- 2 months ago
John Laurence examines how Iran's war with Iraq is a steeping stone in spreading a radical brand of Islam throughout the world.
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00:00Funding for Frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide,
00:08and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:11We think that if we can get the message of Islam across,
00:16and the whole world knows what Islam talks about,
00:19then of course it will bring about some changes in the world as a whole.
00:25Tonight on Frontline, the threat of fundamentalist terror.
00:30Iran is clearly training, recruiting in some cases,
00:34and perhaps financing people who support the Islamic movement
00:39and are prepared to carry out acts of violence.
00:42Religious and political violence is escalating all over the Middle East.
00:46How soon will it be felt in the rest of the world?
00:51The U.S. is vulnerable as never before.
00:55Tonight on Frontline, Holy War, Holy Terror.
01:07From the network of public television stations,
01:09a presentation of KCTS Seattle,
01:12WNET New York,
01:14WPBT Miami,
01:16WTVS Detroit,
01:18and WGBH Boston.
01:21This is Frontline,
01:24with Judy Woodruff.
01:28Good evening. Terrorism.
01:30We are transfixed by it, terrorized by it.
01:33The sophisticated machinery of our Western civilization
01:37seems unable to protect itself against a war without rules,
01:41a random, unpredictable assault on our values and our lives.
01:46We seek out culprits,
01:48a country,
01:49a leader,
01:50a radical faction,
01:51a young man with a bag of plastic explosives.
01:55We want to cut out the cancer,
01:57rid ourselves of this evil.
01:59But to do so is to know where to look,
02:02and then perhaps to find,
02:04not a headquarters or a command post,
02:07but the most secret place of all,
02:09inside a mind.
02:11And that is our challenge,
02:13to know what's going on in the minds of men and women
02:16who believe deeply that it is our world that is evil,
02:20our way of life that is unacceptable.
02:23Before we can know how, if ever,
02:26we can deal with these people,
02:28we have to know more about them,
02:30and why some, that small extreme minority,
02:34have turned to terrorism.
02:36Tonight, Frontline reports on Iran's revolutionary Shiites.
02:41It's a story about the war they are fighting in the Gulf,
02:45a story about their involvement with terrorism,
02:48and about their religious creed that goes back 13 centuries.
02:53Our program is called Holy War, Holy Terror.
02:57It is produced by Stephanie Tepper,
03:00and reported for Frontline by John Lawrence.
03:03In an Iranian cemetery, a little boy cries.
03:16He says he's lost his whole family in the war between Iran and Iraq.
03:26His grief is broadcast on Iranian national television,
03:34in order to whip up war fever.
03:37The song sings of Allah.
03:50The song sings of Allah.
03:52Iranians today believe they're fighting a holy war.
04:05They believe that if they are victorious,
04:11their ideals will sweep the world.
04:13The message of a resurgent Islamic fundamentalism must be considered
04:21one of the two greatest ideological innovations of the 20th century.
04:25The first, it seems to me, being the message from the Soviet Union,
04:28from the Bolshevik revolution,
04:30and the second from Iran, and from Khomeini in particular.
04:33Khomeini, Khomeini!
04:35Khomeini!
04:36Khomeini!
04:37Khomeini!
04:38Khomeini!
04:39Well, Ayatollah Khomeini is the messiah.
04:41Khomeini!
04:43He's the man who will appear and bring about perfect justice in this world.
04:46Khomeini!
04:47Oh, shikani Khomeini!
04:48Khomeini!
04:49So for his followers, Ayatollah Khomeini is an instrument of wrath,
04:52destroying all their enemies,
04:55leveling all class pretensions,
04:57destroying the modern sector.
04:59So partly, in many ways, Khomeini is like a hurricane.
05:02Allah Akbar!
05:03Ya Sayyid!
05:04Ya Sayyid!
05:05One of Khomeini's major contributions to world history
05:10has been the fashioning of this ideology,
05:13which has served to mobilize Shiites in particular,
05:16but Muslims all over the world.
05:18When Khomeini dies, that will not change.
05:22Islamic fundamentalism has been brought onto the world stage,
05:26and their political demands are only yet being heard
05:29in countries which are going to experience Islamic fundamentalist movements.
05:34Through events like these,
05:39the Shiites have demonstrated their determination
05:42to reassert their way of life,
05:44and to spread their beliefs through the rest of the world.
05:47Events like these have also made the Shiites
05:49the object of hatred among Westerners, particularly Americans,
05:53and blinded us from understanding what's happening in Iran.
05:59Seven years ago, the resurgence of Shia Islam
06:02swept the clergy into power in Iran.
06:04Today, that same religious passion continues to motivate Iran's war with Iraq,
06:09and to threaten the stability of the region.
06:12Who are the Shiites?
06:14Are they fanatics, or a different kind of hero?
06:17Are they terrorists, or the warriors of a righteous cause?
06:21Are they worshippers of death?
06:24Or simply, devoted followers of another tradition?
06:37Islam is divided into two main sects.
06:40Ninety percent are Sunnis, ten percent are Shiites.
06:45Founded thirteen hundred years ago as a party of protest,
06:55Shiism has been the faith of the poor,
06:58the downtrodden, the dispossessed.
07:01Soon after the death of Muhammad,
07:13some Muslims feared their faith would be usurped
07:16by the rich and the corrupt.
07:18So they petitioned Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, to lead them.
07:37He formed a caravan, and with his followers,
07:40advanced to the city of Karbala, where his enemies awaited him.
07:45The odds against him were enormous.
07:50And in a dream, he foresaw his defeat,
07:53and told his followers to leave him.
07:57All but seventy-two went.
08:02The battle that followed has been adopted
08:04as the foundation of Shiism.
08:07Seventy-two men, standing for God and righteousness
08:11against an army ten thousand strong.
08:15To Shiites everywhere, Hussein became the martyr Hussein.
08:29This willingness to die for a noble cause lives on.
08:37Fuad Ajami, one of America's leading Middle East scholars,
08:41describes it as a cult of martyrdom.
08:44There is something in the psychology of the Shia,
08:46and the history of the Shia,
08:48which endows martyrdom with great legitimacy.
08:56The story of Hussein's martyrdom at Karbala
08:58is re-enacted every year, all over Iran.
09:10But the metaphor of Karbala is one of complete solitude and doom and death.
09:15This is the sad part of this whole Shia political psychology.
09:20That if you tell people about Karbala,
09:22if you pound the theme of Karbala into their heads,
09:26if life is always a Karbala,
09:28then just imagine the odds against you.
09:30You are always riding to assure death and defeat,
09:33and life is a perpetual struggle.
09:36Now here comes Khomeini and others around him.
09:39And they actually, what they end up saying,
09:41is that Karbala is every day.
09:42Every place is Karbala.
09:44And that this Karbala metaphor,
09:46this Karbala idea lives on forever.
09:48That wherever Muslims, meaning really Shia,
09:52wherever they make a stand,
09:53they can construe the world as yet another Karbala.
10:00The main center of Shia study in Iran is Qum.
10:05Like the other theologians here,
10:07Khomeini's teachings are based on a detailed study of Islamic law.
10:11What set Khomeini apart from the other teachers and scholars of Qum,
10:20was a religious tract in which he laid down in the minutest detail,
10:25how a good Muslim should behave.
10:27How to defecate, how to urinate,
10:30how to have sexual intercourse,
10:32how to eat and how to clean your teeth.
10:35It was central to Khomeini's teachings that Western influences were poisoning Islam.
10:42He actually coined a word for it,
10:45West-toxication.
10:47He began to preach sermons against the Shah of Iran
10:50for introducing un-Islamic Western practices into the country.
10:56Richard Helms, former head of the CIA,
10:59was ambassador to Iran in the 70s.
11:01Well, American officials were aware of Khomeini
11:04because he first came into prominence in 1963, I believe it was,
11:08when he opposed the Shah's land reform policy
11:13and actually put the mobs in the streets at that time
11:16in an effort to stop this policy.
11:27Khomeini, instead of being executed, as he might well have been,
11:30was exiled to Najaf in Iraq.
11:33Iraq.
11:42The holy city of Najaf is in Iran's neighboring country, Iraq.
11:4655% of Iraq's population is Shiite.
11:57Khomeini found religious and political allies here.
12:01The Khomeini people began to pass tapes back and forth
12:06through the pilgrims who were then allowed to go to Najaf and Karbala
12:09and the other holy places of Iraq.
12:12Khomeini's message then was to get rid of this corrupt, dirty regime of the Shah,
12:18which permitted women to dress the way they did,
12:21girls and boys to be together in universities,
12:25passing money around to build great structures
12:30when actually it should be given to the peasants.
12:32I mean, there were a variety of messages locked in there, but they were all anti-Shah.
12:41In those days, Iran's King of Kings saw the clergy as an impediment to progress.
12:46It was his dream to create a strong secular state.
12:54But to Khomeini, a government without God was a blasphemy.
13:00Khomeini and his followers were further incensed by the Shah's pro-American policies,
13:06according to Marvin Zonis, one of the foremost authorities on Iranian affairs
13:12and a man whose views are frequently sought by U.S. government officials.
13:16The Shah brought the United States in with a vengeance.
13:19There were 50,000 Americans living in Tehran alone by 1976,
13:23and there was a perception on the part of the Iranians
13:26that Iranian culture was being destroyed by an invasion from the United States,
13:30which was the responsibility of the monarch.
13:32From his exile in Iraq, Khomeini kept preaching against the Shah and the West.
13:38A 13-year exile had failed to silence him,
13:42and in 1978, the Shah was getting nervous.
13:45The Shah of Iran called up the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,
13:49and asked President Hussein to get the Ayatollah out of Iraq
13:52so he would be further away from the revolution.
13:54Hussein agreed, and by the way, that's one of the important reasons
13:57why Ayatollah Khomeini is pushing the Iran-Iraq war,
13:59because of his personal bitterness to President Hussein of Iraq,
14:03and Hussein announced to Khomeini and his followers
14:06that he was being thrown out of Iraq.
14:09France offered Khomeini political asylum,
14:12but his exile here lasted barely four months.
14:16Much to the Shah's surprise, and to the surprise of Ayatollah Khomeini,
14:19it was easier for him to retain communication with the revolution in Tehran from Paris
14:26than it was to remain in communication with the revolution in Tehran from Iraq.
14:30The reason being that the French had spent billions to build a modern telephone system
14:35which allowed you to direct dial Tehran from Paris.
14:38So Ayatollah Khomeini basically had had a bank of telephones installed
14:42in his house in the outskirts of Paris.
14:44They had tape recorders in Paris hooked up to tape recorders in Tehran
14:47connected by this new phone system,
14:50and they would send the Ayatollah's pronouncements constantly
14:53over the telephone system to Tehran,
14:55where the tapes would be recorded and then reproduced and sold all over Tehran
14:59within hours of Khomeini's latest utterance.
15:02So there isn't any doubt that those cassettes played a role in what occurred in 1978 and 79.
15:09Street riots and civil unrest finally brought the Shah's reign to an end.
15:28Not all those who risked their lives in the streets were followers of Khomeini.
15:32Some were communists.
15:35Many wanted a Western-style democracy in Iran.
15:39Yet the power of religion proved to be the decisive factor in the fall of the Shah.
15:44The Islamic revolution of Iran, there were two revolutions.
15:49It was two things.
15:51Partly it was a liberal revolt and partly it was a fanatic mad revolt.
15:55And the two revolts burst on the scene at the same time.
15:58And then the clerical, fanatical one triumphed over the more moderate one.
16:03And the consequences for the region have been enormously devastating.
16:08Because in a way it was a triumph of the politics of extremism over the politics of moderation.
16:14From the moment Khomeini stepped out from the Air France jumbo jet,
16:19he acted like a head of state.
16:21The first words he addressed on Iranian soil to the thousands of supporters who were waiting for him were quite uncompromising.
16:35We must cut off the hands of the foreigners who are responsible for our ills
16:40and cast out all the roots of the old regime.
16:43Henceforth, Khomeini's interpretation of the Koran would become the law of the land.
17:00Iran's man of God would only rule according to the word of God.
17:07In the months that followed, Khomeini and his supporters consolidated their power
17:11and introduced a full-scale Islamic Republic.
17:15The clergy took control of the country.
17:17The storming of the American embassy and the taking of American hostages
17:21was part of a wholesale purge of all Western and especially American influences.
17:27For devout Shias, Khomeini was seen as the first legitimate ruler
17:31since the martyrdom of Hussein 1,300 years before.
17:35But Khomeini never meant to confine his revolution inside the borders of Iran.
17:39Khomeini didn't recognize national borders at all.
17:44His message was intended for the whole Muslim world,
17:48whose leaders and governments Khomeini deemed to be ungodly and therefore illegitimate.
17:54The worst government of all in Khomeini's eyes was neighboring Iraq.
17:58In Iraq, Saddam Hussein had tightened his grip on the reins of power.
18:08The streets of Baghdad were papered with his portraits.
18:13But Saddam Hussein's position was threatened.
18:26Tehran radio was calling on the faithful to replace the gangster and tyrant with the rule of divine justice.
18:32Al-Dawa, the party of Iraqi Shiite fundamentalists, were Khomeini's natural allies in Iraq.
18:43They staged protests. They rioted.
18:49Khomeini wanted to see an Islamic Republic in Iraq.
18:54The Ayatollah even named the man who would replace Saddam Hussein and become the Khomeini of Iraq.
19:05Even by the standards of the Middle East, Saddam Hussein is a ruthless leader.
19:10As far as he was concerned, Al-Dawa and Khomeini's supporters were the agents of a hostile state and should be dealt with accordingly.
19:21This kind of motto doubtlessly is an agent, is an official agent.
19:29Therefore, we have got to cut off their necks.
19:32Hussein struck hard at Al-Dawa.
19:35Thousands were arrested and a hundred people publicly hanged.
19:40Among them, the man Khomeini had named as Hussein's successor.
19:45Another 15,000 Iraqi Shias were expelled and sought refuge in Iran.
19:56Confident now of his position at home, Iraq's strong man decided to deal with Khomeini and Iran once and for all.
20:03Saddam Hussein of Iraq took it upon himself to quarantine and defeat the Iranian revolution.
20:14He launched this war in September 80.
20:18He declared it, he called it Saddam's war.
20:20Iraq failed to win a quick victory in Saddam's war.
20:34That failure threatens the stability of countries throughout the Middle East.
20:39And yet, paradoxically, the war has strengthened the position of Khomeini and his Islamic governor.
20:53Iranians are now united in a holy war, according to the writer and journalist Dilip Hero.
21:04On the first of April 1979, the government of God was set up in Iran.
21:11And if somebody like Saddam Hussein attacked Iran, he attacked the House of Islam.
21:17And therefore, all those people who follow Ayatollah Khomeini as a religious leader,
21:23they have to fight this infidel and his regime.
21:27These are the Basij, civilian volunteers who go straight to the front,
21:36their faith strengthened by songs of the Battle of Karbala and the martyr Hussein.
21:41They think that Karbala is in the bondage of this unbeliever Saddam Hussein.
22:01And therefore, it is their religious duty to liberate Karbala.
22:04If you see the people who, you know, they are this hate band,
22:10they are Basij volunteers, and the band says, lover of Karbala.
22:14And the people who sign up to go to fight, they are called caravans to Karbala.
22:18The government has launched a huge recruiting drive.
22:33And aspiring martyrs are forming caravans to Karbala.
22:39The local mullah joins the men of his congregation to fight in this jihad, or holy war.
22:45A copy of the Koran is held over each busload of men to bless them on their holy journey.
22:52The flags with religious slogans are in short supply and are gathered up to be reissued to the next group of volunteers.
23:12Lieutenant Amin Zadeh, a former regular army officer, saw two and a half years active service in the Gulf War.
23:22The clergy have today assumed the role of commanders in the armed forces.
23:28And they try to control all aspects of life of the personnel of the military forces.
23:35We had three sessions each week from the political ideological unit in our barracks, where mullahs used to come and address different topics.
23:46And in all these topics, what we were always indoctrinated with was the theory that we should export our revolution to the entire world.
23:53The clergy are not familiar with the techniques and tactics of warfare.
24:00They know nothing about military life, and yet the fate of each personnel is at their hands.
24:07Once people have signed up, without giving them any military training, they are herded to the war front, indoctrinating them to die first as an honor.
24:22And the age range varies from a boy of 11 to an old man of around 80.
24:29Despite terrible losses, at least 200,000 dead, the morale of Iran's fighting men appears undiminished.
24:54They've fought the invader to a standstill, achieved breakthroughs on the southern front.
25:03In this holy war, the spirit of Karbala and the martyr Hussein is more potent than modern weapons.
25:10For the Iranians, the biggest disappointment of the war has been the failure of their fellow Shiites in Iraq to rise up and join their side.
25:31In Iraq, nationalism has proved to be more powerful than religion.
25:38But in Iran, it is religious fervor that has driven suicide waves of volunteers to charge across minefields.
25:49Some volunteers have come to the front carrying their own coffins.
25:56Others wear slogans saying, the Ayatollah has given me permission to enter heaven.
26:02For today's Iranians are fighting the battle of Karbala again.
26:08To die in a holy war is to die a martyr.
26:15Perhaps this is some consolation to the fathers who gather in Tehran morgue to identify their dead sons.
26:22Khomeini himself has written, the more people, especially young ones who die for our cause, the stronger we shall become.
26:43Muslims everywhere, he wrote, must conquer the fear of death so that they can conquer the whole world.
27:08The remains of those killed in battle are laid to rest in the martyr's cemetery.
27:20This one cemetery contains over 50,000 dead.
27:33On the edge of the cemetery, a fountain flows with red water to symbolize the blood of the dead martyrs.
27:49This was once the palatial home of a friend of the Shah.
27:53It is now a military hospital run by an organization called the Martyrs Foundation.
27:59The young men in this ward have all suffered crippling wounds at the front line.
28:06This is destiny and the will of God.
28:12If for some 18 years of my life I was able to be more active and use my legs, this was a gift from God.
28:21And it was his will to take it back.
28:24I am not bothered with what has happened to me.
28:28And I still do whatever I can to serve Islam and the Muslim community.
28:34The Martyrs Foundation also takes care of war orphans.
28:41It is run by a close associate of Khomeini, Ayatollah Karubi.
28:49Karubi is already teaching the children in his care how they too can be martyrs when they grow up.
28:57Our children, right from when they are in their cradles and their mother's laps, are infused with the logic of martyrdom, struggle and Imam Hussain.
29:09A bit of the soil from Imam Hussain's tomb is put in their mouths.
29:14They are told why Imam Hussain rose and how he was martyred.
29:19The child is called after people who took part in holy wars and lived by the sword and were martyred.
29:37All this lingers in the child's mind as memories.
29:41The child probably has no knowledge of religion or Sunnism or Shiism.
29:48But the spirit of the whole thing envelopes it.
29:52The Word of the God, come with us, she be haunted.
30:02These children are komunism and the name of Gottes una-설 может, the shame of theünden of Islam.
30:05Whose stepfather and the nation are king.
30:08Then the spirit of the Muslim
30:09All this anath Maali'ons.
30:13His Beltran on his finally am Yeshiara.
30:15He isorted to Islam and the volunteer own tilens.
30:18People who are running the country now, they have made society as Islamic as they can.
30:30All aspects of life have been changed.
30:33If you take law and the judicial system, they have been brought into line with Islam.
30:37If you take education, all the textbooks have been changed to be brought into line with Islam.
30:43Right from elementary school to university, if you are thinking of banking, banking is now Islamic banking.
30:50That means there is no interest being paid on deposits.
30:53Then when it comes to women in the street, they have to cover them completely to show only their faces, not to show their hair or their arms and so on.
31:03In the social side of Islam, there is no alcohol to be consumed by Muslims.
31:08No nightclubs, no cinemas showing sexy movies.
31:14And certain kind of music is not allowed.
31:16That music which is erotic is not allowed.
31:20Under Khomeini, it has become mandatory to pray at the mosque each week.
31:26On Fridays in Tehran, it's impossible to see where politics ends and religion begins.
31:32Every city and town has a Friday prayer leader who is appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini.
31:38It's a very important position because in the sermon that the leader gives, not only does he talk about theological aspects of Islam,
31:45but he talks about politics, what's happening in the country, what Iran is doing, what policies are.
31:50So it's a very important forum for the Islamic leaders in Iran to educate their people
31:56and to build up a public opinion for a certain policy of the government.
32:00And in that sense, it's a very important aspect of life.
32:04In some ways, Iran has returned to the Middle Ages.
32:17On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hussein,
32:20Iranians of all ages parade through the streets,
32:24scourging themselves with whips and chains.
32:26The legend of Hussein's martyrdom is as essential to the Shia's belief
32:35as the crucifixion of Jesus is to Christians.
32:40These 20th century tears for a 7th century saint are real enough.
32:45But there is no true religious harmony in Iran today
32:50because those clerics who might disagree with the way Khomeini interprets their faith
32:55are afraid to speak out, according to a former diplomat and exiled opponent of the regime.
33:01Apart from Khomeini, there are five other grand ayatollahs in Iran
33:05who hold the same eminent position in terms of the religious hierarchy.
33:16Now, all the others disagree with Khomeini on theological grounds.
33:22All do not accept his interpretation of Velayat Afaghi
33:26or the governance of the theologians.
33:29However, they keep silent or they are silenced
33:34because of the fear of intimidation and fear of imprisonment
33:40or other harsher measures.
33:43Mr. Khomeini defrocked grand ayatollah Shariat Madari
33:47for having disagreed with his interpretation of religious law and so on.
33:52In Mashhad, this has led to the virtual house arrest of grand ayatollah Qumi
33:57and it has led, for example, to the arrest of the representative
34:04of Ayatollah Khoyi who lives in Iraq
34:07and his beating up by the revolutionary guards
34:11who intimidated him, beat him up, shaved his beard and released him.
34:17This kind of intimidation goes on against any religious or non-religious personality
34:30who dares oppose the Khomeini system
34:33and his interpretation of Islamic law.
34:40Khomeini sees himself as a pan-Islamic leader.
34:43Though his Shia sect is only 10% of the Muslim world,
34:47his message appeals to fundamentalists throughout Islam.
34:51His voice is broadcast 24 hours a day
34:53and reaches the Muslim populations of Soviet Central Asia and mainland China.
34:59You see his portrait in Egypt, in Indonesia, in the Philippines
35:03and on the Arab West Bank of Israel.
35:06And the message is always the same.
35:07To rise up, to overthrow ungodly rulers and governments
35:12and set up what the Iranians call a society of the just.
35:16This revolutionary message does not just stop at talk.
35:22In the holy city of Qum,
35:24Ayatollah Khomeini's government is laying the foundations
35:27for Islamic revolutions around the world.
35:30A leading activist is Ayatollah Karubi.
35:36I should say, a revolution is a revolution of ideology.
35:39It is a revolution from God,
35:42meaning it receives orders directly from the Creator.
35:46This revolution has a direct link to the world of eternity.
35:50As for the export,
35:51it is only natural that a revolution like this,
35:54a revolution of thought and ideology, moves forward.
35:57It should be exported, and it will be.
36:01We will be persistent in exporting it.
36:05The government encourages foreign Shiites to come to Iran
36:09to study the theory and practice of the Iranian revolution.
36:13As many as 45 different nationalities attend these classes.
36:18I have Islamic students in Iran,
36:21and I hope to research
36:24about any knowledge of Islamic revolution.
36:30And I hope this revolution
36:32to develop men in all of the world.
36:36We think that if we can get the message of Islam across,
36:41and the whole world knows what Islam talks about,
36:44then, of course, it will bring about
36:48some changes in the world as a whole.
36:50Robin Wright, a former network correspondent in the Middle East,
36:54has first-hand knowledge of Iran's efforts
36:56to export its revolution.
36:59The Iranians have openly stated
37:01that they have supported what they view as liberation movements,
37:04what other quarters might see as terrorist movements,
37:06throughout the Middle East.
37:08And even there's a group in downtown Tehran
37:11at a specific building
37:12where many of the groups are headquarters,
37:14affiliated with the Philippines, a Muslim group,
37:16the Moro National Liberation Front.
37:18The Iranians have made no secret about it
37:20and, in fact, have boasted of their success
37:24in supporting various groups.
37:29Perhaps the biggest liberation movement
37:31backed by Iran is the Al-Dawa Party,
37:34made up of Iraqi Shiites.
37:35Al-Dawa is now an underground organization
37:42with headquarters in Tehran.
37:47Al-Dawa has conducted guerrilla warfare inside Iraq
37:50and has been linked to acts of terror in the Gulf region.
37:56Al-Dawa is part of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution.
38:00Its leader is the man who would become ruler of Iraq
38:04if Iran wins the war.
38:07His name is Mohammed Bakir Hakim.
38:11The Supreme Council plays a key coordinating role
38:14in Iran's export of the revolution.
38:17With offices here in Tehran
38:19and in London, Rome, Damascus and other cities,
38:22it funnels considerable sums of Iranian government money
38:26to a variety of liberation movements.
38:31We are Iraqi exiles here in Iran.
38:37We are involved in a movement
38:39which is dedicated to the overthrow
38:41of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
38:45Our aim is to establish an Islamic Republic in Iraq.
38:50Iran is in the middle of a war with Iraq
38:54and Iraq is, of course, Iran's neighboring country.
39:00Therefore, it is only natural
39:03that Iran should give its support and assistance to us.
39:09These liberation movements
39:10receive practical training from Iran.
39:13The Iranians run two training camps in Iran
39:16in which some probably 4,000 to 5,000 Muslims
39:19from all over the world
39:21are brought into those training camps
39:22and infused with the spirit of revolutionary Islam
39:25and with lessons in a very practical sense
39:28about how to conduct the revolution
39:29and then sent back to their countries.
39:32There were riots, for example,
39:33in the Islamic sections of Yugoslavia
39:35and they were traced to Islamic clerics
39:38from Yugoslavia
39:39who had been to training camps in Iran
39:41and been trained in Khomeini's
39:43revolutionary terrorist training camps.
39:46Iran is clearly training,
39:48recruiting in some cases
39:49and perhaps financing
39:51people who support the Islamic movement
39:54and are prepared to carry out acts of violence.
39:57The Iranians have actually boasted
39:59about some of their recruits
40:00and allowed Western reporters in
40:02to see a few of them.
40:05The training camps in Iran
40:07provide both political-slash-religious training
40:10as well as military training.
40:12They're largely very primitive
40:16in terms of the kind of military training
40:18they provide.
40:21Basic things such as
40:23assembling rifles,
40:24small-scale bombs,
40:26teaching people how to hide
40:28or conceal bombs in vehicles.
40:31The car bomb is the trademark
40:34of the Shiite terrorist.
40:37Since 1983,
40:39the U.S. Embassy in Beirut
40:41was car-bombed twice.
40:46The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait
40:48was bombed,
40:49one of five buildings
40:50blown up in a single day.
40:53Shiite extremists
40:54planted a bomb
40:55in the official car
40:56of the ruler of Kuwait.
40:57Iran has been linked
40:59to these and many other
41:01acts of terror
41:02throughout the Gulf region.
41:04The conservative rulers
41:06of these oil-rich states
41:08fear the message
41:09of the Iranian revolution
41:10and have tended to side
41:11with Iraq
41:12in the Gulf War.
41:15Aitola Khomeini
41:15has clearly been opposed
41:17to the system of monarchy
41:18in the key Gulf states.
41:21He has said over and over
41:22that they will
41:23roast in hell
41:25if they don't change their ways.
41:27And I think that
41:28there are many
41:29in Kuwait and Bahrain,
41:31for example,
41:32who feel that
41:33the Iranians played roles
41:34directly or indirectly
41:36in the bombing
41:38in 1983
41:39of the U.S. Embassy,
41:40the French Embassy,
41:41and other installations
41:41in Kuwait,
41:42and the 1981 coup attempt
41:44in Bahrain.
41:47In 1984,
41:49Shiite terrorists
41:50hijacked
41:51a Kuwaiti airline's
41:52jet to Tehran.
41:54They murdered
41:54two American officials
41:55who were on board.
41:57Western telephone intercepts
42:00revealed that Iran
42:01was directly implicated
42:02in the hijacking.
42:04The Iranians
42:05actually provided
42:06a pistol
42:06and the rope
42:07to tie up
42:08the passengers.
42:10U.S. satellite photos
42:11are said to show
42:12commercial airliners
42:13parked at Iranian
42:14training camps.
42:16They are used
42:16to give hands-on
42:17instruction
42:18to future hijackers.
42:19terrorists are also trained
42:24at secret enclosures
42:26inside Revolutionary Guard
42:27and Army camps
42:28like this one.
42:31Lieutenant Amin Zadeh
42:33was asked to carry out
42:34special missions abroad
42:35by a member of his unit's
42:37political ideological section.
42:39He said,
42:42for example,
42:43you will be charged
42:44with missions
42:45to do away
42:46with people
42:46who are either
42:48opposed to Khomeini
42:49outside the country
42:50or of leaders
42:52outside of Iran
42:54who are opposed
42:54to Khomeini
42:55and this will
42:56not be
42:57an act of terrorism
42:59but
43:01a revolutionary
43:03execution.
43:04But Iran's
43:10biggest effort
43:10to export
43:11its revolution
43:12has been
43:12in Lebanon.
43:22Lebanese Shiites
43:24had played
43:24little role
43:25in Beirut's
43:26endemic civil war.
43:30But when Israel
43:31invaded Lebanon
43:32and America
43:33sent in the marines
43:34Khomeini
43:35saw an opportunity
43:36to spread
43:37his influence.
43:40For Khomeini
43:41sees America
43:42and Israel
43:43as the twin
43:44Satans
43:45the two main
43:46enemies
43:46of the Islamic
43:47religion.
43:49Israel is perhaps
43:50the single
43:51greatest enemy
43:52of the Muslim
43:53people for
43:53Ayatollah Khomeini.
43:54First,
43:55Israel sits on
43:56territory which
43:57rightly belongs
43:58to Muslims.
43:58Secondly,
43:59Israel controls
44:00the third most
44:01holy shrine
44:02in all of
44:03Islamdom which
44:04is to say
44:04the holy mosques
44:05in Jerusalem.
44:06Thirdly,
44:07of course,
44:08Khomeini sees
44:09Israel as
44:09constantly expanding
44:11to take new
44:11territories from
44:12the Muslims
44:12and also to
44:14conquer new
44:14Muslims and
44:15incorporate it
44:15into an
44:16Israeli empire.
44:17Finally,
44:18Israel is the
44:19agent of
44:19American imperialism.
44:20Israel is
44:21really only
44:22an agent for
44:23the designs
44:24of the United
44:24States on
44:25the Muslim
44:25peoples.
44:26And ultimately,
44:27therefore,
44:28Israel can be
44:28defeated only if
44:29the United States
44:30is defeated.
44:32In 1982,
44:34Khomeini sent
44:35his revolutionary
44:35guards to
44:36Lebanon.
44:38On their way,
44:40they paraded
44:40through the streets
44:41of Damascus
44:42chanting revolutionary
44:43slogans,
44:44stamping on the
44:45flag of imperialism
44:46and trampling
44:47the symbol of
44:48Zionism.
44:52The volunteers
44:53came here
44:54to the Bekaa Valley
44:55in eastern Lebanon
44:56near the border
44:57with Syria.
45:04They established
45:06their headquarters
45:07in a fortress
45:07looking down
45:08on the ancient
45:09ruins of
45:10Baalbek.
45:11The fortress
45:12was later bombed
45:13by Israeli
45:14and French
45:14warplanes,
45:15killing 14
45:16revolutionary guards.
45:18The town
45:27of Baalbek
45:28has provided
45:29many converts
45:30for Ayatollah
45:31Khomeini.
45:34The shadowy
45:36organization
45:37Islamic Jihad
45:38is believed
45:39to be based
45:39here.
45:40But the main
45:41political organization
45:42is the radical
45:44Shiite party
45:45of God,
45:46Hezbollah.
45:48Hezbollah
45:49has links
45:49with Iran
45:50both specifically
45:51and ideologically.
45:52The movement
45:53is in many ways
45:54an offshoot
45:55of the Iranian
45:55revolution
45:56in that it
45:56probably would
45:57not have grown
45:57to the level
45:58or the power
45:59that it has
45:59without the
46:00revolution.
46:01I have met
46:02several people
46:02within Hezbollah
46:04who have said
46:05yes,
46:06we have links
46:07with Iran.
46:08We follow
46:08the Ayatollah
46:09Khomeini.
46:10He is our
46:10leader and
46:11he gives us
46:12our orders.
46:14It was here
46:16among the Shiites
46:17of Lebanon
46:17and the gunmen
46:18of Hezbollah
46:19that Khomeini
46:20would find
46:21eager recruits
46:22for his cult
46:22of martyrdom.
46:25Now here
46:25has been the
46:26genius
46:26and in my
46:27opinion
46:27the evil
46:28genius
46:28of the Khomeini
46:29revolution
46:30was to sell
46:31this cult
46:31of martyrdom
46:32to the young
46:33and to the poor.
46:34I don't know
46:35if that many
46:36wealthy Muslim
46:37boys have committed
46:38martyrdom.
46:39This whole
46:39cult of martyrdom
46:40has been a way
46:42that you could
46:42seduce the young
46:43and send them
46:44off to die
46:46either to drive
46:47Israel out
46:47of the south
46:47of Lebanon
46:48or to fight
46:49in the Iran-Iraq
46:51war with this
46:52incredible carnage
46:53that's taking
46:54place before us.
46:55So there has been
46:56a willingness
46:56to die.
47:00Those willing
47:01to die
47:02were young.
47:03They included
47:06Shiites
47:07and other
47:07radicals.
47:10Their last
47:12words were
47:12videotaped
47:13before they
47:13left on their
47:14suicide missions.
47:17This Mercedes
47:19is packed
47:19with 200 pounds
47:20of explosives.
47:22A Shiite
47:22cameraman
47:23is recording
47:24the event.
47:30The bomb
47:32killed 12
47:32Israeli soldiers.
47:34At one point
47:35the Israeli army
47:36suffered one
47:37suicide attack
47:38per week.
47:39So here you
47:40have the state
47:40of Israel
47:41with all its
47:41might,
47:42with all its
47:43arsenal,
47:43with all its
47:44power,
47:45and its
47:45organization
47:45coming into
47:46Lebanon.
47:47And then a
47:47feeling develops
47:49in Lebanon
47:49that the rest
47:50of the Arab
47:50world is just
47:51merely a spectator.
47:52So then among
47:53these desperate
47:54people who live
47:55in southern
47:55Lebanon
47:56and the slums
47:57of greater
47:58Beirut,
47:58you then are
47:59able to recruit
48:0060 or 70
48:01or 100 people
48:02and send
48:03them to die
48:03against Israel
48:04and get
48:05fantastic results
48:07by the logic
48:08of those who
48:08would like to
48:09drive Israel
48:09out of Lebanon.
48:10Now the prestige
48:12of this phenomenon
48:12simply grew out
48:14of all proportion.
48:14The Iranian
48:25government knows
48:27that terrorism
48:28pays.
48:29What we saw
48:30in Lebanon
48:30when 251
48:32marines
48:33were killed
48:34and subsequently
48:36a great superpower
48:37was forced to
48:38withdraw from a
48:39country.
48:39when all that
48:43was used
48:44was not
48:45armies
48:45or a vast
48:47number of
48:47men
48:48essentially
48:49two trucks
48:50two lunatics
48:51and $50,000
48:53worth of
48:55explosives
48:57achieved this
48:59aim.
49:01The echoes
49:03of those
49:03explosions
49:04are still
49:05reverberating
49:05throughout
49:06the Middle
49:06East.
49:07Though
49:08Khomeini
49:09has so far
49:10failed to
49:10create a
49:11second
49:11Islamic
49:12Republic
49:12his success
49:13in Lebanon
49:14is winning
49:15fresh converts.
49:20Throughout
49:20the Muslim
49:21world
49:22the withdrawal
49:22of the
49:23marines
49:23has been
49:23seen as
49:24a victory
49:24of Islamic
49:25moral force
49:26over American
49:27military might.
49:31Washington's
49:31defeat is
49:32symbolized
49:32by the
49:33concrete
49:33defenses
49:34which now
49:34surround
49:35the White
49:35House
49:36and the
49:36fear of
49:37many
49:37Americans
49:38that it
49:38could
49:38happen
49:39at
49:39home.
49:41The
49:41meeting of
49:41the subcommittee
49:42will come
49:42to order.
49:44The fear
49:44of Shiite terror
49:45spreading to
49:46the U.S.
49:47prompted both
49:48houses of
49:48Congress to
49:49hold hearings
49:50on Islamic
49:50fundamentalism.
49:51Lebanon
49:51and Iran.
49:53The United
49:53States needs
49:54to know more
49:54about the
49:55nature of
49:55Islamic
49:56fundamentalism
49:56and why
49:57it has
49:58some radical
49:58and extreme
49:59expressions.
50:00The impetus
50:01for this
50:01new Shiism
50:02came from
50:02Iran,
50:03the only
50:04Shiite state
50:04in the
50:05realm of
50:05Islam.
50:06But there
50:06was plenty
50:07of material
50:07in the
50:08Arab world
50:08for this
50:09spark to
50:10feed upon.
50:11I think
50:11for the
50:12first time
50:12we are
50:13beginning to
50:13see the
50:13potential for
50:15the expansion
50:16of fundamentalist
50:18activity or
50:19terrorism or
50:20whatever word
50:20you want to
50:21give it to
50:22the United
50:22States.
50:23That the
50:23U.S.
50:24is vulnerable
50:24as never
50:25before.
50:26In large
50:26part because
50:27of the
50:27escalating
50:28tension.
50:29Rather than
50:29dealing
50:29constructively
50:30with ways
50:32of diffusing
50:32the crisis,
50:33the U.S.
50:33has in
50:34many ways
50:34provoked
50:35the
50:36fundamentalists
50:36to the
50:37point that
50:37they are
50:37now
50:38indications
50:40that they
50:40are prepared
50:40to act
50:41elsewhere.
50:42They've
50:42certainly
50:42threatened
50:42it.
50:45This
50:45mosque,
50:46only a
50:46mile from
50:47Capitol Hill,
50:48has been
50:48the focus
50:49of a
50:49long-running
50:50dispute
50:50among
50:51American
50:51Muslims.
50:53The
50:53majority
50:54of the
50:54congregation
50:55is made
50:55up of
50:56Sunni
50:56moderates.
50:58But a
50:58faction of
50:59radical
50:59American
51:00Shiites
51:00seized
51:01the mosque
51:01and held
51:02it for
51:02three months.
51:03before being
51:04expelled.
51:08Now,
51:09every Friday,
51:10the radicals
51:11hold a
51:11rival prayer
51:12meeting
51:12across the
51:13street.
51:15These
51:15rights
51:16have to
51:17be
51:17extracted
51:18by the
51:19accompanying
51:20use of
51:21force,
51:22not because
51:24Muslims
51:25are thirsty
51:27for the
51:28use of
51:28force,
51:29and the
51:30consequences
51:31of the
51:31use of
51:32this
51:32force,
51:33but because
51:34that is
51:35the only
51:35language
51:36that the
51:38usurpers of
51:39the rights
51:39of man
51:40understand.
51:42Radical
51:43Shiite groups
51:43are known
51:44to have
51:44been
51:44recruiting
51:45a network
51:46of
51:46Khomeini
51:46sympathizers
51:47inside
51:48America.
51:49And there
51:49are many
51:49terrorist
51:50experts in
51:50the United
51:50States who
51:51have said
51:51that there
51:52are actually
51:52networks
51:52already in
51:53place.
51:54There is
51:54a large
51:54Shiite
51:55population
51:56in this
51:56country,
51:57although
51:57Americans
51:58must
51:58differentiate.
51:58Every Shiite
51:59is not
52:00a terrorist,
52:00nor is
52:00every Muslim
52:01a terrorist.
52:02There is
52:02only a
52:02very small
52:03fringe in
52:04the Muslim
52:05community that
52:06is responsible
52:06for these
52:07acts.
52:08In the
52:09past,
52:10acts of
52:10terror like
52:11PLO
52:12hijackings
52:12have been
52:13desperate
52:13attempts at
52:14political
52:14protest,
52:16ultimately a
52:17sign of
52:17weakness.
52:19But Shiite
52:21terror is
52:21different.
52:23Actions
52:24like the
52:24TWA hijack
52:26are opening
52:26rounds in
52:27a long
52:28holy war
52:29to win
52:29the world
52:30to the
52:30cause of
52:31Islamic
52:31revolution.
52:43Iran's
52:44adventurism
52:45in Lebanon
52:45and the
52:46terrorism
52:46it has
52:47inspired in
52:47the Gulf
52:48and other
52:48parts of
52:49the Middle
52:49East are
52:49just
52:50sideshows
52:51compared with
52:52the war
52:52it's waging
52:53with Iraq,
52:54the Gulf
52:54War.
52:55Strategically,
52:56most military
52:57analysts describe
52:58it as a
52:58stalemate.
52:59But those
53:00who believe
53:00that may
53:01be seriously
53:02underestimating
53:03the true
53:03strength of
53:04Iran's
53:04position.
53:05It has
53:06five times
53:07the land
53:07area and
53:08three times
53:08the population
53:09of Iraq.
53:10Its troops
53:11appear to be
53:12more highly
53:12motivated.
53:13It still
53:14manages to
53:15procure the
53:15western military
53:16equipment it
53:17needs.
53:18And while
53:18Iraq has
53:19accumulated
53:19some 40
53:20billion dollars
53:21in war
53:22debts,
53:22Iran has
53:23borrowed
53:23nothing.
53:24It even
53:25paid back
53:25the
53:26international
53:26debts it
53:27inherited
53:27from the
53:28Shah.
53:29So in
53:30a long
53:30war of
53:30attrition,
53:31it seems
53:31the time
53:32is on
53:33the side
53:33of Iran.
53:39Should the
53:39regime of
53:40Saddam Hussein be
53:40defeated by the
53:41Iranian regime?
53:44And should the
53:44Iraqi Shia establish
53:45a regime in
53:46Iran's image,
53:47in Iran's image,
53:49then the bets are
53:50off in the
53:50Gulf.
53:52You know,
53:52definitely there
53:52would be trouble in
53:53Kuwait,
53:54trouble in
53:54Bahrain,
53:55whether Shia
53:55communities
53:56waiting to
53:56see the
53:57outcome of
53:57that war.
53:58There would
53:58also be a
53:59change in
53:59the balance
54:00of power
54:00in Lebanon
54:01and Syria
54:02to the
54:02advantage of
54:03the Shia,
54:03to the
54:04advantage of
54:04the Alawis
54:05against the
54:06Sunnis,
54:06against the
54:06dominant order,
54:07if you will,
54:08in the
54:08region.
54:10We are
54:10dealing with
54:11a resurgent
54:12Islam,
54:13with a
54:13revitalized
54:15group of
54:15Muslim
54:15peoples all
54:16over the
54:16world who
54:17are seeking
54:18what they
54:18consider to
54:19be justice,
54:20which they
54:20believe they
54:21deserve and
54:22which they
54:22believe they
54:23have not yet
54:23achieved.
54:25The consequences
54:26of the spread
54:27of Shiite
54:28fundamentalism
54:29are not good
54:30for American
54:31interests in
54:31the region.
54:32I think it's
54:33fair to say
54:33that when it
54:35spreads,
54:36the United
54:37States loses
54:37because it
54:38tends to
54:39carry with it
54:40this great
54:40Satan complex
54:41of the
54:42Khomeini
54:42regime.
54:43In other
54:44words,
54:44to put it
54:44in simple
54:45language,
54:46when they
54:46win,
54:47we lose.
54:53for part
55:01of this
55:01war,
55:02the United
55:02States has
55:03been helping
55:04Iraq with
55:05economic aid
55:06and with
55:06shared
55:07intelligence.
55:08But some
55:08observers say
55:09it is perhaps
55:10not in our
55:10best interest
55:11to have
55:12Iraq win
55:13the war,
55:14given that
55:14regime's own
55:15reputation for
55:16brutality.
55:17They say it
55:18might be better
55:19to see both
55:20sides drained
55:21of resources
55:22so that
55:22neither
55:23emerges the
55:24victor.
55:26Next week
55:26on Frontline,
55:27a report on
55:28our closest
55:29ally,
55:30England,
55:30a nation
55:31in trouble.
55:32It's the
55:33story of a
55:34country divided
55:34between the
55:35very rich
55:36and the
55:37desperate
55:37poor.
55:38Everybody
55:39seems to
55:39be going
55:40on in
55:40pledge.
55:42The south
55:43of England
55:43is still
55:44the land
55:44of nobility
55:45and grace,
55:46of privilege
55:47and power.
55:48What would
55:48happen if
55:49you were a
55:50member of
55:50the so-called
55:50working class?
55:52I'm sure
55:53I'd be very
55:53annoyed.
55:54But in the
55:54north,
55:55there is
55:56no work,
55:57no money,
55:58and little
55:59hope.
56:00The poor
56:01happen to
56:01be all
56:02in the
56:02north of
56:02England,
56:03and the
56:03rich tend
56:04to be
56:04the south
56:05of England.
56:05So one
56:06risks a
56:06confrontation,
56:07I think,
56:08in the end,
56:08a geographical
56:08confrontation.
56:09The program
56:10is called
56:11Will There
56:12Always Be
56:13in England?
56:13It is next
56:14week on
56:15Frontline.
56:16I'm Judy
56:16Woodruff.
56:17Good night.
56:20After
56:22ού龍
56:34Kiely
56:35and
56:36to
56:36the
56:37you
56:37see
56:37But
56:37you
56:37know
56:38you
56:39For a transcript of this program,
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