadership thinks so too, but only if Islam triumphs and the Jews are driven into the sea.
Iran's leaders believe they are following God's will. They believe that God put the oil under the House of Islam as a weapon with which to chastise the infidels. In this regard, America must reckon with Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, or merely to shut down its own oil production. In the event of an American military strike, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would likely throw in with the Iranians, cutting off his country's oil exports as well. With oil already pushing above $70 per barrel, an American strike against Iran could trigger gasoline shortages in the U.S., and oil prices above $100.00 per barrel.
So what is the America solution?
There is no solution. There is only a problem that worsens over time. Everything the U.S. and Israel might do would only deepen the crisis. Those in the Islamic world who hate the U.S. will grow in strength. The threat to Western energy supplies will increase day to day. The intractability of the Iranians and others will blossom. Given all this, an economically damaging outcome is assured. The parties to this dispute aren't going to kiss and make up.
