IRGC General Rasoul Sanaei Raad has, in an article published on Basirat website, weighed in on the similarities between US President Donald Trump and ringleader of the ISIS terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The full text of the opinion piece follows:
Although US President Donald Trump and ringleader of the ISIS terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are seemingly of two different races as one was born to an Arab mother in Iraq and the other to a Western mother, their ideological-behavioral features are so similar that Trump can be named al-Baghdadi’s American twin. These features are as follows:
- A lack of trust in all principles and regulations of diplomacy and sovereignty in today’s world and remaining in the old world in such a way that Baghdadi believes by going past the Westphalia system, he can build a global caliphate with world countries, and Trump keeps interfering in Syria and helping ISIS by ignoring the same rules.
- Creating “others” in a hostile and illogical manner by using ideological stigmas against others and issuing bellicose decrees such as Baghdadi’s labelling Iranians as infidels and disbelievers, and Trump’s calling Iranians terrorists, and both men’s blatant animosity toward the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Such illogical decrees could trigger disasters and wars.
- Using the logic of threat and force in order to advance their objectives, and reliance on their bullying and tyrannical temperament. One of them follows this bullying in the outfit of a caliph and the other in president’s clothing using modernism; but both have one thing in common: Modern Jahiliyyah.
- Both follow the policies of Britain, the Israeli regime and the Al Saud dynasty, which are, in fact, using the two men as tools to advance their regional objectives. One of them is propped up by terrorists, and the other by extremist hawks, and both are being used as instruments to trigger chaos and instability.
What is interesting is that Trump, who, during his election campaign days, accused his rival of having established ISIS and colluding with it, is today, when the terrorist group’s days are numbered in Iraq and Syria, helping ISIS by threatening Iran on the one hand, and disrupting anti-ISIS military operations by Iraqi and Syrian armies on the other. This plays into the hands of al-Baghdadi.
Trump, who seeks to put the IRGC on the list of terrorists, has proven that he, like his Asian twin, has no respect for the rules and regulations of the modern world. He also ignores the fact that the IRGC is constitutionally part of the Iranian Armed Forces. By the same token, Baghdadi issued a decree terming “others” infidels and disbelievers, serving as a mandate for terrorists to attack Iraqi and Syrian armies. However, he ignored its formidable consequences, including hatred of ISIS, the formation of resistance fronts against ISIS, the establishment of a massive popular force to tackle ISIS, and the defeat of Takfiri terrorists. His actions discredited his fellow terrorists.
Trump’s historic mistake, too, has prompted the IRGC commander to say that he will regard the US as a follower of ISIS in the region if Washington puts the IRGC on its terror list. Of course, Trump will be the one who would start the game. From now, we can predict that the consequences of this mistake would be similar to the mistake made by Baghdadi, which led to back-to-back defeats by Takfiri terrorists against resistance fronts. These defeats were the result of his mistake and Baghdadi cannot blame anybody else but himself for that. The ones who supported and provoked Baghdadi have left him alone now and they are distancing themselves from the losing horse. Trump should not bank, either, on today’s encouragement by Britain, the Al Saud dynasty and the Israeli regime.
