Long Live Khalid and Future War Leader!
Now that the American administration has decided to stay out of Iraq, its most-desired choice is Khalid. In reality, Khalid is the leading contender as America’s favorite outmaneuver in the forthcoming conflict. The Arab media, as much as the United States media, is reporting a clear-cut winner: Pakistan has chosen a rather straight-forward strategy by opting for a single war leader in the upcoming operations against both Iraq and Iran, so it does not have to create some half-baked political strategy to come up with.
The only other man, that having served in an equally important capacity in the Iranian/Iraq War, is Vice President Mohammed Taqi al-Issa. He too is a former soldier from the Hizballah and has been serving in the Iranian army since at least 1993. He too, though, has had his share of criticism as well, given that he has helped keep a lid on the massacres in southern Lebanon during the most-recent fighting. Still, his loyalty and excellence are enough to sustain the US in this war.
Khalid is, however, still likely to find himself in a more prominent role than Issa, given that the he is responsible for the future operations. Nonetheless, one of the prominent things that I like about the current situation is that there is no apparent winner. There is no easy way out for either country.
In the event that this war does go well, it will undoubtedly be because of both sides’ insistence on their respective covert operations. Iraq, of course, cannot afford to end the war in case it also loses more troops. And that fact alone makes it certain that the war will continue until at least the south of Iraq is retaken. This, in fact, is the best time for both countries to flex their bargaining muscles in the future.
But, as for all such decisions, right moves in the post-war scenario need to be made, even if there is no clear winner. Indeed, if we look at the likelihood of a nuclear-armed Iran in the future, then obviously we cannot afford the risk of having the same problems in the coming years. The moment Iran gets nuclear weapons, it has to be assumed that it would start a war. We should be prepared for that, and not remain silent.
Thus, I believe, the key factor for the success of the war is Hassan’s involvement. If Iran’s intelligence services fail to stop Khalid from doing what he can, then Iran’s chances of winning are considerably reduced.
Indeed, Iran’s biggest weakness right now is that it can no longer do much when the US air force comes into play. If the US does not have anything against Iran yet, and they don’t get rid of the current regime, then it would seem that it is far more sensible for Iran to get rid of its rogue general.
