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4th Generation Warfare: The U.S. Role in the Mid-East Power Struggle
By Lt Col. Robert E. Quinn (Ret) and John Fredericks / STAFF
| Who is Lt. Col. Robert Quinn?
Robert Quinn is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with over 23 years of service including 40 months of combat service; he is a Bronze Star awardee from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Quinn served in Multi-National Force-Iraq (Headquarters) from 2005-2006 as the Army liaison officer to General George Casey’s staff, writing daily OIF summary reports for the Pentagon Army staff, CFLCC headquarters in Kuwait and 5th Army Corps Headquarters in Germany. |
First of a 12 part series
Armies do not fight wars. Nations fight wars. Today’s brand of warfare is no longer just military activity conducted by soldiers and fought with armaments.
Today’s warfare is a social-cultural activity that involves entire nations. Since World War II, total war by the U.S. has not been waged. Only our military power has been displayed, deployed and executed.
The DIME Theory
The elements that make up today’s modern nation are referred to as the DIME in military intelligence circles. The DIME contains the key elements of power necessary for developed nations to thrive and remain stable.
The DIME acronym stands for: Diplomacy (the political systems), Information (intelligence, media, and cultural effects), Military (police and security apparatus) and Economic (resources and financial effects). When correctly applied by a sovereign government these elements of power create stability and form a peaceful nation within its geographical region. When any of these powers go out of kilter the outcome is inevitable instability, and the nation in question invariably becomes a regional threat to its contiguous neighbor states.
Off the DIME
Today, we are faced with several failing nations across multiple integral components of DIME power. These wavering regional countries are growing further apart and therefore have the highest probability of causing world unrest and conflict.
Two of these nations have radically changed the balance of their internal powers. Both are marching inexorably toward a threatening hegemony for their respective regions. Although not reported in the mainstream media, several of these rogue states’ regional dominance in the Middle East is eerily reminiscent of the post Ottoman Empire era, the precursor to World War II.
Iran And Russia – New Axis Of Evil?
Iran and Russia are now moving dangerously close to achieving instability through conflict of the oil based reserve regions of the world. In an oil driven world economy, this is tantamount to disaster for western energy dependent nations. The current imbalance of the DIME in these two countries will influence their leaders to use economic power and religious informational militancy to de-stabilize the Middle East and the U.S. This frightening scenario is already taking shape as demonstrated by Russia’s recent blatant and bold invasion of Georgia. The Russians will continue to exert their influence of the Caspian oil region which affects all of Eastern Europe. The West is powerless to act. And Russia knows it.
Combine this with the planned U.S. troop pullout from Iraq in the next several years and the bigger picture of Middle East de-stabilization will begin to occur.
Iran’s War Not So Covert
Mainstream western media, led by the overwhelmingly liberal American press, has been obsessed with criticizing President Bush’s Iraq war policies. As a result they have been nearly unanimously oblivious to key events that occurred in Iraq over the last two years that have undermined U.S. interests at home and abroad.
The U.S. press systematically ignored the asymmetrical invasion of southern Iraq in late 2006 by Iranian Republican Guards Forces, “AL Qods.” These were Iranian soldiers under Iranian command. These were not local “insurgents” caught up in a civil religious war. They were part of Iran’s war machine and hegemon planning.
These militants directly led and supported the Iraqi Shia militias (al SADRS forces) and the Badr SCIRI (Imam AL Hakims forces) in a ruthless and relentless campaign of implanting thousands of IEDs, (roadside bombs) and rocket attacks targeting U.S. troops. This was a covert and well-funded military effort orchestrated by Iranian military leaders in an unabashed effort to use open terrorism as the means to kill and maim U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iran’s Objective
Iran’s military objective is to break the national will of the American people. Their goal is pre-mature American withdrawal from Iraq.
Some might say it is succeeding. U.S. support for the Iraq war continues to wane. One of the two major candidates for President has voiced support for an 18 month phased troop withdrawal, with the apparent support of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, a Shia himself.
These Iranian acts of war continue today unabated. Iran has recently purchased thousands of Chinese surface to surface and surface to ship missiles. They have just made numerous arm shipments of Russian technology and equipment to Iraq, including the new Russian advanced SA-15 and SA-300 missile air defense system that is capable of shooting down and destroying current Israeli warplanes.
The Signals
The April 2006 Hezbollah capture of two Israeli troops on the border of Lebanon and the subsequent August war between Hezbollah and Israel was financed by Iran. Their sole purpose was to create chaos and instability in the Middle East. Iran influenced the conflict and used their $50 billion dollar pullout of the EU market in February 2006 to finance the war and to support Hezbollah. Iran was instrumental in igniting Shia’s political expansion. They exported Arab Shia Hezbollah terrorists to both support and train Iraqi Shia Arab militants.
Following the 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah was suspected of passing out reparations to its supporters in the form of forged U.S. currency obtained from Iran and North Korea.
 U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Quinn at Al-Faw palace in Baghdad, now the multi-national forces headquarters in Iraq. |
The Bush Administration is rumored to have looked the other way in their effort to politically stabilize Lebanon. The Bush White House may have believed ignoring the counterfeiting scheme might hasten Lebanon’s economic recovery.
Bush Blunder
This was a major Bush Administration blunder. This influx of hard cash supported the legitimacy of Hezbollah.
Their “help the homeless” cash campaign dazzled the western press, the majority of which then turned around and shouted headlines crediting Hezbollah with victory over the seemingly invincible Israelis. This was much to Iran’s delight.
Hezbollah fighters soon flooded Iraq as part of the Iranian foreign fighter support network. Hezbollah training of Iraqi Shia militants on advance rocket techniques subsequently followed. Iranian backed Iraqi Shia fighters were given an arsenal of new 240mm rockets, which were smuggled into Shiite dominated neighborhoods and were fired from concealed rooftops.
Then all hell broke loose in the International Green Zone of Iraq as the Hezbollah-trained Iraqi Shia backed terrorists exploded their lethal rockets, causing massive damage and deaths in 2007 and early 2008.
The Iranians’ effective military use of their Shiite Arab proxies’ foreign fighter network (AL Qods and Hezbollah) has won out in Iraq, as the national will of the American people to support the war effort continues to deteriorate.
 Lt. Colonel Quinn with Iraqi Army Medical personnel sit in Saddam Hussein’s chair at one of his former palaces. The chair carries the inscription, “Conquerer of Jerusalem.” |
Iran is further emboldened by the actions of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). First she conducted an unprecedented visit to Iran’s ally, Syria, an acknowledged supporter of Hezbollah. Now she is rejecting the recall of Congress to work out a plan for U.S. energy independence. The longer the U.S. is oil dependent on the Middle East, the quicker Iran can realize their goal of Middle East hegemony.
Iran has proven their Shahabe missiles are capable of reaching both Israel and Europe. It does not take multiple rockets to deliver a weapon of mass destruction. It only takes one. According to Israeli open media intelligence sources, Iran is purportedly beginning to develop centrifuges. Their probability of high-grade plutonium development for a nuclear warhead is now deemed possible within two years, according to experts in nuclear warhead development.
Who will stop them? Who will stop Russia?
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