بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Axis of Resistance – An American created Deception to maintain its Hegemony in the Muslim World
The modern day superpower politics is nothing but an art of deception. Depending on how well you deceive the populace and your opponents confirm your stay at the top.
Niccolo Machiavelli who is considered the founder of modern political science said in his seminal work, “The Prince,” “Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.” He further writes, “men are so simple so obedient to present necessities that he who deceives will always find someone who will let himself be deceived...Being clever is crucial. A genuine person is not what matters. Are you able to fulfil your ambition? Your survival and repression of others is the key.”
It seems that the modern day politicians have learnt their lessons well from Machiavelli. Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, once said in his meeting with former Soviet President Stalin, that the “truth is precious that it must be protected with a bunch of lies.”
The same reality applies to the global superpower today, America, which has exploited every opportunity to manufacture consent among the masses about its enemies and friends, so much so, that the world has today accepted the American narrative and has begun to see the world through the fraudulent American lens. The deceptions were and are prevalent in its policies and plans, be it the past or the present.
‘Axis of Resistance’ is one such deception which America propagated and aggrandised in order to serve its own interests. This article is an attempt to unveil what agenda did the “Axis of Resistance” brouhaha served for America.
‘Axis of Resistance’ was the term first used by a Libyan newspaper Al-Zahf Al-Akhdar in response to the term “Axis of Evil” used by the US President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002. Axis of resistance came out to be known as anti-Israel and anti-western alliance between Iran, Syria along with Lebanese militia Hezbollah. In May of the same year, the undersecretary added another term “Beyond the Axis of Evil” and included Syria in it. In short America declared to the world that Iran and Syria are its enemies and attempted to manufacture this feeling among the masses. It is interesting to note that the inclusion of Iran and Syria in the axis of evil came at the time when Syria was providing America with useful counter-terrorism intelligence and Iran had played a significant role in the ouster of Taliban in Afghanistan.
Let us look at the historical events in order to get a sense of the US – Iran relations.
There is no doubt that the Shah of Iran was brought to power by the British backed coup (Operation Boot) known as “28 Mordad Coup” in Iran, which led to the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh. However, things began to change in the late 1970s when the masses jointly rose against the Shah.
Though Russia was making inroads in Afghanistan by attempting to export its communist ideology at least since the 1950s, it was only during the middle of the Cold War phase, that Russia planned to put boots on the ground in order to get access to the warm waters. The alert Americans engaged the Mullas who were busy ousting Reza Shah Pahlavi in Iran. Initially the revolution was an emotional outburst of the people against the Shah and was not expected to change the regime in Iran. Even Khomeini did not expect the success of the revolution and bought a house in France in order to settle down in case of the failure of revolution. However, with the engagement of American military and intelligence in the region, the revolution turned out to be successful in overthrowing Shah.
Besides, America also gave the green signal in July 1978 to the CIA to do promotional campaigns for revolutionising people against the communist government in Afghanistan which was loyal to Moscow. Meanwhile in Iran, America continued to give assurance to Shah that it will defend him but eventually left him to fend for himself. The American Ambassador to Iran at that time, William Sullivan, mentioned that the then National Security Advisor, Zbignjew Brzezinski confirmed several times to Shah that America supports him and will support him till the end. The White House policy was contradicting their words as they had full knowledge that the Turban Man – Al-Wali Al-Faqih – will take his place.
This is what exactly, Machiavelli mentions under the heading “The Subtle Art of Lying” in his book “The Prince,” “Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have considered keeping their word of little account, and have known how to beguile men’s minds by shrewdness and cunning. In the end these princes have overcome those who have relied on keeping their word.”
America decided not to send their aircraft carrier (US Constellation) to the Indian Ocean to support the infantry. This decision created confusion in the Iranian camp and literally paralysed the Iranian army from doing any action until the stability was brought back by Khomeini. Recently revealed documents have also proved that Carter’s administration literally paved the way for Khomeini and held the army back from launching a military coup. This is what made the Shah weak as he was depending on US forces and it allowed Khomeini to eliminate the top level officers who were loyal to the Shah. He executed more than 200 of the Shah’s security officials which eventually led to the collapse of the monarchy giving the reigns of the country to Khomeini. Later the Hostage crisis was staged to present to the world that Khomeini’s system was an enemy to the strongest colonial power in the world and to make an impression that there is no connection between America and Khomeini.
The hostage crisis lasted for 444 days, however with the election of the Republican candidate Ronald Regan, Khomeini released the hostages on January 20, 1981. With the outbreak of the Iran – Iraq war, America made a contract to secretly transfer advanced weaponry to Iran and to release some of its hostages that were kidnapped during the Lebanese civil war. The Iranians played a major role in the kidnapping of the hostages and America cracked a deal with Iran to get the hostages released in lieu of supplying weapons. The whole affair later came to be known later as “Contra Affair.” The Jewish entity was taken in loop to transfer the weapons to Iran. George Bush, the then vice president in the Reagan administration, arranged the meeting with then Iranian vice president Abolhassan Banisadr in Paris in the presence of the delegate of then Jewish entity’s intelligence Ari Ben Menashe, who became instrumental in transferring weapons to Iran. In this way Khomeini accomplished strategic benefits by making the latter accept its demands.
In this way, America got rid of Reza Shah whom the British appointed to serve their interests. America further managed to stem the tide of communism that was running through the middle of Asia. It also began to kindle the fire of sectarianism in the region between the Shias and the Sunnis. It made the Sunnis weary of the growing influence of Iran and its desire to take control of the region by exporting its ideology in the region and by changing the marja-e-taqleed from Iraq to Iran. The Sunnis began to export Wahabbism in order to contain Iran’s ideological presence and unfortunately it all led to Muslims losing the vision of thinking of the caliphate – the divine political doctrine for the Muslims. The growing fear of Iran led the weary Gulf States to fall in line with America in order to make them secure from the regional threat.
The situation in Syria reveals a similar kind of plot. The Alawites had been a major supporter of the French mandate during their rule and in return the Alawites received political autonomy as the French bolstered them and supported them against the Sunnis. Post Second World War, it was a series of military coups in Syria which resulted in the fluctuating influence of Britain and America in the region. After 5 military coups, the final coup of 1970 brought Hafez al-Assad to power and this led the situation to settle in favour of America when Hafez gave Al-Golan Heights to the Jews. In doing so, America succeeded in spreading and consolidating its wings in Syria.
A cursory glance at the events in Syria unveils the myth and clears the air that it will never be part of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ to America. It is nothing but serving the American interests under the garb of fighting American imperialism. The master-slave relationship blossomed with the support of Al-Assad to America in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It further strengthened with America’s war on terror where Al-Assad’s son Bashar toed the line of the US. Besides, the forty years’ rule of the Assad regime has not witnessed a single bullet shot against the Jewish entity, hence maintaining the American plan of the two-state solution, considering the safety of the Jews.
In addition to it, the implementation of the Baker-Hamilton recommendations, which put the onus of maintaining the stability of Iraq on the neighbouring Iran and Syria, corroborates the great aid that both Syria and Iran are providing for the realisation of American interests in the region. Syria has also helped in maintaining the influence of American in Lebanon. The Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1976 led to the American influence in Lebanon and with the initiation of the Cedar Revolution in 2005, Europe – France and Britain, attempted to bring Lebanon under their influence. However, with their loyal agent Assad who assassinated the opposition leaders like Rafiq Harir, Gibran Tueni, etc., America managed to retain its influence in the region.
The beginning of the 21st century saw America unleashing its military strength on Afghanistan and Iraq under the garb of “war on terror”. Iran significantly helped America in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared this shameful act of Iran’s help to America in Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany in 2002. Similarly, when America found itself in the Iraqi quagmire, Iran offered to share the burden and the political solution of dividing Iraq in to three factions Shias, Sunnis and Kurds got impetus.
‘Axis of Resistance’ is now known to all as an agenda that serves the interests of America clandestinely. The countries in the axis have proved themselves as good as the master wants his slaves to be in serving the imperialist goals of America in the region. America knows the importance of these slaves, especially Iran, and hence worked hard to maintain them and helped them in getting rid of the problems they face. It saved Iran from the pressures of Europe and the Jewish entity, as they were demanding international sanctions against Iran. The Jewish entity even gave the hint of military action against Iran. America’s efforts appears clear from the following:
- America strived to save Iran from the threat of international sanction from Europe and the Jewish entity. US Intelligence also declared that there was no Iranian nuclear threat and maintained this stance from 2007 to 2010.
- Millions of demonstrators descended to the streets in support of the reformist candidate against Ahmadinejad in what is known as the Green Revolution, however America turned a blind eye to what the Iranian administration did when they attacked the peaceful demonstrators.
Today the false veil of animosity between America and Iran is beginning to rip off. The statements from America are now all the more direct in praising Iran so as to make Iran work more directly and openly with America. On January 16, 2016 it was said that the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran has completed the necessary steps under the Iran deal that will ensure Iran’s nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful. US President Obama said, that the diplomatic boycott of Iran will not serve the American interests. In order to pacify Europe and the Jewish entity, he further said that because of the agreement Iran will not have nuclear weapons, assuring that the deal with Iran will make the world a safer place. On the other hand, Iran welcomed this deal and its President Hassan Rouhani described the agreement as a great victory for Iran. He further called the American people as well as the world to invest in his country. Hence America helped Iran by relieving it from the sanctions and at the same time obliged Europe and other entities to accept it.
As for the Bashar Al-Assad regime, America’s silence on his crimes speaks volumes. It has been five years since he has been maiming citizens of his own country, torturing them, using chemical weapons, destroying homes, yet America has allowed the situation to prolong in its quest for an alternate to Bashar. In order to further the rule of Bashar, America uses Iran to support and bolster the falling Assad regime because Assad’s fall before America finds an alternate would be a negative outcome for America. In addition to it, America called in Russia to bomb and destroy the sincere Mujhahedeen in order to pressurise them to come to negotiating tables to come to a compromise. At the same time, it used its agent Saudi Arabia to bring the Mujahedeen to table through conferences in Riyadh during the end of the year 2015. All these efforts are done in order to maintain the Ba'ath regime till the time America finds a solution to this quagmire by getting someone from its agents to take the place of Bashar. America should understand that it's too late now and soon the tide will turn against it and all of its agents.
Finally: To conclude, the Axis of Resistance is nothing against America, but rather it is a coalition of countries waiting to serve America at the drop of the hat and in any issue, even if it means killing millions of their own citizens. America saw in the Mullahs of Iran and in the Alawites of Syria a Trojan horse serving its benefits in the Middle East. Iran significantly provides America a helping hand in all its tasks in the region and so does Syria by being a slave to America. Hezbollah too is a stick in the hands of America which it wields as per its convenience.
With the understanding related to Iran and Syria with respect to America becoming clearer with every passing day, it becomes necessary for the faithful people to destroy and dismantle their plots and plans. It is required to work hard to get rid of the agents and to achieve the great victory that awaits us. Time has now arrived to tear down the curtains of this corrupt system and announce the death of the international capitalist system, which has become the cause for all the misery in the world. It is time to raise the calls and work hard for the return of the Khilafah "Caliphate" as foretold through the noble narrations of the Prophet. It is time to say good bye to America and its cronies and present and spread the light of Islam to the whole globe
(وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هُوَ قُلْ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونَ قَرِيبًا)
“They say: When will it be? Say: it will perhaps be soon.” [TMQ Surah Isra: 51]
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Ibn Ansari