ISSUES....
Inside,
confidential, off the record
Muqtada
al-Sadr is Tito, and Ahmadinejad is Hitler
Think of Iranian
occupying forces in Iraq as the Germans, and al-Qaeda and
the Mahdi Army as the Yugoslav partisans. Staying with this Yugoslav
analogy, President Ahmadinejad is Adolph Hitler (just as A. wants),
while
Muqtada al-Al Sadr is Joseph Broz Tito, wartime commander of the
Yugoslav
partisans. The Shia are the Serbians in Yugoslavia, the largest
ethnic
group. The Serbs believe absolutely in a South Slav multinational
and
centralized state, and will go on to build and dominate post-war
Yugoslavia.
What happens next? Hitler loses the war, and Tito leads his multi-national
partisan army (Serbians, Croats, Montnegrins, and Albanians) into
Belgrade.
Will Tito's
forces make the transition from prevailing in irregular warfare
to running a highly complex and modern state? Tito knows the most
acute
problem is preserving the spirit of the equality and brotherhood
of nations
that drove his partisans to victory in WW II. If this task is
fumbled and
Serbian chauvinism is permitted to emerge, the new state would
fail, and all
the other wartime accomplishments of Tito would go by the wayside.
Tito was well
aware that Germany (Iran) would some day again be a threat.
In the meantime, smaller but powerful neighbors like Italy, as
well as the
Soviet Bloc countries like Bulgaria after Tito broke with Stalin
in 1948,
desired to take Yugoslav territory. They would do so by stirring
up
animosity between the member states of the Yugoslav federation.
Divide and
conquer -- Germany's policy for Yugoslavia in WW II, and Iran's
policy for
Iraq today.
But Italy
and the Soviet Bloc states failed completely. Tito met the
challenge, and the centralized, multi-national Yugoslav state
easily fended
off all foreign aggression until his death in the 1980's, after
which
Germany and the US put the pressure on again in the 1990's, this
time
meeting with success. Yugoslavia was broken into pieces, while
Serbia was
isolated and humiliated. Beware - this could be the fate of Iraq
and the
Iraqi Shia!
How successful
was Tito in his prime? There was a saying in Italy that when
Tito in Belgrade ordered the Yugoslav army to start the engines
of their
tanks, the "knees of the Romans would tremble." Iraq
can again make Iran
tremble, if Iran contines to plan aggression against Iraq.
Tito and Yugoslavia
went on to make outstanding contributions to regional
and global security. Tito stopped Stalin's advance into the Balkans
in the
1950s, and in the 1960's and 1970's cooperated with China and
the US against
the rise of Soviet imperialism on a global scale. Stalin was so
furious that
he ordered Tito's assassination. The Soviets made three attempts
and failed
each time. In fact, Tito was the only leader of a Balkan state
who defied
Stalin and lived to talk about it.
In this regard,
as a founder and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, Tito
was a major and constructive player on the world stage. Tito had
exceptionally close relations with Egypt and the Arab world during
this
period. In particular, Tito was a tireless defender of the rights
of small
states against the Superpowers.
Yes, Iraq
is Yugoslavia, ad Muqtada al-Sadr is Joseph Broz Tito. Iran is
Germany, and Iraq is intended to be Iran's first major prize,
the
centerpiece of its empire, and from which Iran intends to strike
at Saudi
Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, and to dominate Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan,
Azerbaijan and even Central Asia, much to the consternation of
Russia, China
and Kazakhstan, who are already taking steps to protect themselves.
Time is short
and there is much to be done. Now, where do al-Qaeda and the
Kurds stand? With Hitler or with Tito?
ISSUES....
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