"A Pact with the Devil"

     Ever since the end of World War Two when America emerged as one of the two leading super powers, it seems that we have been making "pacts with the devil," so-to-speak, backing foreign leaders that were not, as it turned out time and again, the best choices.  Part of this proclivity seems to stem from the fact that we don't look far enough ahead and simply want immediate solutions to problems.  We want things done right now!  We invented fast food, instant photos, one hour dry cleaning, so on and so forth!  To America, a decade is a long time, to many older countries, a century would have the same meaning as a decade to us - of course that is an exaggeration, but you get the idea.  Why else would our government be constantly making such poor choices in selection of leaders to back in our "nation building" efforts.
     It started with our blind support of Chiang Kai Sheik, the Nationalist leader of China.  We knew he was corrupt, we knew that he surrounded himself with corrupt and inept individuals, yet we poured-in billions in cash and equipment, all to no avail!  It seems everything went downhill from that point.  In Vietnam we supported the corrupt Ngo Din Diem, and when things turned sour we engineered a coupe to replace him.  His replacements, one after another failed, leading to the total collapse of South Vietnam in 1975.  In Latin America, there were too many to mention all in this blog.  The most notable disaster was Manuel Noriega, a monster that was our creation!  This was someone that we created, nurtured through the years, until he got out of control, so, of course, we got rid of him, at great expense.  "Operation Just Cause" cost billions to the American tax payers, and we are still paying, supporting Noriega in prison!
     Sometimes, when we make a "pact with the devil," things go sour almost immediately.  Such, it seems, is the case with our latest "pact,"  the Iranian "nuclear deal."  As I mentioned in the previous blog, how we perceive things and how Iran views the same thing, tend to be very different.  Yesterday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei announced that there would be no deal unless all sanctions are dropped immediately and that there would be absolutely no inspections of "military" nuclear sites.  This is completely opposite of what Kerry announced!  Obviously, Iran and the U.S. do not see eye to eye.  As the Japanese say in a rather quaint manner, this is a case of "rom/paree me" (Rome/Paris eyes), which actually refers to cross-eyes and suggests seeing things in opposite direction!  If the talks continue, no doubt there will be some agreement, that is always the case.  But we will have to see just how much the U.S. has to give up to get the deal!
     As mentioned in the previous blog, we have already paid a hefty price just to have Iran sit down for a talk.  We released considerable amount of frozen cash assets (apparently the President can release a certain amount without Congressional approval), and we allowed Iran to enter Iraq to fight ISIS.  Essentially, we made it appear to the Arab world that we could not handle ISIS so we let Iran go in and do the job.  The taking of Tikrit by Iranians (yes, I know, there were Iraqis involved too!) has boosted their prestige tremendously in that part of the world.
     What I think many Americans do not know or realize is that the Iranian forces that are fighting in Iraq, the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, their Special Operations, is led by Qassem Soleimani, a Major General in the Revolutionary Guards and the Commanding Officer of the Quds Force.  Just who is Qassem Soleimani?  He is the one that engineered and inserted Iranian (Quds Force) militants into Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein's forces fell apart and Baghdad was taken.  Essentially, he started the insurgency in Iraq!  He (the Quds Force) taught Iraqi insurgents how to make roadside bombs, the IEDs!  Thousands of American soldiers have been killed and maimed by these devices!  The Quds Force went to work in Afghanistan as well, joining some of the Taliban groups and teaching them how to build IEDs etc.
     Soleimani is called the "Shadow Commander" because he always remains in the background and shuns publicity and public appearances.  The Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards is like the old Soviet Communist International, the COMINTERN, which was responsible for spreading Soviet communism in the world.  The Quds Force is charged with spreading Iranian influence in the Islamic world by supporting movements that will help drive out foreign interference and influence.  It was the Quds Force that created and backed the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian West Bank.  It was the Quds Force that went into Syria when Assad's forces began to lose ground to the rebels.  They turned the tide and now the rebels are in trouble.  There are currently 3000 Quds Force stationed in Syria, and of course, they are supported by Hezbollah that was brought in as well.
     The Quds Force has been in Iraq since the early days of the war, but they were there disguised as "volunteers" for the insurgency movement.  Now they are there openly, about 1000 or so.  In Yemen the Houthie Rebels are supported by Iran and assisted by not just Quds Force but other elements of the Revolutionary Guards,  the so-called Basij Militia, which incidentally is also present in Iraq, disguised as simply "militia."  We got kicked out of Yemen by Iranian backed Houthie Rebels.  Now, our allies, Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen, facing Iranian Quds Force and Iranian backed Houthie Rebels, while we have allied ourselves with Iran in Iraq!
     It is difficult to determine just how many terror acts carried out around the world were either directly conduct by Iran or sponsored by Iran, notably the Quds Force.  It is said the Soleimani is responsible for just about all of the terror acts around the world that can be linked to Iran, since about 1990, even before he took over command of Quds Force in 1998.  It seems, Soleimani is the "devil" with whom we made a pact!  It appears that once again our government is only interested in a quickie solution, someone to take care of that nasty problem with ISIS in Iraq.  However, we seem to have turned a blind eye to Yemen....and what are we going to do in Syria where Iran is so visible?  Our politicians are interested in only raising their stock right now, as for the future, well, the attitude seems to be "let the next guy handle it!"