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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Iran - Death to America

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Written by Laurence F Sanford, Senior Analyst ASCF

Categories: ASCF Articles

Comments: 0

Death-to-America_picsource_createdebate

August 12th, 2024 - What kind of a country would call for the death of another country or the death of a people? Iran is such a country.

“Death to America” was first coined by North Korea during the Korean War, but Ayatollah (honorific title for high-ranking Shia clergy) Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, took the phrase to a new level.

Ayatollah Khomeini decreed “Death to America,” the “Great Satan, " and “Death to Israel,” the “Little Satan,” as the foundation of his policies to rid Iran of American influence and eliminate Israel because it is a Jewish state occupying supposedly Islamic land. The fact is, present-day Israel has been occupied by people of the Jewish faith for thousands of years, well before Islam was founded in the seventh century A.D.

Mohammad Reza Shah, the last Iranian monarch, was overthrown by Muslim clerics led by Khomeini because the mullahs saw their power eroding with the Shah’s modernization of society. Ironically, now, because of the totalitarian mullah misrule of 40 years, only 40% of Iran’s population identifies as Muslim, even though 98% of the population is listed as Muslim.

One of Khomeini’s first actions upon assuming power was the takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran, where 52 American hostages were held from November 4, 1979, until January 20, 1981--- the day before President Reagan assumed office from President Carter.

The Iran-Iraq War began in September 1980 with Iraq invading Iran over territorial disputes and Iraqi fear of militant Iranian Shia Islam infecting Iraq’s Arab Shia population. The war ended in August 1988 with an estimated one million to two million casualties and no significant changes in territory.

Now, Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. Possibly, Iran already has the atomic bomb but is not announcing it. Iran is supporting proxy entities (Ring of Resistance) that surround Israel to eliminate Israel. The proxies are Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The elimination of Israel is the first step, followed by the elimination of Western civilization in the Islamic quest for world domination.

Iran is a terror state supporting:
● Hamas in Gaza has received millions of dollars in military equipment and training from Iran. Hamas is the Sunni offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and is dedicated to the elimination of Israel. Sunnis and Shias will kill each other over Islamic doctrine but will unite in killing infidels. The phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is applicable.
● Hezbollah has the largest military force in Lebanon. With over 100,000 missiles aimed at Israel, Hezbollah receives $700 million a year from Iran. Thousands of rockets have been fired at Israel since October 7, 2023.
● The Houthis in Yemen are Shia fighting against the Sunni central government and control most of northern Yemen, including Sanaa, the capital city. Bordering the Red Sea, the Houthis have fired rockets into Israel and have attacked shipping transiting to and from the Suez Canal. The U.S. Navy has not been able to stop the shipping attacks despite bombing missile sites.
● In Iraq and Syria, American forces are under continual attack from forces allied with Iran.
● Russia is being supplied with Iranian drones and missiles in support of the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine
● The United States election process is under Iranian cyber-attacks. Most recently, Trump’s election campaign emails were hacked by Iranians, and a Pakistani with Iranian connections was arrested for attempting to assassinate Trump. At the University of Houston, Palestinian protests were supported by Iranian organizations. Several high-ranking individuals in the U.S. government are sympathetic to Iranian interests.
Canada’s McGill University has seen Iranians, in conjunction with Russians, foment social media in support of pro-Hamas anti-Israel protests.

Summary

Iran, in partnership with Russia and China, seeks to end American and Western civilization.
Iranian President Pezeshkian affirmed “Tehran’s dedication to destroying Israel” is rooted in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic. Also rooted in fundamental policies is Death to America.

Iran will have an atomic bomb. Unless the United States is prepared to declare total war, bombing will not eradicate the program. What about eradicating North Korea’s nuclear program? What about Pakistan’s Muslim bomb?

The Shariah laws of Iran are anathema to the Western concepts of equality among men and women and individual freedoms of speech, religion, clothing, eating, and pursuit of happiness. Under Shariah, women die because they do not wear the hijab properly, homosexuals are hung or thrown from rooftops, and non-Muslims (infidels) are persecuted for their religion.

Action

“Peace Through Strength” was appropriate during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and is appropriate now in the wars being waged against the United States by China, Russia, and Iran.
The United States needs to recognize the Marxist and Islamic unrestricted warfare being waged.
Reciprocity should be the foundation of American foreign policy.
● Iran is fomenting social unrest in the U.S. The U.S. should reciprocate.
● Gray zone (non-kinetic) actions on social media, the Internet, and the Iranian diaspora should be dramatically increased. Iranian airwaves and the Internet should be flooded through satellite broadcasting.
● If Iran wages kinetic action against the U.S., the U.S. should respond disproportionately—that is, it should respond harder.
● End U.S. financing of Palestinian entities such as Hamas and PLO through the U.N. and other agencies. They hate America, and money will not buy their friendship.
● The U.S. should demand the end of the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), whose sole purpose of existence is enabling Palestinians to hate and strive for the elimination of Israel and the West.
● Support allies and those who oppose Iran and its proxies.
● Provide Israel with the military tools needed to win and end the Hamas war.
● Lead a coalition to end Houthi attacks on international shipping. Why aren’t Egypt and Saudi Arabia engaged in stopping the Houthis?

U.S. military effectiveness is declining due to DEI, poor leadership, and inadequate funding. A national consensus is needed to rebuild the forces.

Peace Through Strength!

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