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Introduction When a U.S. drone strike assassinated General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, the Pentagon swiftly attributed to the Qods Force commander direct responsibility for the deaths of 608 American soldiers in Iraq between 2004 and 2011. This casualty count, while politically contested, reflects a deeper operational reality: these fatalities were inflicted predominantly by Iraqi Shia muqawama groups employing weapons systems that originated not in Mesopotamia, but in

A Philosophical Reorientation The recently released 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) stands as one of the most illuminating official policy documents published in recent years. It offers rare and candid insight into the evolving architecture of U.S. foreign policy amid global realignment, with particular attention to some of its most sensitive recalibrations—most notably, America’s shifting posture in the Middle East. It explicitly rejects the post-Cold War project of l

Introduction The case of Jeffrey Epstein extends far beyond the horrific sex trafficking crimes for which he was convicted. A substantial body of evidence, including leaked documents, whistleblower testimony, and investigative journalism, suggests that Epstein’s activities were deeply intertwined with the strategic interests of the Israeli regime and its intelligence apparatus. This connection represents one of the most significant, yet underreported, dimensions of the scanda

Introduction: Shia Fratricide in the Lebanese Civil War The conflict known as the "War of the Brothers" (1985-86) represented a critical but often overlooked episode within Lebanon's broader civil war (1975-90). This bloody confrontation between Hezbollah and the Syrian-backed Amal Movement erupted in and around Palestinian refugee camps, deriving its name from the shared Shia identity of both combatant organizations. What makes this conflict particularly significant is its r

Introduction: A Document of Contested Origins and Bizarre Foresight In 2005, while residing in Iran, al-Qaeda's chief strategist Sayf al-Adl authored a comprehensive strategic framework that has since generated considerable analytical interest for its remarkable—if contested—predictive capacity. The document, comprising both a biography of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and a seven-stage operational blueprint for reestablishing the caliphate in the Levant by 2020, anticipated several s

Introduction The following is a structured presentation of a 2005 interview with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). The text outlines his theological and strategic justification for declaring Takfir (excommunication) on the Shia and engaging in sectarian war. This document is presented for educational analysis as a primary source illustrating the ideological foundations of a significant vector of conflict in the post-invasion Iraqi landscape. I

Introduction: The Father of an Industry General Hassan Tehrani Moghadam (1959–2011) was a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and the celebrated architect of Iran’s long-range missile program. He is widely regarded within Iran and by international observers as the founding father of the nation’s domestic missile industry [1][2]. Tehrani Moghadam personally spearheaded the development of Iran’s first indigenous rockets, guiding the program from the early

The year 2008 marked a critical juncture in the military-strategic relationship between Iran and Hamas, transitioning from support to a full-spectrum, operational partnership. This period, defined by Gaza's isolation and culminating in Operation Cast Lead, saw Iran become the primary patron of Hamas through a multi-faceted program of financial, military, and training assistance. I. High-Level Political and Rhetorical Backing During Gaza's isolation, Iran's most senior leaders

Introduction: A fighter's Identity and a Militia's Many Names The Syrian conflict has consistently defied easy categorization, giving rise to armed groups whose loyalties are as fluid as the battlefield itself. The story of the faction(s) originating from the Beit Jinn enclave—known at various times as the Omar Bin Al-Khattab Brigade, the Hermon Regiment, and potentially linked to the Syrian Jama'a Islamiyah—epitomizes this complexity. To ask whether these are the "same peopl

This analysis is written amid unconfirmed reports regarding the status of mujahid commander Sayyid Haytham Tabatabai "Abu Ali" of Hezbollah's military wing. The central arguments presented herein remain valid irrespective of the commander's ultimate fate—survival or martyrdom. The Doctrine of "War Between Wars" In the late 2000s, Major General Qasem Soleimani of the IRGC-Quds Force articulated a seminal strategic concept. He described the prevailing condition in the Middle Ea

Introduction: An Emblematic Figure Bahij Muhammad Mahmoud Badr is a long-serving Hamas prisoner and former cadre of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades whose trajectory—from village activist and accountant to underground organizer, then to life-sentenced prisoner and prison intellectual—has become emblematic within the contemporary Palestinian prisoners’ movement. A cluster of Palestinian journalistic, rights-advocacy, and movement media—especially the Asra Media Office (Maktab

Osama bin Laden’s declarations, compiled in Messages to the World 1994-2004 , provide a critical lens through which to understand the ideological and strategic priorities of al-Qaeda during its formative years. A close textual analysis of his references to Iran and Hezbollah reveals a pattern of deliberate, albeit sparse, engagement. These mentions are not endorsements but strategic rhetorical tools used to frame his broader narrative of anti-American jihad. The scarcity of t

In late October 2014, Hezbollah’s official media arm, Al-Manar TV, announced the death of a foundational yet elusive figure: the “great jihadi leader Mustafa Shehadeh” after a long illness. The broadcast noted that “the late leader Hajj Mustafa Shehadeh spent a long jihad in the ranks of the Islamic Resistance before he passed away after a struggle with a terminal illness.” The eulogy from Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah bestowed upon him a title of high h

Introduction: The Paradigm of Deep Penetration In the 2023–24 Lebanon conflict, Israel pursued an extraordinary and decisive intelligence campaign against Hezbollah. This was not a sudden breakthrough but the culmination of decades of sustained surveillance and espionage, which afforded Israeli agencies unprecedented insight into Hezbollah’s command structure, operational movements, and communication networks. By the war's conclusion, analysts universally pointed to Israel’s

The 2013 coup in Egypt that brought Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power marked a pivotal strategic moment for non-state actors in the region. With Gaza besieged from the south by the Egyptian military, a critical arms corridor was severed. In response, the head of Iran's Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, convened a meeting in Tehran with representatives from Hezbollah, Ansarallah, and allied Iraqi groups. He presented a stark lesson: "If the arms corridor from Egypt to Gaza can

Introduction The question of whether Khalil al-Wazir ("Abu Jihad") was secular or a Muslim is often oversimplified. Ronen Bergman, in Rise and Kill First , narrates a story corroborated by PLO official Yezid Sayigh in Armed Struggle and the Search for State , about the PLO military chief as late as 1985. While making motivational speeches to young Fedayeen, Abu Jihad would tell them to "have faith in Allah and He will reward you with victory or martyrdom is His path, which is

Introduction: A Pawn in a Larger Game The rise and actions of Fatah al-Islam, a Lebanese-Palestinian takfiri  militant group, are often treated as a discrete episode within Lebanon's turbulent history. However, a closer examination reveals that the group was a significant pawn in a broader, clandestine conflict waged between pro-Gulf and pro-Iranian factions within the Syrian intelligence apparatus in the years leading up to the 2011 civil war. This shadow war, which exploite

Introduction: The Error of Isolated Analysis A critical error frequently made by analysts of the Syrian conflict is to treat the insurgency as an isolated phenomenon, born solely from native Syrian discontent and developing in a vacuum. This perspective overlooks the essential historical and ideological lineage that shaped it. To frame this analysis, it is useful to recall the observation of a Turkish historian who once argued that “Atatürk was not a radical break from the Ot

The myth of the invincible Zionist war machine has been propagated relentlessly, a narrative crafted by a global lobby to demoralize opposition and enforce submission. Yet, the peoples of Palestine and Lebanon, who know this enemy intimately, have never accepted this fable. While commentators in distant capitals preach capitulation in the name of "realism," these nations have continuously given birth to heroes of resistance. For decades, these fighters have bloodied the nose

Introduction: War Ignited Since its eruption in April 2023, Sudan's civil war has rapidly devolved into one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, claiming tens of thousands of lives and displacing over 12 million people. The conflict, a brutal struggle for power between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under General Mohamed “Hemedti” Dagalo, quickly stalemated. The RSF’s initial