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Persia

Make America Great Again: Play the Persian Card

July 1, 2025
by Peter Feinman

Is America becoming Exceptional? No.
Is America becoming the last best hope of humanity? No.
Is the President of the United States becoming Commander in Chief and Leader of the Free World? No.

Could all these questions be answered in the reverse due to the war in Iran? Yes.

War provides an opportunity for leadership not always available in peacetime. Suddenly armchair and ivory tower discussions become an immediate physical reality. The decisions made really matter. Now! Does a person have the right stuff to go into the arena and rise to the occasion or is he limited to playing “I want to be a macho macho man” in professional political arenas?

The war in Iran provides a textbook chance to examine the role of the individual in history, to examine the path not taken.

PERSIANS

Demographically, the overwhelming majority of people in Iran are Persian. Even Ted Cruz knows that as was made clear in a memorable debate with Tucker. The Persians take great pride in their pre-Moslem heritage just as Egyptians do in their pre-Moslem heritage. In this sense the Iranian theocrats have attempted to layer a new civilization upon the Persians following the takeover of the country in 1979 just as the Arabs did when then swept across the ancient Near East and northern Africa in the 7th century CE settler colonialism. The pyramids are a little more difficult to make disappear.

The Persian people are still around. The new civilization they are attracted to is the American one, the very one the theocratic Iran continually chants “Death to America.” Many Persians have voted with their feet to come to the United States. Many more would if they could.

In the op-ed piece “The Iranian Revolution Guard Who Loved ‘Titanic’” (NYT June 29, 2025, print), Nicholas Kristof recounts one conversation with a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard admittedly a few decades ago. Standing surrounded by “Great Satan” signs, the guard confided that his favorite movie was “Titanic” (the power of “soft power”). He said to Kristof

“To hell with the mullahs. If I could manage it, I’d go to America tomorrow.”       

Kristof commented that the Persian people are seething all the more today with frustration and misrule at the oppression and misrule of the Iranian theorcrats. He notes that the Persian people are proud of their ancient civilization and know that their biggest problem is that they are led by extremists.

REGIME CHANGE

The Iranian theocrats are well aware that they are not loved by the people they rule. Part of the reason for the Israeli success in its pinpoint strikes against Iranian theocrat targets was the information it had from people of the ground. Instead of thinking about 007 spies, we should recognize that that Mossad had a wide network of local spies consisting of disaffected Persians who have had enough of the oppressive rule by Iranian theorcrats. Persians have been eager, willing and able to provide Israel with information it needs.

The reaction to no one’s surprise by the Iranian theocrats has been a crackdown on the Persians who aided the Israelis. Shades of ICE without the alligators! They have engaged in sweeps, passed fast-track laws to expand the use of the death penalty, and held quick trials. As one Persian noted, “The regime’s main fear is that people will perceive it as weak. Because if people know it lacks power, they will revolt” (quoted in “Iran Seeks the Public’s Help in its Push to Root Out Spies and Infiltrator” (NYT June 29, 2025, print).

So far there is no leader to take on the Iranian theorcrats as there was in Putin’s Russia (see “Suspense Builds in Iran as Theocracy Staggers,” (frontpage, June 30, 2025, NYT print). Thomas Friedman observes the Iranian theocrats only know how to repress their own people. Meanwhile the great Persian civilization is destitute, broken, and miles behind the rest of the world. He comments, “Israel is the kind of democracy that Iran’s secular educated elite — part of a rich Persian civilizational legacy — hope this war will pave the way for in Tehran” (“If This Mideast War Is Over, Get Ready for Interesting Politics” (June 26, 2026, NYT print).

AMERICA BOMBED THE WRONG TARGETS   

The military operation was flawless. It demonstrates the professional excellence in the military. It shows what can be achieved when the stupidest Secretary of Defense in American history. It also shows the longterm thinking and planning which into the operation without the moron who does not even know about D-Day, the Six Day War in 1967 by Israel, yet alone Washington crossing the Delaware is in charge.

Still for all the talk about regime change, the wrong targets were bombed. True there are Constitutional issues to be addressed about this unilateral bombing by the United States taking advantage of what Israel had achieved. Remember how after 9/11 Trump had to get in the act to make himself the center of attention about the height of the Trump building in lower Manhattan and his time at Ground Zero.

Putting aside his need for the camera, let’s consider what might happen if the buildings and facilities of the Iranian theocrats were bombed now. Suppose the offices and bases of the

Intelligence Ministry
Elite Quds force
Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Basij militia

were destroyed. Suppose the instruments of power to suppress and repress the Persian people were destroyed. Suppose the Persian people had the opportunity for their own “Arab” spring or color revolution. Suppose the Iranian theocrats were removed from power by the Persian people themselves.

1. Persia would be welcomed into the Western community. Sanctions would be dropped. Travel and communication would be facilitated.
2. Persia would open its nuclear facilities for inspection and an agreement would be signed.
3. Funding for the axis of resistance, or what’s left of it, would cease.
4. Drones would no longer be shipped to Russia for use against Ukraine.
5. The oil spigot to China would be at risk thereby complicating the plans to invade Taiwan in 2027.

In short the entire map of the Middle East would be redrawn. But the American president is not interested in making the world safe for democracy. He isn’t even interested in making the United States safe for democracy.

Destroying Cultural Sites: Babylonia, Persia, and America

January 9, 2020
by Peter Feinman
(pyramidanalytics.com)

When you come to the fork in the road, take it.

These words of wisdom from the Great Yogi apply to the decision raised by the President of the United States in the conduct of war. What sites are legitimate targets and what sites are not? A commanding officer has options as to what will be destroyed and what will be spared. Such choices have been part of the human experience as long as there have been material objects which could be destroyed. In the actions of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia in modern Iraq and Cyrus the Great of Persia in modern Iran, we have two contrasting examples.

Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar II was the king of Babylon in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE. During his life he created a Babylonian Empire from the ashes of the Assyrian Empire. He is a figure of study in the secular academic world for his exploits. But his chief claim to fame lies in the biblical world for his actions in Jerusalem.

2 Kings 25:8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month — which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon — Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.

The destruction of the temple became a day of infamy in Jewish tradition remembered to this very day. Babylon also has been remembered in Christian tradition as a result of this action as well.

Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5 and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s abominations.”

Lo, the whore of Babylon. So while on one hand, one may view the treasures in museums of this mighty civilization, on the other hand, it has earned a reputation of disrepute for the destruction of cultural sites.

Cyrus the Great

A few decades later, Cyrus the Great brought the Babylonian Empire to an end. For his actions, he earned a biblical reputation diametrically opposed to one attained by Babylon. By contrast, he was remembered as a messiah, an anointed one of the Lord, even though he was not of Davidic descent or even Jewish.

Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, `He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, `She shall be built,’ and of the temple, `Your foundation shall be laid.'” 45:1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him…

What is that Cyrus did that garnered such biblical praise?

Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (See also II Chronicles 36:22-23.)

In effect, the biblical account portrays Cyrus the Great as the un-Nebuchadnezzar. He reverses what the Babylonian king has done. He allows the Jews in exile to return home and to rebuild the temple. Whereas Babylon is remembered as the mother of harlots, the Persian King Ahasuerus marries Esther. Even if you reject the story of Esther as being biologically literally true, it certainly is true from a storyteller’s perspective that an intermarriage between a Persian king and Jewess was believable.

So here we have two forks in the road based on mighty kings and cultural sites. The one who destroys and the one who rebuilds, the one remembered in a city that is the mother of harlots, the other as a messiah, anointed of the Lord, one leading to holiday of Tisha B’Av, the other Purim. How mighty kings treat cultural objects becomes part of their legacy.

Now we have an American version to add to the list. Should a President of the United States target cultural sites for destruction? Which path should he take?

The decision by an American President on whether or not to destroy cultural sites was not based on the careful analysis of an adult weighing the pros and cons of each option. Quite the contrary. The decision was made at the gut level based on what was best for him. Consider the claim that the decision to kill Suleimani was due to the threat of imminent attacks on Americans – it was to save lives. Certainly it is true that if Suleimani had lived a normal life span he would have killed additional Americans. That does not mean there was an imminent threat involving a significant number of Americans therefore warranting immediate action…or that killing him would eliminate the threat.

When the President of the United States decided to announce that he would bomb cultural sites, he did so because in his gut it was the right decision for him.

At no point did he consider whether or not such actions were legal under international law. The thought never occurred to him.

At no point did he consider what the consequences might be. The thought never occurred to him.

At no point did he realize that he would be giving our enemies the license to target our cultural sites. If Iran or Isis wants to target the Statue of Liberty it is a legitimate target but we will stop them. If Iran or Isis wants to target the Lincoln Memorial it is a legitimate target but we will stop them. If Iran or Isis wants to target the Alamo it is a legitimate target but we will stop them.

BUT IF IRAN OR ISIS WANTS TO TARGET A TRUMP PROPERTY THEN THEY WILL KNOW MY WRATH. IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT ME!

Strangely enough, there other overlooked considerations worth noting.

There actually were no cultural sites on the list of 52 targets that were given to him. So why did he act as if there were? Recall what he wanted the Ukraine to do in his extortion attempt. He wanted the country to announce that it was investigating Biden, not that it really had to do so. Similarly here, the skilled media manipulator simply was announcing that cultural sites were targets even though they were not on the list and he had no specific plans to destroy any. He does not even know what any of them are anyway. He was going strictly for the media impact of frightening Iran into thinking this President would destroy every site that is holy to them. Only afterwards did he learn about the law prohibiting it and that he would be a war criminal just like those dictators from Trump-hole countries in Africa.

But suppose he had given the order to destroy cultural sites in a briefing session and not in public. What would the military do? Would the military be loyal to the Constitution or to the individual? Would the Secretary of Defense degenerate to the level of the Attorney General, Acting Chief of Staff, Vice President, and Secretary of State? Think of all the stories and real-life events involving coups where the military seizes power from a civilian government. Ironically, in America, it is the military so far that is willing to defend the Constitution from the Commander in-chief. What will happen after the 2020 elections if that Commander in chief loses? What will the military do then?