Noli Irritare Leones!

Islam has grown in a parallel but not equal path as Western Civilization. It has struggled to stay relevant. Hollywood still has an influence on cultural trends and must seem like a continuous and blaring loud speaker of Western ideas. This is the extent of Western hegemony, products of culture imbibed readily by a public eager to be entertained. This is a two part message, ‘Drink Diet Coke’ and ‘George Bush is Bad’. But the job of the Imams is to block Western pop culture and replace it with the centuries old call to prayer. They must establish supremacy of ideas for an increasingly disinterested youth. The street whip is losing its’ sting and eventually acts of extreme public brutality are the only means to quell the cultural curiosity of the youth. Anti-Americanism is a palliative for the aging despots. Perhaps a confrontation over nuclear technology is the answer.

At the time of the 1979 rebellion, it is interesting to note, while Americans were protesting in the streets with wishy-washy slogans like: “Hey hey! Ho ho! The blankety-blank has got to go!” Tens of thousands of Iranians were chanting in the streets of Tehran: “Death to America!”

It will be a great day indeed when ME youth gather in the streets and chant: “Death to fascists!”

Iran is playing a deadly game of brinksmanship. It sounds like Iran sees Islamic Jihad as a state industry. How would the US respond to simultaneous strikes against shipping, and a gathering army or Jihadists at the Iraqi border? The former would be a messy affair, but a great opportunity to pare down Iran’s surface navy to a swarm of fast attack vessels and then pare it down further to flotsam and jetsam. An assemblage of Iranian forces on the Iraqi border would be a keen opportunity to see the deterring effect of a Fuel Air Explosive. I expect that if they try targeting Israel with missiles, we might see the first operational use of tactical nukes.

Noli irritare leones. (Do not irritate the lion)