Thomas Wictor

“Idée fixe” is a term that everybody should know. It means a viewpoint that will never change. One such idée fixe is that terrorist groups with opposing ideologies will never work together. This is false. Because they have converging interests, terrorists engage in “coopetition” or “cooperative competition.” I knew that Iran supported the Islamic State. Now I have the proof.

Iran wants dominance

The mullahs of Iran rationalize every horrific act they commit. They murder Shia Muslims with impunity. I was positive that the mullahs would help the Islamic State make huge gains in Iraq and Syria. The reason is simple: Iran is the arsonist who sells water to the fire department. This is also known as the “Algerian strategy.”

The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was predicted to win the Algerian parliamentary elections of January 13, 1992. Therefore the Algerian army canceled the elections. Members of the FIS formed armed insurgent groups, including the incomprehensibly savage Armed Islamic Group (GIA). Its motto was “No agreement, no truce, no dialogue.”

From 1992 to 1998, the GIA massacred tens of thousands of civilians in an effort to destabilize the nation. During night raids, the GIA murdered entire villages and dumped their bodies into wells.

And Algerian counter-terrorists aided and abetted the GIA. The strategy was to allow the GIA to become so monstrous that the Algerians would have no choice but to turn to the government for protection. Only when the nation had finally rejected Islamism did the army seriously begin the process of destroying the GIA.

Up to 250,000 people were dead.

The Iranian mullahs have been implementing the Algerian strategy in Iraq since 2003.

Guess who doesn’t use the Algerian strategy?

Saudi Arabia.

For Iraqis, Iranian help had a price: slavery. In contrast, the Saudis are helping Iraq clandestinely and with no strings attached. For example, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided Iraq with new, state-of-the-art Oshkosh M-ATV mine resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs).

Yet there are no Saudis or Emiratis in Iraq giving orders.

The Iraqis are fighting extremely well. They recently ambushed and destroyed an Islamic State convoy fleeing Fallujah.

It’s true that Iraq is getting help in the form of advisers, such as these men from the Eritrean 525th Commando Division.

There are also Arab League and allied commandos in Iraq, engaging in combat.

But when the war is over, Iraq will rightfully claim victory. Iraqi commanders make the decisions. Nobody tells them what to do.

How did Iran fight in Syria? Let’s look at the words of the late Major General Qassem Suleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force.

“I will dismantle the Syrian army and replace it with a much better organised and fully loyal force, the Syrian Sepah Pasdaran [SRGC]. The Syrian army cannot be trusted with major battles, as we’ve seen since the start of the troubles in Syria in March 2011.

“We have already established in Syria the ‘National Defence Forces’, modeled on the Iranian Basij, and they have done a great job. A Syrian Sepah Pasdaran will be a culmination of these efforts to guarantee security for all Syrians.

“Like in Iran, Syria’s Sepah Pasdaran will have the final say. Power should be in the hands of strong military generals who know how to rule, not weak civilian presidents and ministers.”

Why did this not happen in Iraq?

Iran underestimated Arab fighting skill

Arab League and allied strategic special operators killed every single significant Iranian and Hezbollah commander. In fact, both the Quds Force and Hezbollah commanders-in-chief are dead.

There was a period in Iraq during which Iran-backed militias appeared ready to take over the country. My guess is that Arab League commandos waged a short, extremely violent campaign to liberate Iraq from the grip of Iran. Have you noticed that the allegations of Shia militia atrocities in Iraq have completely died out? It’s because they were never true.

Iran commits atrocities as a matter of course. One of the ways it does so is through its support of the Islamic State.

Explosively formed penetrators

During the ill-fated American occupation of Iraq, Iran provided Shia militia with explosively formed penetrators (EFPs).

These weapons are used to do only one thing: destroy armored vehicles.

The concave copper or iron plate is called the “lining,” and the container is the “housing.” Ten years ago, EFP housings were usually sections of metal pipe. More recently housings of polyurethane became common.

It takes great skill to give the lining a uniform thickness and the proper shape. The Islamic State has no record of making EFPs.

Even so, look what the Iraqis captured.

The Islamic State was going to use those devices on Iraqi armored vehicles that liberated Fallujah.

They’re actually worse than standard EFPs. This is why searching patents is so useful. I discovered that the Islamic State has a new weapon.

The Iraqis could’ve been slaughtered. What happened is that Arab League commandos infiltrated Fallujah and killed the terrorist explosives experts. This was part of the Iraqi assault plan. The Arab League offered the services of men who’ve spent years training intensively. To their great credit, the Iraqis accepted.

Iran wanted a graveyard for Iraqis

The devices that the Iraqis captured have a protuberance in the center.

By doing a patent search, I discovered that you can make an even deadlier EFP called the “reactive material enhanced projectile.”

This is one of the patent drawings.

The red arrow shows a reactive-material lining attached to the center of the primary EFP lining. This will increase the velocity of the projectile and the energy that it rams into the target. Reactive materials are comprised of thermoplastic fluoropolymers and metal fillers.

Do you honestly believe that the Islamic State was able to manufacture 200 identical EFPs? Because there’s no doubt that they are EFPs. The copper lining is unmistakable.

Iran provided them. The mullahs tried to kill as many Shia Muslims as possible. It’s the Algerian strategy.

Sunni Muslim commandos saved all those Shia soldiers, police officers, Counter Terrorism Service members, and militiamen. You can see that the terrorists possessed fully assembled reactive material enhanced projectiles. However, the commandos identified and killed the men who would’ve planted the devices. That’s why the terrorists used so few roadside bombs and other explosives.

The Algerian strategy is inhuman. After regime change in Iran and Syria, it will never be used again. Working together, Shia and Sunni have abolished it.