On September 22, 1980, the Iraqi Army invaded Iran. Iraqi military aircrafts bombed Iran’s major airports. In days, Iraqi soldiers had occupied and conquered many major Iranian cities. Iraq targeted oil tankers, oil platforms, and Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf with weaponry supplied by France, the same country who had funded Khomeini’s flight back to Tehran a year or so before. Iran’s oil exports were effectively shut down. Was had begun between Iran and Iraq. We now know, that this was a proxy war; and that Saddam Hussein was given a green light to invade by the U.S. and a large host of U.S. allies – such as Saudi Arabia. It was they, after all, that financed the war and bank rolled Saddam Hussein. It is NOW absolutely established fact that this was so!
After 8 years of war, by all accounts this war led to over 1 million casualties. Iranians suffered gravely by this war – not the least of which was the resulting consolidation of power enjoyed by the Mullahs in Iran. The war galvanized Iranians behind the Theocratic elite and has now enabled them to enjoy power for over 30 years.
Interestingly, this date is now squarely marked inside Iranian circles for important events. Last year, it was on September 22nd 2011, that Iran released the two hiker hostages it had captured when they rolled into Iran. After two years of captivity it was on September 22nd that they were released. It was as if to say to the world, we know who was behind the war that killed so many Iranians.
And it was on September 22nd 2011, that Ahmadinejad came to the U.N. and made his speech to the U.N. general assembly and the world.
And it is on September 22nd, every year now that Iran has major military parades and shows off its most recent missile systems and military toys. Its as if the regime is screaming to the world, we’re ready if you want to do it again.
How ironic, that we find ourselves on the eve of another September 22nd, with the back drop of another U.S. presidential election? Interestingly, it was this invasion of Iran by Iraq that completely twisted and turned back the haunted Jimmy Carter’s re-election campaign. When Iraq invaded Iran, for all intents and purposes, Iran was defenseless. With the Iranian government against the wall, Reagan’s campaign staff and Iranian officials held a final, secret meeting in Paris during the month of October in 1980. This meeting was led by America’s Vice President Elect George Bush and William Casey (later Reagan’s Director of CIA) and Iran’s Speaker of the Majlis Mehdi Karroubi. Bush and Casey delivered $40 million to the Iranians. This, along with $5 billion in illegal arms deals and an agreement not to interfere with the Islamic Republic, was a bribe offered in exchange for the 52 American hostages held in Tehran to not be released until after the 1980 election. This would guarantee Carter’s defeat and Reagan’s victory.
On January 20, 1981, the very day of President Reagan’s inauguration, America released nearly $8 billion in Iranian assets. Iran finally freed the hostages more than a whole year after their initial capture.
How ironic, that as part of this deal, Israel agreed to ship American weaponry to Iran. The Washington Postclaimed Haig authorized the shipment, and that it was worth between $10 million and $15 million. Other reports said the weapons were worth up to $246 million. Today, Israel is only shipping computer virus’s and secret agents to Iran to destroy Iran’s march for more weapons – nuclear weapons – weapons of mass destruction. It was once (September 22nd 1980) cool to arm the Mullahs in Iran, now (September 22nd 2012) its not so cool to do so!!
Oh how the world has changed! Doesn’t all this shenanigans tell you that the people in charge are a bunch of idiots? They are so stupid, that I am sure they are actually retarded bastards. They were stupid enough to put the Mullahs in power, and stupid enough to support them, and now they wish they had never done that! These current two faced, hypocritical leaders from the U.S., U.K., France, Israel, Germany….I mean you name it…where all arround 3 decades ago helping put these deals together and now they wish they had never done so.
Let September 22nd be a forever reminder of the ruthlessness, and stupidity of leaders world-wide – including Iran. For it was this war between Iran and Iraq, that NOT only changed the course of the middle east, and of the presidential elections in the U.S., but ultimately led to two more wars (Gulf War 1993 and 2001) by the two Bushes (father and son) that in the end – bankrupted the United States and in the process the Europeans. The Americans were so afraid of losing popular support for the war, that they pumped up their economies to hide the pain – and all this fell down like a house of cards to bankrupt the world.
This ‘imposed’ war as the Iranians put it, was a massive strategic mistake. And we are ALL still paying the price for it. Shame – yes Shame – on those that precipitated it. And, as an Iranian-American – my deepest sympathies go out to the families of the 1 million deceased in this war, and not to mention the 400,000 or so Iraqies, Kuwaitis, Americans, Brits, you name it who died in the two subsequent wars on the back of this one.
It was an unneccessary conflict. It not only destroyed Iraq and Iran, but now in retrospect led to the demise of the West – as witness in our current economic hardships in U.S. and Europe.
