“I watch CNN but I’m not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran”. If Alan Jackson had written that song today, I don’t think he could have said the same. The truth is that Iraq and Iran and the difference between them has become the crucial question at the center of the Great Terror War.

For years, America lived in blissful ignorance of the fact that a minority of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Muslims were working with extreme dedication to overthrow their government and the governments of their allies. Bombings in various countries against various U.S. targets went mostly unnoticed by the American people until four airplanes leveled one of the most recognizable landmarks on the shores of the Western Hemisphere, severely damaged the military headquarters of our armed forces, and burned a farmer’s field to crisp. At that point, America embarked on a conflict that is possibly the most difficult we have ever faced. It bears little resemblance to previous wars we have fought, but underneath the surface, it holds as much danger as any in the past.

World War I, a conflict that is mostly forgotten by the peoples of the world today, forced the American government of that time to equip itself for global combat. World War II ended with only two countries powerful enough to help the world out of the ruin it had unleashed on itself. Those two nations, the Soviet Union and America, had very different visions of where that involvement would lead. Thus began the Cold War, a war of patience, assassinations, revolutions, and words. When that war ended, something emerged that was far worse than the visions of nuclear holocaust that had haunted the previous generation. Perhaps you think this is hyperbole but it isn’t. For everyone on earth to suffer horrific death is a terrible fate indeed. But for the technological powers of the future to be wielded by evil men alone opens darker possibilities. A nuclear holocaust would simply destroy, but a global evil, victorious through propaganda and in the possession of weapons that can sweep away any counter-movement for good is a deeper nightmare.

How could this come to be? After the days of September the 11th, it was hard to imagine any outcome except complete victory for the U.S. and its allies. After all, our enemies were outnumbered, lacked the capacity to do us critical harm, and faced the power of the greatest military on earth. But after the glorious victory over the Taliban and the ignominious retreat of Bin Laden and his “holy” warriors, a new awareness grew in the American people of the world in which they lived. September 11 had revealed the enmity of Middle Eastern Muslims, but as the day approached for the liberation of Iraq, America realized a pivotal truth: the world was against us.

Anti-Americanism is a terrible thing. It is terrible primarily because there is far more to hate about other countries than there is to hate about America. Americans have often been criticized for overzealous patriotism, but these critics forget that America has more reasons to be loved than most nations in the history of the world. America has been given many gifts. It has also given many gifts to others, and in a fallen world this constitutes a crime because those who were given the gifts are angry that they don’t have them all. America is rather like a Julius Caesar, beloved by the people, victorious in battle, magnanimous (for the most part) to ones less fortunate than himself, and hated by those who view this better man as a threat to their own self-esteem. In the prelude to the Iraq War, America began to see those same senators draw their daggers and circle an unsuspecting Caesar. Why did France prefer a mass murderer to an American? Why does Russia sign secret contracts with tyrannical fanatics and blast American society? And why do 90% of the world and their dogs side with these countries and not with us? Were we always hated like this?

No. But when we were accepted, it was the kind of acceptance given to a newcomer whom everyone considers to be a naive, but harmless idealist. When that newcomer showed that he intended to right the wrongs the old timers had winked at, only then did the real enmity begin. This is the chief danger facing us today, and it has played a pivotal role in the crucial question of the Terror War.

After 9/11, the U.S. effectively stunted a good part of Al Qaeda’s global capacity as a terrorist organization. But the high profile nature of the conflict served to augment an unforeseen angle. That angle was anti-American in nature. Before 9/11, Al Qaeda was just one of many organizations bent on U.S. and Israeli decimation. Now, it has become the front for a broader movement in the Third World that is supported by millions across the globe. This makes it more powerful but not necessarily more effective. Terrorism is marked by two eccentricities: 1. Its foot soldiers, though dedicated to the point of death, are unbalanced individuals, and 2. Their leaders keep them in the dark and usually maintain their position as leaders. Mohammed Atta had no hopes for promotion. He was going to die. Bin Laden is as high up as he can get. He will not die if he can help it.

This broader movement which has been triggered by the American acceptance of Al Qaeda’s challenge is more a coalition of previously separate entities than a grassroots response to America’s military endeavors. Inside that coalition are states and groups that, while under other circumstances would not be on the best of terms, are fused by a common goal: the defeat of America.

Iran is among this coalition. It is made different from all other members because of this single feature: it is ruled by terrorists. Any other Middle Eastern country that could be raised as an example of terrorist sponsorship is ruled by tyrants and monarchs who, though irreligious, have an interest in seeing their terrorist constituencies appeased by anti-American and Israeli activities. Iran is, in every sense of the word, a “home-grown” project of the terrorist movement with a president who is suspected to have a past in their ranks. It is the foremost terrorist sponsor in the world, and it’s population, though oppressed and defiant, has a substantial minority of fanatical followers who are dedicated to the success of the terrorist state.

Why is Iran important? Right now, multiple officials from Israel and the United Nations have stated that this regime is perhaps only months away from possessing a nuclear weapon. Why is this so critical? Because Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan are right next door. The blood and treasure we have spent on these three countries alone is massive and in the latter two lies our hope for victory in the Middle East.

The strategy of the U.S. up until this point has been two fold: 1. Eliminate terrorists and the states who sponsor them, and 2. Do this primarily by spreading democracy and freedom in the Middle East. Only by accomplishing the latter will we succeed in the former.

Iraq is the center of this policy. Its location at the heart of the Middle East was not chosen by accident. If we can, through freedom, change the heartland of the Middle East, perhaps we can change the hearts of everyone in it. Patience is key as we wait for the full bloom of democracy in Iraq. But as our Great Experiment unfolds, the terrorists have their own Experiment, one that, if it succeeds, will spell almost certain doom for our own. If Iran gains a nuclear arsenal before Iraqi democracy is fully secure, it will redouble its terrorist activities, and through blackmail, rock the new government to its core. If, however, Iran does not gain a nuclear weapon before the fever for democracy takes hold, the people of Iran, who are already actively working against their oppressive government, could rise up and overthrow that regime, providing peace for the region.

This is the final phase. If Iran succeeds, we fail in Iraq. If Iraq fails, we lose the Middle East. If we lose the Middle East, we lose the war. If we lose the war, we lose our security, and if we lose our security, we lose everything. The stakes are high in this new millennium. We are at a tipping point, one that has been building ever since Al Qaeda declared war on us. They have been fighting us for most of my life. We have been fighting them for four years.

The question remains: Iraq or Iran?

© 2005 Benjamin Wolaver