Iran: Revolt Against Terror?

Iran is a nation in flux. Reports from inside this fundamentalist nation indicate a significant degree of growing unrest from within its own populace. Bombings and other demonstrations of civilian anger are growing, in a country where such occurrences had been relatively unknown. Given some extremely grave news given to sources outside of Iran by a defector, this is a positive note, in an otherwise seemingly impossible scenario.

A former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp member(IRGC) managed to defect to an undisclosed country nearby. He provided Iran Focus with a list of 20 terrorist training camps active inside Iran. These camps, according to the unnamed IRGC member, take in and train potential terrorists for missions within the Middle East, Europe and Iraq.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5957.

If his allegations are anywhere near true, this settles the question of Iran’s participation in major terrorist operations without a doubt. He describes an operation in Iraq that is again proof of how deeply committed to fundamentalist terrorism this regime is.

"We would send our officers into Iraq to operate for months under the cover of a construction company", he said."Kawthar Company operated in Najaf last year to carry out construction work in the area around Imam Ali Shrine, but it was in fact a front company for the Qods Force. Qods officers, disguised as company employees, established contacts with Iraqi operatives and organized underground cells in southern Iraq".

This information is crucial to our understanding of just how deeply entrenched the insurgency is in Iraq, and points out what needs to be done to ameliorate the situation. Evidently, it has already begun, with arms allegedly flowing into Iran from the UK and the US, to arm the insurgency that is growing daily, antagonized and determined to rid itself of an increasingly oppressive regime.

Within the last 24 hours bomb attacks were directed at the governor’s offices in the southern oil producing region, in the cities of Abdan and Dezul. This is just the latest in a series of attacks aimed at destabilizing the Iranian government.
Hundreds of people in an ethnic Arab neighborhood of the south-western city of Ahwaz staged an anti-government demonstration hours after three explosions in Khuzistan Province on Monday morning, according to local residents. http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5968

Even music is being used to express disgust against the Mullah's and their harsh policies. Anti-Mullah Rap cd's are being sold in bigger cities like Tehran, by a young populace eager to be free of repression. 70% of the Iranian population is youth, so the message is becoming clear to all but the dictators in mufti running the show.

If the United States, along with the UK, can avoid taking center stage in this rising conflict, and focus solely on diplomatically reserved measures, and conduct operations, along with other NATO partners to encourage and arm the civilian populace, we stand a much better chance of coming out of the whole mess without being perceived as imperialists trying to turn the Mid East into a mini-America.

If again, the regime should fall from within, it is critical that a NATO team go in to help stabilize and set up free and fair elections. America has been walking Occam's Razor far too long in this tumultuous region. It seems we are finally taking some firm steps towards extricating ourselves from the tangled bedclothes of the Kingdom of Al Saud and its partners.

These steps will enable us to stop being reactive and become pro-active. The trap sprung on us by the attacks of September 11th may ultimately re-arm and bite its creators where it hurts. Leaving the United States free to begin the long process of restoring our badly damaged image and loss of respect.