russiainsider--2020-01-05--Iran Is More Than Just a Country, It Is One of the Great Aryan World Civilizations

A few countries are more than mere nations .
They have been translated from the earthly plane into the spectral geography of ideas .
As “ Rome ” is irreducible to Italy , and the modern state of Israel is only a reemergence of “ Zion ” into the mundane world , “ Iran ” is far more than the nation-state that foreigners once widely referred to as Persia .
Iran is an immortal idea – a terrible thought in the mind of the gods ( devâs , divs ) .
Iran is destined to reemerge as the Leviathan from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nations .
Until 1935 , Iran was referred to internationally as “ Persia ” ( or La Perse ) , and the Iranian people were broadly identified as “ Persians.
” This was the case despite the fact that Persians always referred to themselves as Iranians ( Irâni ) and used the term Irânshahr ( Old Persian Aryâna Khashatra ) or “ Aryan Imperium ” in order to designate what Westerners call the “ Persian Empire.
” The adjective Persian ( Pârsi ) has only been used by Iranians to describe the national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoken , and especially written , by all Iranians regardless of whether it is their mother tongue .
The Persian heritage is at the core of Iranian Civilization .
Civilizations are not as narrow as particular cultures in their ideological orientation .
Even cultures evolve and are not defined by a single worldview in the way that a political party has a definite ideology .
The inner dialectic that drives the historical evolution of Iranian Civilization is based on a tension between rival worldviews .
This is comparable to the numerous worldview clashes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and is more dynamic than the creative tension between the worldviews of Confucianism , Taoism , Buddhism , and Communism and the cultural characters of the Han , the Manchurians , Mongols , and Tibetans in the history of Chinese Civilization .
The phrase “ Iranian Civilization ” , has long been in use by academics in the field of Iranology or Iranian Studies .
That there is an entire scholarly field of Iranology attests to the world-historical importance of Iran .
However , in the public sphere , and even among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognized as a distinct civilization alongside the other major civilizations of world history .
Rather , Iran has for the most part been mistakenly amalgamated into the false construct of “ Islamic Civilization.
” We have entered the era of a clash of civilizations rather than a conflict between nation states .
Consequently , the recognition of Iran as a distinct civilization , one that far predates the advent of Islam and is now evolving beyond the Islamic religion , would be of decisive significance for the post-national outcome of a Third World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ includes a number of different cultures and languages that hang together around a core defined by the Persian language and imperial heritage .
Besides the Persian heartland , Iranian Civilization encompasses Kurdistan ( including the parts of it in the artificial states of Turkey and Iraq ) , the Caucasus ( especially northern Azerbaijan and Ossetia ) , Greater Tajikistan ( including northern Afghanistan and Eastern Uzbekistan ) , the Pashtun territories ( in the failed state of Afghanistan ) , and Baluchistan ( including the parts of it inside the artificial state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see , Iranian Civilization deeply impacted Western Civilization , with which it shares common Indo-European roots .
There are still a few countries in Europe that are so fundamentally defined by the legacy of the Iranian Alans , Sarmatians , or Scythians that they really belong within the scope of Iranian , rather than European or Western Civilization .
These are Ukraine , Bulgaria , Croatia , and , should it ever secede from Spain , Catalonia .
The belonging of these European , Caucasian , Middle Eastern , Central Asian , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iranian civilizational sphere is , by analogy , comparable to how Spain , France , Britain , Germany , and Italy are all a part of Western Civilization .
An even closer analogy would be to China , which is also a civilization rather than simply a nation .
China , considered as a civilization , includes many cultures and languages other than that of the dominant Han Chinese .
For example , the Manchurians , Mongolians , and Tibetans .
What is interesting about China , in this regard , is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire civilizational sphere – with the one exception of Taiwan ( and perhaps Singapore ) .
In other words , as it stands , Chinese Civilization has nearly attained maximal political unity .
Western Civilization also has a high degree of political unity , albeit not at the level of China .
The Western world is bound together by supranational economic and military treaties such as the European Union ( EU ) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) .
By contrast , Iranian Civilization is currently near the minimal level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout a history that spans at least 3,000 years .
To borrow a term from the Russian philosopher , Alexander Dugin , the Persian ethnicity and language could be described as the narod or pith of Iranian Civilization .
This would be comparable to the role of the Mandarin language and the Han ethnicity in contemporary Chinese Civilization , or to the role of Latin and the Italian ethnicity in Western Civilization at the zenith of the Roman Empire when Marcus Aurelius had conquered and integrated Britain and Germany .
Although I accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ clash of civilizations ” , I reject his distinction between what he calls “ Classical Civilization ” and Western Civilization .
This is a distinction that he adopts from Arnold Toynbee , and perhaps also Oswald Spengler , both of whom see the origins of Western Civilization in Medieval Europe .
In my view , Western Civilization begins with Classical Greece and is adopted and adapted by Pagan Rome .
The narod of a civilization can change .
If Western Civilization were to prove capable of salvaging itself and reasserting its global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American Empire , this would no doubt involve a shift to the English language and the Anglo-Saxon ethnicity as the Western narod .
The lack of a clear narod in Western Civilization at present is symptomatic of its decline and dissolution following the intra-civilizational war that prevented Greater Germany from becoming the ethno-linguistic core of the entire West .
A very strong argument could be made that Germany and the German language were long destined to succeed Italy in this role , which Italy still plays to some extent through the Vatican ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Catholic faith .
The alliance of Hitler with Mussolini could have prepared for such a transition .
If , for whatever reason , Latin America were to one day become the refuge of Europeans and even Anglo-Saxons fleeing Europe and North America , there would be a very good chance that the Spaniard ethnicity and the Spanish language would become the narod of Western Civilization following this transformative crisis .
In the three thousand years of Iranian Civilization , the narod of the civilization has shifted only once .
For the first five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Median ethno-linguistic consciousness was at the core of Iran ’ s identity as a civilization that included other non-Median Iranian cultures , such as the Scythians .
Actually , for most of this period , the Medes were embattled by the Assyrians and other more entrenched non-Iranian ( i.e .
non Aryan ) cultures , such as the Elamites .
It is only for a brief period ( on the Iranian scale of history , not the American one ) that the Medes established a strong kingdom that included other Iranian cultures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bearer of an Iranian Civilization rather than a mere culture .
This lasted for maybe a couple of hundred years before the revolt of Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC saw the Persians displace the Medes and expand the boundaries of Iranian Civilization into the borders of the first true empire in history , one that included and integrated many non-Iranian kingdoms , and encompassed almost the entire known world .
For more than a thousand years after Cyrus , and despite the severe disruption of the Alexandrian conquest and colonization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the three empires of the Achaemenids , the Parthians , and the Sassanians .
The Achaemenid language was Old Persian , while the Parthians and Sassanians spoke and wrote Middle Persian ( Pahlavi ) .
These languages are direct ancestors of Pârsi ( or Dari ) , the New Persian language that , in its rudiments , arose at the time of Ferdowsi ( 10th century AD ) and has remained remarkably stable until the present day .
For more than 2,500 years , the Persian ethnicity and language have defined the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not lost on all of the various Europeans who dealt with Iran as an imperial rival from the days of the classical Greeks , to the pagan Romans , to the Byzantines , the British , the French , and the Russians .
All of them , without exception , always referred to all of Iran and its entire civilizational sphere as “ Persia ” or the “ Persian Empire.
” Friedrich Nietzsche wished that the Persians would have successfully conquered the Greeks because he believed that they could have gone on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Romans proved to be .
Nietzsche claimed that “ only the Persians have a philosophy of history.
” He recognized that historical consciousness , of the Hegelian type , begins with Zarathustra ’ s future-oriented evolutionary concept of successive historical epochs leading up to an unprecedented end of history .
The will to ensure that the Persian Gulf does not become Arabian , that Persian is not disestablished as the official language of Iran , and , in short , that Iranian Civilization does not disappear , is based on more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chauvinism .
Iran is certainly a civilization among only a handful of other living civilizations on Earth , rather than a lone state with its own isolated culture , like Japan , but Iran is even more than that .
As we enter the era of the clash of civilizations , Iran ’ s historic role as the crossroads of all of the other major civilizations can not be overstated .
In his groundbreaking book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order , the Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington argues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a détente of great civilizations rather than perpetual conflict amongst nation-states .
In effect , Huntington envisages the end of the Bretton Woods International System put in place from 1945–1948 after the Second World War .
He advocates for its replacement with a geopolitical paradigm that would be defined by the major world-historical countries .
These are the countries that can each be considered the “ core state ” of a civilization encompassing many peripheral vassal or client states .
The core state of any given civilization can change over the course of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the core state of Western Civilization for many centuries , and as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church it still has significant cultural influence over the West – especially in Latin America .
Currently , however , the United States of America plays the role of the Western civilizational core state , with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) effectively functioning as the superstructure of an American Empire coextensive with the West , with the exception of Latin America , where the United States has been economically and diplomatically dominant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monroe Doctrine .
Huntington identifies less than a handful of surviving world-class civilizations whose interactions would define the post-international world order : Western Civilization , Orthodox Civilization , Chinese Civilization , and Islamic Civilization .
The core states of the first three are America , Russia , and China .
Within the context of his model a number of major world powers lack civilizational spheres .
These “ lone states ” notably include India and Japan .
While it has a high level of culture , and deep historical ties to China , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Civilization and yet it lacks a civilizational sphere of its own that would encompass other states .
Had the Japanese Empire triumphed in the Second World War , Japan might have become a civilization in its own right – one dominating the Pacific .
India is an interesting case , because in addition to being a “ lone state ” it also fits Huntington ’ s definition of a “ torn state.
” The latter are nations that are suffering from an identity crisis on account of being torn between two or more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civilization , which once extended to many neighboring states , but which is now more or less confined to India ( with the possible exception of Sri Lanka ) , but India is also the world ’ s largest Muslim country .
Despite the fact that Muslims remain , for the moment , a minority in India , the country is still home to more Muslims than Pakistan or any other Islamic nation on Earth .
Given current demographic trends , and historical precedents such as the Mughal Empire , the possibility of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a prospect to be taken seriously .
Of all the major civilizations delineated by Huntington , Islamic Civilization is the only one lacking a clear core state .
Huntington considers this one of the reasons for the perpetual strife both within the Islamic world and between Islamic countries and states that are part of other civilizations .
In effect , non-Islamic powers are confronted by a situation wherein there is no one to negotiate with who would have the legitimate authority to enforce a uniform policy within Islamic Civilization in a fashion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak for the West in fundamental conflicts with Russia or China .
In such confrontations , European leaders may grumble about hegemonic American decision-making but when it comes down to it the United States really does make policy for the West .
Germany , the strongest and most central state in Europe , is home to numerous American military bases and installations .
Italy , historically the most enduring European core state of Western Civilization , also quietly remains under American military occupation .
Since the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1918 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ artificial national borders across North Africa , the Middle East , and Central Asia , the Islamic World has been without a center .
From a historical standpoint Egypt , Turkey , Iraq , and Saudi Arabia rival each other as artificial nation states that in a totally incomparable pre-national and pre-modern form once had the legitimacy of being home to the Khalifa ( or sovereign authority ) of the Ummat ( the worldwide Islamic community ) .
However , when viewed in terms of military and economic power , Pakistan , Malaysia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ players within the Islamic world .
With a view to assuming leadership of an Islamic civilizational sphere , none of these countries is as well positioned as the Islamic Republic of Iran in terms of its cultural-historical heritage , industrial capability , and strategic location .
Of all of the contenders within the Islamic world , Iran alone has the potential to resume its natural historical role , not just as a world power , but as a superpower responsible for securing the Islamic sphere within a new global order .
From an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this geostrategic project would be to reassert the Iranian character of the core of the Islamic world , thereby dismantling the false construct of Islamic Civilization while forwarding a Renaissance of Iranian Civilization .
From a global strategic standpoint , this Greater Iran would be saving the West , India , Russia , and even China ( which has an increasingly serious Muslim problem ) from the prospect of a late 21st century world defined by a global Sunni Caliphate governing a human population demographically dominated by Muslims .
This is Iran ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves admit this , can other major world powers also recognize the fact that Iran ’ s acceptance of this titanic duty is for the good of all mankind .
This could be the key to Iran ’ s reemergence as a global superpower .
Iran has been destined to be the Leviathan among nations .
Thomas Hobbes appropriated the image of the Leviathan from the Biblical book of Job as a metaphor for a kind of sovereign authority so absolute that it would be seen as God ’ s viceroy on Earth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ labor with him on April 5th of 1588 , her birth pangs were induced by shock at the prospect of a Spaniard naval invasion of Britain , such that Hobbes would joke – with a very dark sense of humor indeed – that she “ gave birth to twins , myself and fear.
” Hobbes was a reader of the work of his contemporary , Rene Descartes , with whom he exchanged barbs over who had come up with which of their shared ideas first .
Hobbes ’ friend , Marin Mersenne , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one point he asked Hobbes to write a review of Descartes ’ Meditations on First Philosophy ; this was published , together with Descartes ’ replies , in 1641 .
Hobbes takes Descartes ’ description of the body as a mechanism and applies it to the social body of the state , with the sovereign as the ghost in the machinery of government .
Hobbes actually says very little about the Book of Job , from which he draws the symbol of the Leviathan ( it is more than a mere metaphor ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that , unlike the historical parts of the Bible , the book is intended less to be a chronicle of events that actually took place than a philosophical treatise on the question of “ why wicked men have often prospered in this world , and good men have been afflicted.
” Citing textual analysis by scholars of his time , Hobbes points out that the core “ argument ” of the book is all in verse , while the narrative Preface and Epilogue are in prose .
What this means to him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been framed in such a way as it could be incorporated into the Bible .
Hobbes also acknowledges , on stylistic grounds and in terms of its philosophical content , that Job is a relatively late book of the Bible and he even specifically claims “ the Writer must have been of the same time ” or “ after ” the writer of “ The History of Queen Esther… of the time of the Captivity.
” In other words , the text is a product of the period of intense Imperial Iranian influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know it .
The Leviathan is a monstrous sea creature or , if it is artificial , then it is a titanic submarine machinery of terror .
Hobbes ’ Leviathan is the most definitive argument for Absolute Monarchy in the history of political philosophy .
The core of Leviathan is a critique of the separation of powers that is the aim of every constitutionalist movement .
This would include the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1911 , which yielded a parliament ( Majles ) checking the power of the crown and which attempted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hobbes saw this kind of limitation and division of the authority of the crown as the consequence of a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of sovereign power .
His defense of Absolute Monarchy is so extreme that he even denies the right of private property and advocates for the suppression of what we would today call “ civil society ” as a social sphere independent of the political order .
Insofar as this social ( rather than political ) sphere includes the Church , he demands that the latter utterly submit itself to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prefer , that the Sovereign be seen as God ’ s viceroy .
Finally , Hobbes envisions a regime so all-encompassing in its power over human life that the Sovereign would decide even on the meaning of language .
Rather than being praised by monarchists for defending their beloved institution in the strongest terms possible , Hobbes was mercilessly attacked by them .
It is not just because they hated the book , but because his masterpiece exposed the deficits of King Charles – a man who Hobbes saw as too fickle and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the country slid into civil war .
An observer of contemporary Iranian politics can not help but to notice the similarity to the situation of the monarchist movement among exiled Iranian opposition groups today .
Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War , while he and other royalists were exiled in Paris .
In 1642 the tense situation between the King and Parliament erupted into open strife , eventually leading the exiled royalists to Paris .
Hobbes was one of these , and by 1646 he found himself employed as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Wales .
So Hobbes wrote Leviathan at a time when Britain was facing both the prospect of disintegration through Civil War and foreign conquest at the hands of the Spaniards , the main colonial sea power rivaling the nascent British Empire .
As the keen reader ought to notice , this is not too dissimilar from the situation faced by the Islamic Republic of Iran today .
A nation that , on the one hand , is beginning to carve out an imperial sphere of influence ( in Iran ’ s case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the fifth or sixth time in history ) is at the same time facing both the prospect of internal disintegration through civil strife and a potential invasion initiated by foreign powers .
The latter are also responsible for manufacturing ethnic separatist movements and stoking dissension so as to divide the country as they conquer it .
The balkanization of Iran is , today , a very real impending catastrophe .
Ironically , as in the case of Hobbes ’ Britain , this danger comes on the doorstep of an era of imperial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it could reemerge not just as a regional hegemon but as a major player on the world stage – a role that Iran has played many times in its long history .
Given the strategic significance of the Islamic world , and the demographic destiny of Islam on this planet in the 21st century , an Iran that successfully dominates the Muslim heartland could even establish itself as one of several rival superpowers within the foreseeable future .

A few countries are more than mere nations. They have been translated from the earthly plane into the spectral geography of ideas. As “Rome” is irreducible to Italy, and the modern state of Israel is only a reemergence of “Zion” into the mundane world, “Iran” is far more than the nation-state that foreigners once widely referred to as Persia. Iran is an immortal idea – a terrible thought in the mind of the gods (devâs, divs). Iran is destined to reemerge as the Leviathan from amongst all of Earth’s great nations.
Until 1935, Iran was referred to internationally as “Persia” (or La Perse), and the Iranian people were broadly identified as “Persians.” This was the case despite the fact that Persians always referred to themselves as Iranians (Irâni) and used the term Irânshahr (Old Persian Aryâna Khashatra) or “Aryan Imperium” in order to designate what Westerners call the “Persian Empire.”
The adjective Persian (Pârsi) has only been used by Iranians to describe the national language of Iran, which has been spoken, and especially written, by all Iranians regardless of whether it is their mother tongue. The Persian heritage is at the core of Iranian Civilization.
Civilizations are not as narrow as particular cultures in their ideological orientation. Even cultures evolve and are not defined by a single worldview in the way that a political party has a definite ideology. The inner dialectic that drives the historical evolution of Iranian Civilization is based on a tension between rival worldviews. This is comparable to the numerous worldview clashes that have shaped and reshaped Western Civilization, and is more dynamic than the creative tension between the worldviews of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Communism and the cultural characters of the Han, the Manchurians, Mongols, and Tibetans in the history of Chinese Civilization.
The phrase “Iranian Civilization”, has long been in use by academics in the field of Iranology or Iranian Studies. That there is an entire scholarly field of Iranology attests to the world-historical importance of Iran. However, in the public sphere, and even among other academics, Iran has rarely been recognized as a distinct civilization alongside the other major civilizations of world history. Rather, Iran has for the most part been mistakenly amalgamated into the false construct of “Islamic Civilization.”
We have entered the era of a clash of civilizations rather than a conflict between nation states. Consequently, the recognition of Iran as a distinct civilization, one that far predates the advent of Islam and is now evolving beyond the Islamic religion, would be of decisive significance for the post-national outcome of a Third World War.
Iran is a civilization that includes a number of different cultures and languages that hang together around a core defined by the Persian language and imperial heritage. Besides the Persian heartland, Iranian Civilization encompasses Kurdistan (including the parts of it in the artificial states of Turkey and Iraq), the Caucasus (especially northern Azerbaijan and Ossetia), Greater Tajikistan (including northern Afghanistan and Eastern Uzbekistan), the Pashtun territories (in the failed state of Afghanistan), and Baluchistan (including the parts of it inside the artificial state of Pakistan).
As we shall see, Iranian Civilization deeply impacted Western Civilization, with which it shares common Indo-European roots. There are still a few countries in Europe that are so fundamentally defined by the legacy of the Iranian Alans, Sarmatians, or Scythians that they really belong within the scope of Iranian, rather than European or Western Civilization. These are Ukraine, Bulgaria, Croatia, and, should it ever secede from Spain, Catalonia. The belonging of these European, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and South Asian ethnicities and territories to an Iranian civilizational sphere is, by analogy, comparable to how Spain, France, Britain, Germany, and Italy are all a part of Western Civilization.
An even closer analogy would be to China, which is also a civilization rather than simply a nation. China, considered as a civilization, includes many cultures and languages other than that of the dominant Han Chinese. For example, the Manchurians, Mongolians, and Tibetans. What is interesting about China, in this regard, is that its current political administration encompasses almost its entire civilizational sphere – with the one exception of Taiwan (and perhaps Singapore). In other words, as it stands, Chinese Civilization has nearly attained maximal political unity.
Western Civilization also has a high degree of political unity, albeit not at the level of China. The Western world is bound together by supranational economic and military treaties such as the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). By contrast, Iranian Civilization is currently near the minimal level of political unity that it has had throughout a history that spans at least 3,000 years.
To borrow a term from the Russian philosopher, Alexander Dugin, the Persian ethnicity and language could be described as the narod or pith of Iranian Civilization. This would be comparable to the role of the Mandarin language and the Han ethnicity in contemporary Chinese Civilization, or to the role of Latin and the Italian ethnicity in Western Civilization at the zenith of the Roman Empire when Marcus Aurelius had conquered and integrated Britain and Germany. Although I accept Samuel Huntington’s concept of a “clash of civilizations”, I reject his distinction between what he calls “Classical Civilization” and Western Civilization.
This is a distinction that he adopts from Arnold Toynbee, and perhaps also Oswald Spengler, both of whom see the origins of Western Civilization in Medieval Europe. In my view, Western Civilization begins with Classical Greece and is adopted and adapted by Pagan Rome.
The narod of a civilization can change. If Western Civilization were to prove capable of salvaging itself and reasserting its global dominance in the form of a planetary American Empire, this would no doubt involve a shift to the English language and the Anglo-Saxon ethnicity as the Western narod. The lack of a clear narod in Western Civilization at present is symptomatic of its decline and dissolution following the intra-civilizational war that prevented Greater Germany from becoming the ethno-linguistic core of the entire West. A very strong argument could be made that Germany and the German language were long destined to succeed Italy in this role, which Italy still plays to some extent through the Vatican’s patronage of Latin and the Roman Catholic faith.
The alliance of Hitler with Mussolini could have prepared for such a transition. If, for whatever reason, Latin America were to one day become the refuge of Europeans and even Anglo-Saxons fleeing Europe and North America, there would be a very good chance that the Spaniard ethnicity and the Spanish language would become the narod of Western Civilization following this transformative crisis.
In the three thousand years of Iranian Civilization, the narod of the civilization has shifted only once. For the first five hundred years of discernable Iranian history, the Median ethno-linguistic consciousness was at the core of Iran’s identity as a civilization that included other non-Median Iranian cultures, such as the Scythians. Actually, for most of this period, the Medes were embattled by the Assyrians and other more entrenched non-Iranian (i.e. non Aryan) cultures, such as the Elamites. It is only for a brief period (on the Iranian scale of history, not the American one) that the Medes established a strong kingdom that included other Iranian cultures and could consequently be considered a standard bearer of an Iranian Civilization rather than a mere culture.
This lasted for maybe a couple of hundred years before the revolt of Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC saw the Persians displace the Medes and expand the boundaries of Iranian Civilization into the borders of the first true empire in history, one that included and integrated many non-Iranian kingdoms, and encompassed almost the entire known world.
For more than a thousand years after Cyrus, and despite the severe disruption of the Alexandrian conquest and colonization of Iran, we saw a succession of the three empires of the Achaemenids, the Parthians, and the Sassanians. The Achaemenid language was Old Persian, while the Parthians and Sassanians spoke and wrote Middle Persian (Pahlavi). These languages are direct ancestors of Pârsi (or Dari), the New Persian language that, in its rudiments, arose at the time of Ferdowsi (10th century AD) and has remained remarkably stable until the present day.
For more than 2,500 years, the Persian ethnicity and language have defined the core identity of Iranian Civilization. That was not lost on all of the various Europeans who dealt with Iran as an imperial rival from the days of the classical Greeks, to the pagan Romans, to the Byzantines, the British, the French, and the Russians.
All of them, without exception, always referred to all of Iran and its entire civilizational sphere as “Persia” or the “Persian Empire.” Friedrich Nietzsche wished that the Persians would have successfully conquered the Greeks because he believed that they could have gone on to become better guardians of Europe than the Romans proved to be. Nietzsche claimed that “only the Persians have a philosophy of history.” He recognized that historical consciousness, of the Hegelian type, begins with Zarathustra’s future-oriented evolutionary concept of successive historical epochs leading up to an unprecedented end of history.
The will to ensure that the Persian Gulf does not become Arabian, that Persian is not disestablished as the official language of Iran, and, in short, that Iranian Civilization does not disappear, is based on more than just patriotic sentimentality, let alone nationalistic chauvinism. Iran is certainly a civilization among only a handful of other living civilizations on Earth, rather than a lone state with its own isolated culture, like Japan, but Iran is even more than that. As we enter the era of the clash of civilizations, Iran’s historic role as the crossroads of all of the other major civilizations cannot be overstated.
In his groundbreaking book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, the Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington argues for a new world order based on a détente of great civilizations rather than perpetual conflict amongst nation-states. In effect, Huntington envisages the end of the Bretton Woods International System put in place from 1945–1948 after the Second World War. He advocates for its replacement with a geopolitical paradigm that would be defined by the major world-historical countries. These are the countries that can each be considered the “core state” of a civilization encompassing many peripheral vassal or client states.
The core state of any given civilization can change over the course of history. For example, Italy was the core state of Western Civilization for many centuries, and as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church it still has significant cultural influence over the West – especially in Latin America.
Currently, however, the United States of America plays the role of the Western civilizational core state, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) effectively functioning as the superstructure of an American Empire coextensive with the West, with the exception of Latin America, where the United States has been economically and diplomatically dominant at least since the declaration of the Monroe Doctrine.
Huntington identifies less than a handful of surviving world-class civilizations whose interactions would define the post-international world order: Western Civilization, Orthodox Civilization, Chinese Civilization, and Islamic Civilization. The core states of the first three are America, Russia, and China. Within the context of his model a number of major world powers lack civilizational spheres. These “lone states” notably include India and Japan. While it has a high level of culture, and deep historical ties to China, Japan is not a part of Chinese Civilization and yet it lacks a civilizational sphere of its own that would encompass other states. Had the Japanese Empire triumphed in the Second World War, Japan might have become a civilization in its own right – one dominating the Pacific.
India is an interesting case, because in addition to being a “lone state” it also fits Huntington’s definition of a “torn state.” The latter are nations that are suffering from an identity crisis on account of being torn between two or more civilizations. India has its own Hindu civilization, which once extended to many neighboring states, but which is now more or less confined to India (with the possible exception of Sri Lanka), but India is also the world’s largest Muslim country.
Despite the fact that Muslims remain, for the moment, a minority in India, the country is still home to more Muslims than Pakistan or any other Islamic nation on Earth. Given current demographic trends, and historical precedents such as the Mughal Empire, the possibility of India becoming a part of Islamic Civilization is a prospect to be taken seriously.
Of all the major civilizations delineated by Huntington, Islamic Civilization is the only one lacking a clear core state. Huntington considers this one of the reasons for the perpetual strife both within the Islamic world and between Islamic countries and states that are part of other civilizations. In effect, non-Islamic powers are confronted by a situation wherein there is no one to negotiate with who would have the legitimate authority to enforce a uniform policy within Islamic Civilization in a fashion comparable to America’s capability to speak for the West in fundamental conflicts with Russia or China. In such confrontations, European leaders may grumble about hegemonic American decision-making but when it comes down to it the United States really does make policy for the West. Germany, the strongest and most central state in Europe, is home to numerous American military bases and installations. Italy, historically the most enduring European core state of Western Civilization, also quietly remains under American military occupation.
Since the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1918, and Western colonial demarcation of totally artificial national borders across North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, the Islamic World has been without a center. From a historical standpoint Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia rival each other as artificial nation states that in a totally incomparable pre-national and pre-modern form once had the legitimacy of being home to the Khalifa (or sovereign authority) of the Ummat (the worldwide Islamic community).
However, when viewed in terms of military and economic power, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia are more significant geopolitical players within the Islamic world. With a view to assuming leadership of an Islamic civilizational sphere, none of these countries is as well positioned as the Islamic Republic of Iran in terms of its cultural-historical heritage, industrial capability, and strategic location. Of all of the contenders within the Islamic world, Iran alone has the potential to resume its natural historical role, not just as a world power, but as a superpower responsible for securing the Islamic sphere within a new global order.
From an Iranian standpoint, the ultimate aim of this geostrategic project would be to reassert the Iranian character of the core of the Islamic world, thereby dismantling the false construct of Islamic Civilization while forwarding a Renaissance of Iranian Civilization. From a global strategic standpoint, this Greater Iran would be saving the West, India, Russia, and even China (which has an increasingly serious Muslim problem) from the prospect of a late 21st century world defined by a global Sunni Caliphate governing a human population demographically dominated by Muslims.
This is Iran’s cultural-historical responsibility. Only if Iranians themselves admit this, can other major world powers also recognize the fact that Iran’s acceptance of this titanic duty is for the good of all mankind. This could be the key to Iran’s reemergence as a global superpower. Iran has been destined to be the Leviathan among nations.
Thomas Hobbes appropriated the image of the Leviathan from the Biblical book of Job as a metaphor for a kind of sovereign authority so absolute that it would be seen as God’s viceroy on Earth. When Hobbes’ mother went into labor with him on April 5th of 1588, her birth pangs were induced by shock at the prospect of a Spaniard naval invasion of Britain, such that Hobbes would joke – with a very dark sense of humor indeed – that she “gave birth to twins, myself and fear.” Hobbes was a reader of the work of his contemporary, Rene Descartes, with whom he exchanged barbs over who had come up with which of their shared ideas first. Hobbes’ friend, Marin Mersenne, was Descartes’ publicist, and at one point he asked Hobbes to write a review of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy; this was published, together with Descartes’ replies, in 1641. Hobbes takes Descartes’ description of the body as a mechanism and applies it to the social body of the state, with the sovereign as the ghost in the machinery of government.
Hobbes actually says very little about the Book of Job, from which he draws the symbol of the Leviathan (it is more than a mere metaphor). One thing that he does say is that, unlike the historical parts of the Bible, the book is intended less to be a chronicle of events that actually took place than a philosophical treatise on the question of “why wicked men have often prospered in this world, and good men have been afflicted.” Citing textual analysis by scholars of his time, Hobbes points out that the core “argument” of the book is all in verse, while the narrative Preface and Epilogue are in prose.
What this means to him is that an essentially philosophical text has been framed in such a way as it could be incorporated into the Bible. Hobbes also acknowledges, on stylistic grounds and in terms of its philosophical content, that Job is a relatively late book of the Bible and he even specifically claims “the Writer must have been of the same time” or “after” the writer of “The History of Queen Esther… of the time of the Captivity.” In other words, the text is a product of the period of intense Imperial Iranian influence on the formation of Judaism as we know it.
The Leviathan is a monstrous sea creature or, if it is artificial, then it is a titanic submarine machinery of terror. Hobbes’ Leviathan is the most definitive argument for Absolute Monarchy in the history of political philosophy. The core of Leviathan is a critique of the separation of powers that is the aim of every constitutionalist movement.
This would include the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1911, which yielded a parliament (Majles) checking the power of the crown and which attempted to establish a constitutional monarchy in Iran. Hobbes saw this kind of limitation and division of the authority of the crown as the consequence of a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of sovereign power. His defense of Absolute Monarchy is so extreme that he even denies the right of private property and advocates for the suppression of what we would today call “civil society” as a social sphere independent of the political order. Insofar as this social (rather than political) sphere includes the Church, he demands that the latter utterly submit itself to the Sovereign – or, if you prefer, that the Sovereign be seen as God’s viceroy.
Finally, Hobbes envisions a regime so all-encompassing in its power over human life that the Sovereign would decide even on the meaning of language.
Rather than being praised by monarchists for defending their beloved institution in the strongest terms possible, Hobbes was mercilessly attacked by them. It is not just because they hated the book, but because his masterpiece exposed the deficits of King Charles – a man who Hobbes saw as too fickle and indecisive to be worthy of the crown as the country slid into civil war.
An observer of contemporary Iranian politics cannot help but to notice the similarity to the situation of the monarchist movement among exiled Iranian opposition groups today. Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War, while he and other royalists were exiled in Paris. In 1642 the tense situation between the King and Parliament erupted into open strife, eventually leading the exiled royalists to Paris. Hobbes was one of these, and by 1646 he found himself employed as the personal mathematics tutor of the sixteen-year-old Prince of Wales.
So Hobbes wrote Leviathan at a time when Britain was facing both the prospect of disintegration through Civil War and foreign conquest at the hands of the Spaniards, the main colonial sea power rivaling the nascent British Empire. As the keen reader ought to notice, this is not too dissimilar from the situation faced by the Islamic Republic of Iran today.
A nation that, on the one hand, is beginning to carve out an imperial sphere of influence (in Iran’s case, unlike in Britain’s, for the fifth or sixth time in history) is at the same time facing both the prospect of internal disintegration through civil strife and a potential invasion initiated by foreign powers. The latter are also responsible for manufacturing ethnic separatist movements and stoking dissension so as to divide the country as they conquer it. The balkanization of Iran is, today, a very real impending catastrophe. Ironically, as in the case of Hobbes’ Britain, this danger comes on the doorstep of an era of imperial power. If Iran can remain united, it could reemerge not just as a regional hegemon but as a major player on the world stage – a role that Iran has played many times in its long history.
Given the strategic significance of the Islamic world, and the demographic destiny of Islam on this planet in the 21st century, an Iran that successfully dominates the Muslim heartland could even establish itself as one of several rival superpowers within the foreseeable future.


russiainsider--2020-01-08--Trump, at Israel's Request, Assassinated the General Most Responsible for Destroying ISIS

Even some mainstream U.S. ‘ news ’ -media ( but none that are Republican ) acknowledge the fact that Qasem Soleimani was among the most effective of all nations ’ generals who fought against ISIS .
Other mainstream U.S. ‘ news ’ -media seem very reluctant to do so , because the entirety of America ’ s mainstream ‘ journalism ’ has spewed hatred against Iran ’ s Government after Iranians in 1979 succeeded at overthrowing the dictator Shah whom America ’ s CIA had installed in 1953 to end Iran ’ s democracy and to control the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company and cut America ’ s aristocrats in on the profits from sales of Iranian oil .
( Under George W. Bush , the U.S. Government did basically the same thing to Iraq ’ s oil industry . )
So , America ’ s mainstream ‘ news ’ -media , which are owned by the same aristocracy that imposed Iran ’ s dictatorship in 1953 , have portrayed Iran ’ s # 2 leader , General Qasem Soleimani , as a ‘ terrorist ’ , instead of as the leading fighter against ISIS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 January 2020 , Ilan Goldenberg , of the Democratic Party neoconservative Center for a New American Security , headlined in the Council on Foreign Relations ’ s Foreign Affairs , “ Will Iran ’ s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War ?
” and only two references to ISIS were there , both buried in his article : “ He led Iran ’ s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq — militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence in Iraq thereafter , most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State ( ISIS ) .
” And : “ ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.
” So , it ’ s hard for a reader there to figure out that Trump actually assassinated ISIS ’ s main enemy .
On January 4th , Marketwatch headlined “ Who was Qassem Soleimani , and why is his death a major development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was only a single reference to ISIS , the source being Iran , which that article was criticizing : “ In a tweet , Iran ’ s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the strike that killed the general as an act of international terrorism : ‘ The US act of international terrorism , targeting & assassinating General Soleimani — THE most effective force fighting Daesh ( ISIS ) , Al Nusrah , Al Qaeda et al — is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation , ’ he wrote on Twitter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of its rogue adventurism , ’ he said.
” Some of America ’ s mainstream ‘ news ’ -media portrayed the killing of Soleimani as being damaging to America ’ s ability to continue occupying Iraq and therefore harmful to the fight against ISIS because the U.S. — not Iran and Russia — lead the fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria .
In other words : they presume that lie .
Politico headlined on January 3rd , “ How the Soleimani strike could kneecap the fight against ISIS ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran ’ s top military leader could put America ’ s fight against the Islamic State in jeopardy , opening the door to the reemergence of the terrorist group .
The Thursday night attack on Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani could also prompt the government in Iraq to kick U.S. troops out of the country , ending America ’ s mission to train the Iraqi military to fight terrorist groups .
U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq since 2014 to fight ISIS and train Iraqi forces with permission from the Iraqi government .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked the U.S. specifically not to target Iran within the country , a request America has now violated “ in flagrant fashion ” with the strike on Soleimani near the Baghdad airport , said Scott Anderson , a former legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad .
“ This is going to put a lot of pressure on those aspects of our relationship they have control over , ” Anderson , a fellow at the Brookings Institution , said Friday .
… “ If we can ’ t be in Iraq , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Barbara Slavin , the director of the Future Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council , said Friday .
They don ’ t mention that both Brookings and the Atlantic Council are neoconservative , pro-imperialist , and controlled by ( overwhelmingly funded by ) large U.S.-based international corporations and U.S.-allied governments , which benefit from U.S.-and-allied arms-sales and oil-extraction .
So , that ’ s just a standard propaganda-piece from Politico , pumping the U.S. empire .
For once , CNN broke with U.S. imperialism , and headlined on January 3rd , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to remember the role Soleimani played in the fight against ISIS ” .
Perhaps because CNN is controlled by Democratic Party billionaires instead of by Republican-Party ones , they reported that : It is important to remember the role both he and Iran played in the fight against ISIS .
While US aircraft , special forces and local allies fought ISIS in Syria , as well as in Iraq , Iranian-backed militia also pushed the terror group back in Iraq .
Soleimani was reported to have often led that fight from the front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s elite Quds Force , which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces .
There was no contradiction between those two positions shared both by Soleimani and Iran , because ISIS was created as a fundamentalist-Sunni U.S. proxy fighting force against Iraq ’ s Shiites .
There was also this : Long known as the ‘ shadow commander ’ in Western media , his profile was raised in 2015 as Iranian outlets began releasing photos of him in the battlefield guiding the war against ISIS .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Islamic State militant group in Iraq .
In a 2017 public letter , he denounced the “ evil movement ” that managed “ to deceive tens of thousands of Muslim youth ” in Iraq and Syria , while also blaming the U.S. for the rise and spread of ISIS .
Iran had launched airstrikes against ISIS fighters outside Baghdad in late 2014 just as the United States and its coalition partners were taking on the extremist group .
ISIS , made up of Sunni extremists , was ideologically at odds with Soleimani @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Soleimani and his commanders were on the front lines in Iraq and his name became synonymous with victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces [ fighting against ISIS ] .
He had presented himself as the face of the offensive in Tikrit , a city which fell under ISIS control in 2014 [ HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST ISIS THERE ] .
Iran sought to highlight his efforts against ISIS while protesting his death Friday .
Another pro-Democratic-Party ‘ news ’ -site , MSNBC , likewise included , on January 3rd , some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this : “ The 62-year-old led Iran ’ s elite Quds Force , which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces.
” Indicating how confused and hostile Americans are to encounter — in the few media where they can — the truth about Soleimani and about the reality in the Middle East , there was a January 3rd news-report from Washington Times headlined “ Geraldo Rivera laments strike on U.S. ‘ friend ’ Qassem Soleimani , says Quds leader ‘ saved people ’ ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of America ’ s billionaires , who want to have Iran back .
Of course , Russia ’ s news-media were honest about this matter ; they have no reason to lie about it ; and , besides , they don ’ t lie nearly as frequently as America ’ s billionaire-controlled ‘ news ’ -media do — they know they are distrusted from the get-go throughout the U.S. empire , because Russia ’ s lying Soviet predecessors ( before 1991 ) are constantly pumped to America ’ s ‘ news ’ -media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CIA ( representing America ’ s billionaires ) as being like today ’ s Russian news-media , which they very much are not .
Russia really did end the Cold War ; the U.S. regime never did .
On January 4th , India ’ s Economic Times headlined “ Soleimani , face of fight against ISIS , Taliban ” , and reported that : That ’ s a major daily newspaper in Hindu India , which isn ’ t a place about which readers in America and allied countries haven ’ t been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see such a commentary being published .
According to Wikipedia , “ As of 2012 , it is the world ’ s second-most widely read English-language business newspaper , after The Wall Street Journal , [ 4 ] with a readership of over 800,000.
” Also on January 4th former UK Ambassador Craig Murray headlined from Britain “ Lies , the Bethlehem Doctrine , and the Illegal Murder of Soleimani ” and he exposed lies against Soleimani by Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren , U.S. Vice President Mike Pence , and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Government .
He was exposing there a bipartisan and international sliming operation , the type of thing that traditionally persuades masses of suckers to vote for politicians who continue the grand imperial enterprise , for the benefit of U.S.-and-allied billionaires .
However , that scam might not be so successful this time around .
On January 6th , the U.S. Government informed Iraq ’ s Government that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq is now at an end and all U.S. forces are withdrawing from Iraq .
Then Trump changed his mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first retaliation , firing missiles against U.S. military facilities in Iraq .
Trump ’ s constant aggressions against Iran ( starting with cancellation ot the Iran nuclear agreement and restoration of anti-Iran sanctions ) will sink the Middle East and maybe the entire world in blood .
The EU seems nonetheless to be sticking by the U.S. regime .
All leaders who do so will be damned along with him .
But none of them seem even to care .
They all share in his guilt .

Even some mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media (but none that are Republican) acknowledge the fact that Qasem Soleimani was among the most effective of all nations’ generals who fought against ISIS. Other mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media seem very reluctant to do so, because the entirety of America’s mainstream ‘journalism’ has spewed hatred against Iran’s Government after Iranians in 1979 succeeded at overthrowing the dictator Shah whom America’s CIA had installed in 1953 to end Iran’s democracy and to control the country, and he privatized the National Iranian Oil company and cut America’s aristocrats in on the profits from sales of Iranian oil. (Under George W. Bush, the U.S. Government did basically the same thing to Iraq’s oil industry.) So, America’s mainstream ‘news’-media, which are owned by the same aristocracy that imposed Iran’s dictatorship in 1953, have portrayed Iran’s #2 leader, General Qasem Soleimani, as a ‘terrorist’, instead of as the leading fighter against ISIS, which he actually was.
On 3 January 2020, Ilan Goldenberg, of the Democratic Party neoconservative Center for a New American Security, headlined in the Council on Foreign Relations’s Foreign Affairs, “Will Iran’s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War?” and only two references to ISIS were there, both buried in his article: “He led Iran’s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq — militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and became the chief purveyor of Iranian political influence in Iraq thereafter, most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).” And: “ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.” So, it’s hard for a reader there to figure out that Trump actually assassinated ISIS’s main enemy.
On January 4th, Marketwatch headlined “Who was Qassem Soleimani, and why is his death a major development in U.S.-Middle East relations?” and there was only a single reference to ISIS, the source being Iran, which that article was criticizing: “In a tweet, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the strike that killed the general as an act of international terrorism: ‘The US act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani — THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al — is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation,’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,’ he said.”
Some of America’s mainstream ‘news’-media portrayed the killing of Soleimani as being damaging to America’s ability to continue occupying Iraq and therefore harmful to the fight against ISIS because the U.S. — not Iran and Russia — lead the fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. In other words: they presume that lie. Politico headlined on January 3rd, “How the Soleimani strike could kneecap the fight against ISIS” and opened:
The U.S. strike that killed Iran’s top military leader could put America’s fight against the Islamic State in jeopardy, opening the door to the reemergence of the terrorist group. The Thursday night attack on Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani could also prompt the government in Iraq to kick U.S. troops out of the country, ending America’s mission to train the Iraqi military to fight terrorist groups. U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq since 2014 to fight ISIS and train Iraqi forces with permission from the Iraqi government. As part of this agreement, Iraq asked the U.S. specifically not to target Iran within the country, a request America has now violated “in flagrant fashion” with the strike on Soleimani near the Baghdad airport, said Scott Anderson, a former legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. “This is going to put a lot of pressure on those aspects of our relationship they have control over,” Anderson, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Friday. … “If we can’t be in Iraq, we can’t be in Syria,” Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said Friday.
They don’t mention that both Brookings and the Atlantic Council are neoconservative, pro-imperialist, and controlled by (overwhelmingly funded by) large U.S.-based international corporations and U.S.-allied governments, which benefit from U.S.-and-allied arms-sales and oil-extraction. So, that’s just a standard propaganda-piece from Politico, pumping the U.S. empire.
For once, CNN broke with U.S. imperialism, and headlined on January 3rd, “Analysis: It’s important to remember the role Soleimani played in the fight against ISIS”. Perhaps because CNN is controlled by Democratic Party billionaires instead of by Republican-Party ones, they reported that:
It is important to remember the role both he and Iran played in the fight against ISIS. While US aircraft, special forces and local allies fought ISIS in Syria, as well as in Iraq, Iranian-backed militia also pushed the terror group back in Iraq. Soleimani was reported to have often led that fight from the front line … The 62-year-old led Iran’s elite Quds Force, which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces. There was no contradiction between those two positions shared both by Soleimani and Iran, because ISIS was created as a fundamentalist-Sunni U.S. proxy fighting force against Iraq’s Shiites. There was also this: Long known as the ‘shadow commander’ in Western media, his profile was raised in 2015 as Iranian outlets began releasing photos of him in the battlefield guiding the war against ISIS. … Soleimani is also credited with fighting the Islamic State militant group in Iraq. In a 2017 public letter, he denounced the “evil movement” that managed “to deceive tens of thousands of Muslim youth” in Iraq and Syria, while also blaming the U.S. for the rise and spread of ISIS. Iran had launched airstrikes against ISIS fighters outside Baghdad in late 2014 just as the United States and its coalition partners were taking on the extremist group. ISIS, made up of Sunni extremists, was ideologically at odds with Soleimani and the Iranian Shiite regime he defended. Soleimani and his commanders were on the front lines in Iraq and his name became synonymous with victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces [fighting against ISIS]. He had presented himself as the face of the offensive in Tikrit, a city which fell under ISIS control in 2014 [HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST ISIS THERE]. Iran sought to highlight his efforts against ISIS while protesting his death Friday.
Another pro-Democratic-Party ‘news’-site, MSNBC, likewise included, on January 3rd, some of ‘the enemy’s side’ in this: “The 62-year-old led Iran’s elite Quds Force, which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces.”
Indicating how confused and hostile Americans are to encounter — in the few media where they can — the truth about Soleimani and about the reality in the Middle East, there was a January 3rd news-report from Washington Times headlined “Geraldo Rivera laments strike on U.S. ‘friend’ Qassem Soleimani, says Quds leader ‘saved people’” which opened:
Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera says the Baghdad airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was a strategic error against a U.S. “friend” who “saved people.” A “Fox & Friends” panel was injected with heated rhetoric on Friday when Mr. Rivera defended the Quds force leader’s résumé in a discussion with Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy. “Six months ago, Ainsley, this guy was our friend,” Mr. Rivera said. Rivera was opposed not only by the other Fox “Friends” there, but by the reader-comments, such as the most-liked ones: Sort byBest • RedBowtie What planet does Rivera live on? Soleimani has engineered the killing of many Americans. 7 Likes • RedGuitar stalin was our friend and helped us defeat hitler. no really a friend. ha 6 Likes
They want to remain suckers of America’s billionaires, who want to have Iran back.
Of course, Russia’s news-media were honest about this matter; they have no reason to lie about it; and, besides, they don’t lie nearly as frequently as America’s billionaire-controlled ‘news’-media do — they know they are distrusted from the get-go throughout the U.S. empire, because Russia’s lying Soviet predecessors (before 1991) are constantly pumped to America’s ‘news’-media behind the scenes by America’s CIA (representing America’s billionaires) as being like today’s Russian news-media, which they very much are not. Russia really did end the Cold War; the U.S. regime never did.
On January 4th, India’s Economic Times headlined “Soleimani, face of fight against ISIS, Taliban”, and reported that:
Soleimani was the face of armed resistance against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and contributed in a big way in defeating ISIS, said an expert familiar with West Asian dynamics who requested not to be identified. Last year Soleimani had also slammed Pakistan for its failure to control terror groups on its soil that targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guards group. Iran and India were among regional powers that backed anti-Taliban forces along with Russia before Taliban was ousted in Afghanistan. … Last February, a car laden with explosives hit a bus of Revolutionary Guard soldiers on Zahedan-Khash road in Iran’s border province of Sistan-Balouchestan, killing 27 and injuring 13. Pakistan-based Jaish ul-Adl Takfiri terrorist group, which has ties to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. Days after the attack, Soleimani said Iran does not want mere condolences, but concrete action from Pakistan. “Can’t you, as a nuclear-armed state, deal with a hundreds-strong terrorist group in the region?” he had said.
That’s a major daily newspaper in Hindu India, which isn’t a place about which readers in America and allied countries haven’t been taught by their news-media to expect to see such a commentary being published. According to Wikipedia, “As of 2012, it is the world’s second-most widely read English-language business newspaper, after The Wall Street Journal,[4] with a readership of over 800,000.”
Also on January 4th former UK Ambassador Craig Murray headlined from Britain “Lies, the Bethlehem Doctrine, and the Illegal Murder of Soleimani” and he exposed lies against Soleimani by Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and a key neoconservative legal advisor to UK’s Government. He was exposing there a bipartisan and international sliming operation, the type of thing that traditionally persuades masses of suckers to vote for politicians who continue the grand imperial enterprise, for the benefit of U.S.-and-allied billionaires. However, that scam might not be so successful this time around.
On January 6th, the U.S. Government informed Iraq’s Government that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq is now at an end and all U.S. forces are withdrawing from Iraq. Then Trump changed his mind. Shortly afterward. Iran did its first retaliation, firing missiles against U.S. military facilities in Iraq. Trump’s constant aggressions against Iran (starting with cancellation ot the Iran nuclear agreement and restoration of anti-Iran sanctions) will sink the Middle East and maybe the entire world in blood. The EU seems nonetheless to be sticking by the U.S. regime. All leaders who do so will be damned along with him. But none of them seem even to care. They all share in his guilt.


russiainsider--2020-01-09--UK Judge Forbids Parents to Protest Outside of Schools Against Sodomy Lessons for Children

Justice Warby stipulated that the restriction `` does not amount to unlawful discrimination against the protesters '' Despite Ofsted declaring the lessons to be `` age-appropriate '' , some families have claimed that classes teaching LGBT education to their children are in contradiction to their religious outlook and are not appropriate for students of ages 4 to 11 .
A UK judge ruled that protests from parents frustrated that their children are too young to be taught about LGBT politics have been permanently banned outside the school .
High Court judge Mr. Justice Mark Warby granted a request made by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court order to impose restrictions on demonstrations at the school and extend the exclusion zone around Anderton Park which forbids their right to protest .
Following a five-day hearing , Justice Warby stipulated that the restriction `` does not amount to unlawful discrimination against the protesters '' .
Under the 2010 Equalities Act , schools must prevent any unlawful discrimination based on the characteristics of students , including their religious beliefs , and ensure that parents are aware of the content being taught to their children .
He explained that protesters had `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the school '' , and that the new lessons were not `` promoting homosexuality '' nor were they teaching sex education , as was alleged by the opposition .
Those who oppose the introduction of LGBT classes claim that they are against their religious beliefs and that their children are too young to be subject to the `` sexualisation '' of education .
While the classes were opposed by members of both the Christian and Muslim communities , the majority of the protesters were of the Muslim faith and have been staging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years outside of Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham .
Before the ban , the crowds could be seen shouting slogans and insisting that same-sex relationships stand in contradiction to their families ' religious beliefs .
The protestors adamantly deny accusations of homophobia , saying that they do not discriminate against anyone .
In response to the ruling , Paul Whiteman , the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers , said that the decision made it “ abundantly clear ” that the school entrance was no place for a protest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson spoke to Sky News , calling the protests `` homophobic '' and revealed that some members of staff even required professional help due to the events .
She told Birmingham 's Civil Justice Centre : `` I have seen many tweets and texts and video messages by the protesters that shows they are not interested in consultation . ''
`` There are many things that I have seen and heard over the past nine months , particularly posted by some of the defendants , that are inciting hatred . ''
Shakeel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , told the court during the case to impose the exclusion zone in October that : Other primary schools in the Birmingham area have received public pressure , even to the extent of caving to the demands .
Parkfield Community School removed its LGBT programme and a death threat was sent to headteacher Andrew Moffat .
In March , up to 600 children of both were kept home from Parkfield in response to the “ No Outsiders ” program being taught there to children of ages 4 to 11. , the parents considered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that pupils were being “ brainwashed ” .
The classes include lessons incorporating same-sex relationships , transgender issues , and LGBT rights , with plans by the Department of Education to make them compulsory by 2020 .
Here in Russia , this website is currently the only source of income for the Gleason family and the Silva family .
Both families now live in Russia , and they appreciate your support .
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Justice Warby stipulated that the restriction "does not amount to unlawful discrimination against the protesters"
Despite Ofsted declaring the lessons to be "age-appropriate", some families have claimed that classes teaching LGBT education to their children are in contradiction to their religious outlook and are not appropriate for students of ages 4 to 11.
A UK judge ruled that protests from parents frustrated that their children are too young to be taught about LGBT politics have been permanently banned outside the school.
High Court judge Mr. Justice Mark Warby granted a request made by Birmingham City Council, who sought a court order to impose restrictions on demonstrations at the school and extend the exclusion zone around Anderton Park which forbids their right to protest.
Following a five-day hearing, Justice Warby stipulated that the restriction "does not amount to unlawful discrimination against the protesters".
Under the 2010 Equalities Act, schools must prevent any unlawful discrimination based on the characteristics of students, including their religious beliefs, and ensure that parents are aware of the content being taught to their children.
He explained that protesters had "misunderstood and misrepresented what is being taught at the school", and that the new lessons were not "promoting homosexuality" nor were they teaching sex education, as was alleged by the opposition.
Those who oppose the introduction of LGBT classes claim that they are against their religious beliefs and that their children are too young to be subject to the "sexualisation" of education.
While the classes were opposed by members of both the Christian and Muslim communities, the majority of the protesters were of the Muslim faith and have been staging regular demonstrations outside the school in recent years outside of Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham.
Before the ban, the crowds could be seen shouting slogans and insisting that same-sex relationships stand in contradiction to their families' religious beliefs.
The protestors adamantly deny accusations of homophobia, saying that they do not discriminate against anyone.
In response to the ruling, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that the decision made it “abundantly clear” that the school entrance was no place for a protest.
Earlier in the year, Headteacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson spoke to Sky News, calling the protests "homophobic" and revealed that some members of staff even required professional help due to the events.
She told Birmingham's Civil Justice Centre: "I have seen many tweets and texts and video messages by the protesters that shows they are not interested in consultation."
"There are many things that I have seen and heard over the past nine months, particularly posted by some of the defendants, that are inciting hatred."
Shakeel Afsar, a leader of the protests, told the court during the case to impose the exclusion zone in October that:
“We want our children to learn about equality but this needs to be done in ways that are age appropriate and that is in consultation with parents."
“There was no prior consultation before children were sent home with Princess Boy books", he said to the court.
"Parents feel as if they (the school) are teaching children of Ibrahamic faith that homosexuality is acceptable. That is different from saying homosexuals exist."
Other primary schools in the Birmingham area have received public pressure, even to the extent of caving to the demands. Parkfield Community School removed its LGBT programme after similar demonstrations and a death threat was sent to headteacher Andrew Moffat.
In March, up to 600 children of both Christian and Muslim families were kept home from Parkfield in response to the “No Outsiders” program being taught there to children of ages 4 to 11.
According to barnabasfund , the parents considered the lessons “not age appropriate” and that pupils were being “brainwashed”.
The classes include lessons incorporating same-sex relationships, transgender issues, and LGBT rights, with plans by the Department of Education to make them compulsory by 2020.
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russiainsider--2020-01-09--Fascinating Russian TV News Report About Massive New Bridge to China, Friendship and Ties Growing St

Fascinating Russian TV News Report About Massive New Bridge to China, Friendship and Ties Growing Stronger

Because Russia is a European country , one often forgets that they share an enormous border with China .
This TV segment really brings home how important this is in creating strong political bonds between China and Russia , both dynamic and growing in world influence .
1,080 m ( ~1,181 yards ) above the Amur that will change the lives of Russia 's Blagoveshchensk and China 's Heihe .
Today , the construction of the first road bridge between Russia and China finished on the border .
The project has been underway for over 20 years but now it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the development of relations .
Trade is expected to grow eight-fold .
Our correspondents , Pavel Melnik on the Russian bank and Aleksandr Balitsky on the Chinese side , assessed the scale and found out when the road will be opened .
First , they built the bridge , now they are lining up .
“ Come here , please .
Who should we put here ?
” Everyone realizes that this day will be remembered for many years .
The first international road bridge in the history of Russian-Chinese relations is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for coming from central Russia to help us with this construction.
” Aleksandr Kozlov , minister for development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic , thanks every builder .
It 's the gratitude of the whole Amur River region .
The steel shrouds are left in the rear-view mirror .
The builders have nothing left to do here , other than holding a parade by driving in a column .
630 trucks per day is its real traffic capacity .
These bridge supports are like the basis of the growing trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grow up to three million tons a year .
: “ It means perspectives in additional export shipping of agricultural products .
And we really hope that the products of the gas processing and gas-chemical plants will be shipped to the People 's Republic of China by means that also include this bridge.
” Construction crews set off towards each other from the opposite banks of the Amur river .
Each side built 540 meters ( ~590 yards ) of the structure , but it 's only a small part of the cross-border @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covered 6 km ( ~3,7 mi ) of access ways in asphalt , while the Russian side covered 13 km ( ~8 mi ) of roads over difficult terrain .
The Konikurganskaya Canal had to be jumped over , and it 's another new crossing in Amur River region which was built by the whole country .
: “ People came from Moscow , Volgograd , Omsk .
We came from Barnaul.
” The builders worked under extreme conditions , trying to save themselves from freezing and the neighbors from taiga .
Borders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Divided by the Amur , they are still together .
Blagoveshchensk and Heihe are good neighbors .
People can even greet each other from here by waving , and it 'll be seen on the other side .
In good weather , the Heihe Embankment can be seen clearly from the Blagoveshchensk side .
Only 700 meters ( ~765 yards ) of the Amur divide the Russian and Chinese banks , and now they 've become even closer .
They feel at home in the city with a Chinese character and a Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every sign , though the meaning is n't always clear .
Anastasia teaches Russian to Chinese students at the local university , her daughter Nana is already in the second grade here .
They get news from their granny in Blagoveshchensk by video chat .
- How are you on the other bank ?
- Did you milk the cows ?
They live literally on two sides of the Amur , which the Chinese call Heilong-jiang , or `` the river of the black dragon . ''
They visit their relatives by ferry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the winter .
There are several tips a day , which shuttle traders with their giant bags make all day long .
“ Of course , it 's better to go by bus .
It 's faster - you just get on and go.
” - We 're waiting for it .
For Chinese Heihe that has expanded due to the border trade with Russia , the new bridge automatically means new trade opportunities for all-year shipments .
These machines will go to Russia on their own wheels .
: “ Of course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ export to Russia will be conducted all year round.
” Only formalities are left - to open the bridge and the fast way to the East will open for the Russian business as well .
They are ready to work with China .
This coffee plant has a new roaster , to grind 8 tons of beans per month , instead of 2 which sufficed only the Far East .
Blagoveshchensk has something to offer for export .
The high-speed logistic corridor lifts the issue of standstill of goods during the off-season , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the river is not yet covered in ice , and it 's already in the near future .

Because Russia is a European country, one often forgets that they share an enormous border with China. This TV segment really brings home how important this is in creating strong political bonds between China and Russia, both dynamic and growing in world influence.
Transcript:
1,080 m (~1,181 yards) above the Amur that will change the lives of Russia's Blagoveshchensk and China's Heihe. Today, the construction of the first road bridge between Russia and China finished on the border. The project has been underway for over 20 years but now it'll become an important element of infrastructure in the development of relations. Trade is expected to grow eight-fold.
Our correspondents, Pavel Melnik on the Russian bank and Aleksandr Balitsky on the Chinese side, assessed the scale and found out when the road will be opened.
First, they built the bridge, now they are lining up.
“Come here, please. Who should we put here?”
Everyone realizes that this day will be remembered for many years. The first international road bridge in the history of Russian-Chinese relations is ready.
“Thank you very much for coming from central Russia to help us with this construction.”
Aleksandr Kozlov, minister for development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic, thanks every builder. It's the gratitude of the whole Amur River region. The steel shrouds are left in the rear-view mirror. The builders have nothing left to do here, other than holding a parade by driving in a column.
630 trucks per day is its real traffic capacity. These bridge supports are like the basis of the growing trade with China. It's expected to grow up to three million tons a year.
Vasily Orlov, governor of the Amur Oblast : “It means perspectives in additional export shipping of agricultural products. And we really hope that the products of the gas processing and gas-chemical plants will be shipped to the People's Republic of China by means that also include this bridge.”
Construction crews set off towards each other from the opposite banks of the Amur river. Each side built 540 meters (~590 yards) of the structure, but it's only a small part of the cross-border passage. Especially for it, China covered 6 km (~3,7 mi) of access ways in asphalt, while the Russian side covered 13 km (~8 mi) of roads over difficult terrain. The Konikurganskaya Canal had to be jumped over, and it's another new crossing in Amur River region which was built by the whole country.
Valery Malkov, welder : “People came from Moscow, Volgograd, Omsk. We came from Barnaul.”
The builders worked under extreme conditions, trying to save themselves from freezing and the neighbors from taiga. Borders don't apply to wild goats. Divided by the Amur, they are still together. Blagoveshchensk and Heihe are good neighbors. People can even greet each other from here by waving, and it'll be seen on the other side.
“I'm greeting my colleague, Aleksandr Balitsky.”
In good weather, the Heihe Embankment can be seen clearly from the Blagoveshchensk side. Only 700 meters (~765 yards) of the Amur divide the Russian and Chinese banks, and now they've become even closer.
They feel at home in the city with a Chinese character and a Russian accent, which can be seen on every sign, though the meaning isn't always clear. Anastasia teaches Russian to Chinese students at the local university, her daughter Nana is already in the second grade here. They get news from their granny in Blagoveshchensk by video chat.
- How are you on the other bank?
- We're okay.
- Did you milk the cows?
They live literally on two sides of the Amur, which the Chinese call Heilong-jiang, or "the river of the black dragon." They visit their relatives by ferry in the summer and by hovercraft in the winter. There are several tips a day, which shuttle traders with their giant bags make all day long.
“Of course, it's better to go by bus. It's faster - you just get on and go.”
- We're waiting for it.
- Why?
- We've been waiting for 20 years.
For Chinese Heihe that has expanded due to the border trade with Russia, the new bridge automatically means new trade opportunities for all-year shipments. These machines will go to Russia on their own wheels.
Huo Qingfan, sales manager of a special equipment production plant : “Of course, when the bridge is open, export to Russia will be conducted all year round.”
China - Russia
Blagoveshchensk
Only formalities are left - to open the bridge and the fast way to the East will open for the Russian business as well.
They are ready to work with China. This coffee plant has a new roaster, to grind 8 tons of beans per month, instead of 2 which sufficed only the Far East. Blagoveshchensk has something to offer for export.
The high-speed logistic corridor lifts the issue of standstill of goods during the off-season, when the marine navigation is already closed, and the river is not yet covered in ice, and it's already in the near future.