Barack Obama and Sayyid Khamenei: Brilliant but Fools
By John Stanton
President of the United States of America Barack Hussein Obama and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Sayyid Ali Khamenei are brilliant scholars and teachers. Each is an exceptional orator and leader. Both are family men with wives and children. They both love their families and hope for them a bright future. Obama and Khamenei both "love" their country and the ideals on which it is based. Both are extraordinarily wealthy.
Obama is a brilliant scholar and student of of the US Constitution. That document-along with the American Declaration of Independence is as sacred to Americans as the Koran and the Iranian Revolution is to the people of Iran.
Likewise, Khamenei is an extraordinary scholar and student of the Koran and the Iranian Revolution. He is also is a former Secretary of Defense for Iran and decorated combat veteran of the Iran-Iraq war waged in the early 1980's (the US supported Iraq).
Unlike Obama, who has sent US servicemen and women to die but has never experienced combat, Khamenei knows the horrors of war first hand. He has sent many to their deaths but as also fought along side them. He has also survived assassination attempts from rivals within his own country.
Obama and Khamenei command powerful military machines that operate in the open and in the darkness. These days the key actions is in the shadows. The United States has its Special Operations Command and Navy Seals, Green Berets and combined special forces units varyingly known as Delta or a Task Force falling under some sort of JSOC command.
Iran has similar components. According to Pakistan Defence, "Takavaran is the term used for a type of Iranian special forces troops. To be eligible for Takavar selection, a candidate must have at least two years regular service in the Iranian Armed Forces. Personnel must be male and if an individual is selected for Takavar, he will then go through an intense 20 month Operator Training Course. The takavaran (plural of takavar) fall under the direct command of the regular Iranian Army (Artesh), while the Pasdaran have their own special forces called the Qods Force. They are directly comparable to the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) of the United States, and Special Boat Service of United Kingdom through a near identical training and selection program.
The Most Famous Units Are: 1-Lashgare 78 Takavar Zolfaghar {78 Commando}. 2-Tip 55 Havabord (Shiraz) {85 Airborne}. 3-Lashgare 23 Special Forces {230 Special Force}. 4-Tip 45 Takavar (Ahvaz) {85 Commando}. 5-Gorouh 99 Takavar Padafand Havaie (Tehran) {79 Air Assault}. 6-Yegan 04 Takavar Changal (Tehran). 7-Gorouhan Takavar Pasdar Setad Gharargah (Mini City - Tehran)."
Similar in Many Ways
Both countries have complex political processes. When lobbying or trying to analyze the political scene in the United States, it is not enough to assess just President Obama's speeches and policy designs. One must also look to the United States Congress, the Republican and Democratic parties, and the Pentagon and its assorted political allies. Part of that analyses includes reviewing the semi-official organs of the United States political, economic and military leadership: the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the major news networks like CNN and FOX.
It's a similar situation in Iran. To try and comprehend the scene there one has to take in Press TV, IRNA and Tehran Times at least. Khamenei may be the Supreme Leader, but there is a raucous Parliament (which has a computer setup at each legislator's seat), a Presidency and a Judiciary akin to the structure in the United States. In short, a republican form of government like that envisioned in Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748) and upon which the founders of the United States relied heavily. Americans and Iranians have serious commonalities in their systems of government which provide many avenues for discussion.
Obama and Khamenei are shrewd political schemers in the midst of an election year. Both of these brilliant teachers, scholars and leaders have been overly influenced by radical elements in the United States (radical Christians, Israel) and Iran (radical Muslims, Israel). As such, they have heard the wrong voices and are sacrificing any prospects for peace between the nations on the crucifix of war, self interest and entrenched worldviews.
Neither one will bend towards peace and instead both fill the airwaves, computer screens and newsprint with ludicrous statements mainly centered on Israel. "We are in lockstep with Israel says Obama." And Khamenei says this, "One of the outcomes of these movements is decline and isolation for the Zionist regime, which is very important, because the Zionist regime is truly a cancerous tumor in the region and it must be, and will be, cut off."
Obama and Khamenei seem willing to take the world to war over Israel. That's small beer for Obama and his advisors as the endgame for them is crippling Russia and China economically. Iran's nuclear program is simply a ruse as it poses no existential threat to the United States or Israel or Europe for that matter. As one Turkish commentator said, "Israel and the United States still have a Cold War mindset. Israel has to decide whether it wants to continue to be a project or a nation." And the United States; political, economic and military leadership needs to get its collective heads straight.
