“The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran” by Robert Spencer (July 2016), large paperback.
Essentially, this book is an expose of the anti-West, terrorist-advocacy views of the militant Shiite-Muslim, Islamist-theocracy government of Iran. This book appears now to be timed to highlight what the author believes are the “naïve and incredibly reckless” mistakes of the 2012 U.S.-Iran “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (“JCPOA”) by which U.S. Pres. Barak Hussain Obama believes he can curtail or slow Iran’s development of nuclear weaponry for a decade. This book not only lambasts this “Nuclear Deal” or “anti-nuke development” plan, but it also exposes the terrorist activities of Iran’s ayatollah-based government, and reveals how the theological origins of Iran’s anti-West government were midwifed by Shiite Islam.
I am not going to list or review all of Mr. Spencer’s arguments against JCPOA, which he extensively details well in Chapter 1.
Chpt. 2: Explains how the Shiite-ayatollah government believes it can unite all Muslims into an Iran-based caliphacy (15% all Muslims) that will rule over the world – but doubtful as it is deathly opposed by the Sunni-Muslim umma (85%).
Chpt. 3: The author warns of the Iranian development of a restrictive, Islamic “Shi’ite Crescent” hegemony from Iran extending through Shia-Iraq to a Shia-Syria (Pres. Asad) to a Shia-Lebanon (Hizballah) – all united against the U.S. and Israel.
Chpt. 4: The author details “Iran’s all-consuming hatred for Israel” by its supplying armaments to Hizballah for attacking and eliminating Israel.
Chpt. 5: The author briefly details how prior to the revelation of Islam (c. 700 AD) that Iran was less hateful of Jews, such as when the Iranian King Cyrus (c. 550 BC) allowed Jews “to return to their land [Israel] from exile in Babylon”. The author recounts how early Persians were championing the exploration of new secular ideas (rather than curtailing them), but notes how the Persians had empire-expansion plans into the Middle East, too. The author also explores of history of Iran leading up to the 1979 Shiite-cleric revolution in opposition to the secular-tolerant Shah.
Chpt. 6: The author details the objections of Iran’s Shiite-clerics (who were egged on by Ayatollah Khomeini) to the Shah’s attempts to curtail the clerics’ detrimental influence over the populace by the clerics’ power of land holdings and political/religious persuasion. The clerics were also opposed to what they perceived to be the threat of “Westoxification” (“gharbzadegi”) or the acceptance of modernization influences from “the West” or European, pro-secular democracy.
Chpt. 7: The author discusses the Sunni(Arabia) v. Shiite(Iran) split, how these two Muslim sects differ, and how that bloody separation continues to produce corpses today.
Chpt. 8: The author recounts what “life inside the Islamic Republic” is today (restrictions against alcohol, homosexuals, fashion, Bahais, churches, etc.).
Chpt. 9: The author analyzes the impact of the June 2009 “Green Revolution” public protests against the repressive and murderous Ahmadinejad-regime. But the author questions how “moderate” Ahmadinejad’s critics and potential replacements really were.
Chpt. 10: The author ponders “what can be done about [Islamist] Iran”: war, reestablishment of friendly relations, or a continuum of the not-quite-open-warfare hostilities between the two advisories.
While this book's title is "The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran” it gives the impression that perhaps the entire history of Iran will be reviewed. A more accurate title would have been: “The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran since the 1973 Islamist Revolution”. Maybe the title of Spencer’s anti-nuke-deal book is a cheeky play on “The Complete Guide to Iran” book issued by the U.S. Library of Congress, et. al., of 2012 in promoting the U.S.-Iran nuke deal. Overall, another fine, informative and thought-provoking work by Mr. Spencer.
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