ORIGIN OF IRAN’S TERRORIST GOVERNMENT & ITS PROXIES

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How did the current terrorist government get control of Iran and become a serious threat to the entire Middle East and the world?  That’s what this post is about, along with how the U.S. inadvertently facilitated this.

The Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi)
came into power in 1954. He was a good friend of the United States.  In 1964 he exiled radical Muslim  extremist, Ayatollah Khomeini.  Widely reported in the news  was that President Jimmy Carter persuaded/coerced the Shah to allow Khomeini to return to Iran.  The Shah complied and Khomeini returned in February 1979.The Shah then came to the United State in October 1979 for cancer treatments.  Shortly thereafter, while the Shah was still in the U.S., Khomeini led a revolution in Iran and overturned the Shah’s pro-western government.

The Khomeini government, as part of its revolution, subsequently held 52 hostages from the U,S. embassy in Iran for 444 days and only released them 30 minutes after President Ronald Reagan assumed office on January 20, 1981.  Iran began its terrorist activities by funding various client terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad.  It also began working on developing nuclear weapons as well as the missies capable of delivering warheads to its hated enemies, Israel (the “Little Satan”) and the United States (the “Big Satan”).

President Obama thought he could delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions and began negotiating with it and signed the “Iran nuclear deal” (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – “JCPOA”) with Iran in 2015, allegedly to delay it from developing a nuclear weapon.  It wasn’t a treaty because the Senate would not ratify it, but the “deal” cost the U.S. $150 billion and probably cost many lives because much of the money was used to fund Iran’s terrorist operations around the world.

When Donald Trump became President, his foreign policy advisors reviewed the deal and deemed it to be worse than worthless for many reasons, including: 1) no restrictions on the development of ballistic missiles, 2) no inspections allowed of military sites, 3) no cessation of proxy wars in the Middle East.  Trump gave Iran an opportunity to revise the agreement, but Iran refused and Trump consequently withdrew the U.S. from the deal in 2018 and also imposed sanctions on its sale of oil, keeping it poor and unable to fund any serious terrorist activities through its surrogates, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad.

When Joe Biden became President, he had negotiations re-started to get the U.S. back into the original agreement.  The new negotiations, however, appeared worse than the first, with Russia negotiating on behalf of the the United States and offering even more billions to Iran, in addition to removing the sanctions imposed by President Trump.  The short expiration dates in the deal remained the same as the original deal even though 7 years had elapsed since that deal was made (2015). In addition, the Biden Administration was eager to enter into the disastrous deal with Iran which says in order to delay its development of a nuclear bomb. However, Iran has cheated and hid some of its nuclear sites under the former deal and continued to develop missiles that could reach the United States.  I believe former president, Trump, had the right idea in keeping Iran poor with sanctions so it could not afford to sponsor many of its terrorist activities around the world nor develop a nuclear bomb or ICBMs.

This absurd “deal” was bad for the United States, Israel, and world peace and thankfully is now dead.  However, Iran can still produce nuclear bombs very quickly and the billions of dollars it made from the U.S. not enforcing the sanctions on its sale of oil has put it financially “back-on-its-feet” and now fully capable of funding large-scale terrorism once again (Iran sold 400,000 barrels/day of oil in 2020, 3 million barrels/day in 2023 and has made $40by-$80 billions of dollars from its sale of that oil, enabling it to fund the vicious 10/7/23 attack by Hamas on 1,400 mostly Israeli citizens).

CONCLUSION

Iran is the chief sponsor of terrorism in many countries.  Giving them billions of dollars facilitates this.  Iran currently sells missile-firing drones to Russia, which is using them in its war against Ukraine.  Moreover, it funds middle-eastern terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which on October 7, 2023, tortured and slaughtered 1,400 Israeli citizens and 32 Americans, as well as 232 hostages.  At government-sponsored rallies in Iran (and even on American college campuses), “Death to America” is chanted.  Iran has missiles capable of reaching its hated enemy, Israel and soon the United States as well.  Most Iranians are good people and many are even pro-western, much different that the fanatical leaders of the Iranian government.  Any funds the U.S. gives to Iran or money that Iran makes from the U.S. not enforcing its oil sanctions, is used to develop missiles that will be used against Israel and the U.S.

On October 18, 2023, President Joseph Biden, during his visit to Israel in the middle of war, just gave a $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) for Palestinian humanitarian relief, almost all of it will surely end up in the hands of Hamas who controls Gaza, and will fund terrorist activities in the Middle East. God help Israel, the Palestinians, and the United States!

SON OF HAMAS

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I read a fascinating book by a courageous person: Mosab Hassan Yousef.  Mr. Yousef gave up so much that he held dear to follow the beliefs of his new religion, Christianity.  His devotion to Christ led him to helping people, all people: Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc.  His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was one of seven Palestinians that created Hamas in 1986, but Mr. Yousef was a principled and honorable man, unlike many of the other Hamas leaders, and led me to conclude that he is mostly responsible for his son also being a principled and honorable young man.

Christianity opened young Mosab’s mind to compassion and forgiveness and enabled him to take a second look at the Israelis, whom he had been taught to hate by the culture he was raised in.  At some point he thought that he could save many lives on all sides of the Palistinian-Israeli conflict by working with Israel’s Intelligence service, the Shin Bet.  In fact, he did save many innocent lives, including his father’s.

In the epilogue, postscript and afterwards, Mosab ends the book by telling about his encounters in America, which I found to be very interesting, because by the end of the book I cared about what happened to him.

The book forced me to rethink Hamas and its true intentions: killing Jews or political power or a genuine concern for Palestinians?  It also gave me a better appreciation on how being raised in a culture where hatred is celebrated, and also think about how fortunate I am for having been born and raised in America.  If you are interested in the Middle East, care about the people who live there, and want to understand what is happening there, this book should help.

HOW I KNOW GOD EXISTS

One Good Friday and Easter Saturday I became inspired to say a few words about the Creator and tell how I know, not simply believe, that there is a God.  This question, plus the question concerning the existence of Heaven and Hell, becomes increasingly more important as we get older.  Since I’m old enough to be dead, and at 80 already have one foot in the grave, I thought I would pay my respects to the Big Guy/Gal/Spirit (God).

However, since my Blog emphasizes ”Independent Thought, I decided to make the case for God with no references to any of the World’s Religions or their Holy books.   Here goes…

I have many religious beliefs, some of which may not fit into any one religion, but they are beliefs, not certainties. But I do know one thing for sure, that there is a God.  He or she may be called by many different names but so what, it’s trivial, though I acknowledge that some religions make it a a big deal.

How do I know there’s a God?  The unbelievable vastness, complexity and orderliness of the universe alone convinces me, but you may need more proof than that.  I’ll explain how I personally know that God exists.  The following are my additional reasons, each one of which by itself doesn’t make the case alone so one needs to consider them collectively:

1. In the late 80’s, 90’s, and until about 2005 I lived on top of a 9000′ high mountain in the Colorado Rockies with my wife and cat.  I received a letter in the mail one Saturday requesting a donation of $500 to help the community pave the dirt road I lived on.  I wanted to do my part, especially since my property values would increase a lot if the road were paved, but I couldn’t afford it.   Therefore, I continued opening up my other mail, one of which contained a check for $520 from some investment I had made.  The amount and the timing were perfect but, of course, probably just a coincidence.

2.  Ten years later, I made a monumental blunder with my checking account, and somehow found my checkbook $1,900 short.  Two days later, in Monday’s mail, there was a check for a little over $1900 from some investment, another perfect amount as well as perfect timing.  Twice bailed out? Probably just another really lucky coincidence.

3. I took care of stray/homeless and even feral cats…with food, water, and medical care as part of the nationwide “Trap, Neuter, Return” program.  One Saturday a homeless pitch-black and friendly “Bombay” cat, with a little stub of a tail (later I named him “Bobby-Tail” because of his bobbed tail) came by my yard with a bad foot, trying to walk but limping very badly.  I brought him in and took him to my veterinarian, who found a cut on his foot and treated him.  The cost was $91, which I paid but couldn’t really afford right then.  Two days later I received a check in the mail for just over $91 for some refund from something.  The amount and timing was perfect!  A third coincidence?

On these three occasions, plus two more, the amounts and timing were perfect.  All times the money I needed was not for my personal use and was totally unexpected.  I was amazed…and after some thought I became convinced that they weren’t coincidences at all.  However, a really frightening incident that was the “slam-dunk” for me concerning the existence of God, happened back in 1968 and 69.  I even wrote a “first-person” article about it for Reader’s Digest but it was not published.  The weird but true tale follows:

4. I’ll skip the preliminaries; the “Amazing Kreskin” said that Quija boards only worked as a result of the unconscious mind that was actually moving the Ouija board pointer that spells out words as it goes from letter to letter and pauses between words.  Easy enough to test…I had the two board users face aside so they couldn’t see the board.   As I asked it questions, the pointer continued to move and answer them until my girlfriend, Maria, became so frightened by Quija’s answers, she refused to work the board anymore.  Here’s some of my exchanges with the Quija board:

“Quija, are you a man or a woman?”  Quija:”SPIRIT”

“Quija, are you a good spirit or a bad spirit?  Quija: “GOOD”

“Ouija, where do you get your power from?”  Quija: “SATAN”

“Ouija, everyone knows that Satan is evil, therefore how can you be good?  Quija: “GOODBYE”

“Ouija, when were you born?”  Quija: “I AM”

“Ouija, why do you talk to people?”  Quija: “PEOPLE NEED ME”

“Ouija, why do people need you?”  Quija: “TO MAKE THEM SUFFER”

“Ouija, I feel very sorry for you, how can I help you?” Quija:  “GIVE ME YOUR SOUL AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE ETERNAL POWERS OF EVIL”

I placed a set of Rosary beads onto the Quija board and asked: “Ouija, do you like me?”  Quija: “YOU ARE THE ENEMY OF THE SPIRIT WHO CAN CAUSE  SUFFERING BEYOND REALIZATION”

About a year after this encounter with the Quija board, I had a large brain tumor removed and was fighting for my life.  Half of my face became paralyzed and numb as a result of the surgical removal of a very large tumor, and my equilibrium and emotional state became really bad to the extent that my first wife, Maria, in a fit of rage at something stupid I had said/done, pushed me out of our apartment 5 weeks after my brain tumor surgery, and subsequently divorced me.  Since then I’ve had another few dozen more surgeries.  I would say that I experienced “suffering beyond realization.”  With only 1/2 of my face working normally, deaf in my left ear, and unable to walk straight, I no longer fool around with Quija boards. The point of my story on Quija is that,  if  in fact evil really does exist, then it follows that a good spirit (God) also exists.  You be the judge… (but I would not use a Ouija Board since many cases of alleged possession begin with using Ouija boards).

I know in God, based on my experiences as well as the vastness of the universe and the amazing capability and complexity of the human body.    I do have many more religious beliefs based on the world’s religions’ Holy Books.  However, many of my beliefs I consider details; the main thing is that, for me, there is no question that God does indeed exist.

 

CREATIONISM vs. EVOLUTION vs. INTELLIGENT DESIGN vs. NO GOD

I agree with three of the four alternatives mentioned in the title to this article: Creationism, Evolution, and Intelligent Design.   For the religious, if God is capable of doing anything, then why could he not simply create the world through natural means…through evolution?  For the secular, how do you know that God is not behind the creation of the universe and all life in it, using natural methods such as evolution (“Intelligent Design”)?  I see no contradiction between evolution and special creation.

I believe that Christians and Orthodox Jews  might say that Moses explains in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible that God created Adam and Eve on the sixth “day”.  However, biblical scholars do not interpret the length of the period of time which is simply called “day” as a 24-hour day.  So a “day” could be two-billion years and seven of those “days” could be 14 billion years, which is about the age of the universe.  Moreover, when Moses wrote Genesis, no one back then would have understood or believed anything as complicated as evolution.

For believers in evolution, how can you know that there is no God?   I have a Trilobite fossil that’s from the Ordovician Geologic period which was about 400 million-years-ago.  Moreover, dinosaur bones have been dated, using radioactive “half-lives,” as being about 60-million-years-old.  There’s simply too much fossil evidence that supports some form of evolution.  However, the universe is unimaginably vast and the human body alone so unbelievably complex…could these things evolved without an “intelligent design” by (you name it) God, Allah, a Supreme Being, etc.?  I think it is more likely that there is God and that some interpretation of the Biblical story of creation, if you specify that God used natural means, is probably true.  There is no contradiction.  Incidentally, it’s now known that birds evolved from dinosaurs, which I think shows that God has a sense of humor.

Aside from the objective reality of whether God exists or not, the idea of God is positive and uplifting and helps people get through the inevitable crises in their lives.  The Bible got me through a huge brain tumor that almost killed me and was also able to survive the consequent devastating destruction of my first marriage.  God and religion are the foundation upon which ethics and morals stand.  Even for those that do not believe in God, the foundation of whatever ethics and morals they have, ultimately came from a religious ancestor.  Finally, it appears to me that Creationism and science are compatible: you can believe in both.

Anyone interested in exploring religion to discover one that is right for him or her should enjoy reading M. Scott Peck, M.D.’s books on The Road Less Traveled.