IRAN PREPARING MAHDI'S SPECIAL FORCES

by REZA KAHLILI

Reza Kahlili served in the CIA Directorate of Operations, as a spy in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and counterterrorism expert. He currently teaches at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy and serves as a senior fellow with EMPact America and on the newly formed federal Task Force on National and Homeland Security. He is the author of the award-winning book "A Time to Betray."

Iranian unit of thousands of operatives tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution, are being told to step up preparations for terrorism for the coming of the last Islamic messiah and the destruction of the West.

Ali Saeedi, the Iranian supreme leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized during a Friday sermon in Tehran that the Islamic republic must directly confront America so that the necessary environment is created for the reappearance of Mahdi, the Shiite’s 12th imam, who will kill all infidels and raise the flag of Islam in all corners of the world.

“In three points of history, God directly confronts the will of unruly humans in which, of course, the Right will overcome the False,” Saeedi said, according to the Sepah News, the Guards’ official publication. “The first point in history was during the era of pharaoh, the second era was Bani Abbas, and the third is our current era in which it seems that God has willed us to enlighten the world with the coming of Imam Mahdi.”

Saeedi, “Many of the signs [necessary] for the coming have taken place during the previous years; however, the main sign will take place right before the coming.”

There are five levels of readiness that have to be prepared for the coming, he said: “Individual readiness, the readiness for creating the environment, systematic readiness, the readiness in the region and the international readiness. This means Occupy Wall Street must take place, the Americans must lose hope with the Democratic Party and others, and lose faith in the U.N., while at the same time the unraveling in the Middle East, which was not ripe before, must have taken place before the coming.”

This is the first time a high-ranking Iranian official has stated on the record that the Quds Forces are not only involved in the region, but also internationally for a final confrontation with the West.

“The Revolutionary Guards are one vehicle for preparation for the coming, and in the current Islamic Awakening [the Arab Spring] in the region and on international arena, the Quds Forces play a major role in preparing the readiness of the human force needed for such an event,” Saeedi said. “The chief commander of the Guards and the supreme leader’s representative are tasked for preparing the individual readiness, regional readiness as well as international readiness for the coming.”

In another Guards’ weekly publication, Sobhe Sadegh, a front-page analysis explains that the opening of Iran’s geopolitics and the empowerment of its Islamic power are a reality in which Iran’s influence has expanded not only in the region, but also in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Asia and even in Europe and America.

As was the fall of socialism and the Eastern bloc, the analysis promises, so will be the fall of the capitalism and liberal democracy.

The analysis refers to the statements of the founder of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini:

“I say with all certainty that the 21st century will be the century of Islam.”

“I say with all certainty that Islam will conquer all key entrenchments of the world.”

“I say with all certainty that Islam will defeat all world powers.”

“I say with all certainty that the 21st century is the century where the oppressed will be victorious over the oppressors.”

While the Quds Forces have recently expanded their operations in shipment of explosives to Latin America, Africa and other places in the world, and at the same time have put terror cells on high alert for terrorist acts, the Islamic regime in Iran has expanded its nuclear program in which over 11,000 centrifuges are now running at two facilities, increasing its enriched uranium stock.

As of the last report in May by the IAEA, Iran had enough enriched uranium for six nuclear bombs, and despite all negotiations and recent sanctions, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced days ago that there will be no turning back from the nuclear path.

Reza Kahlili translated this Iranian video about Islamic prophecies of a coming messiah and the destruction of Israel:

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Weapons on display at Special Forces expo in Jordan

Ali Jarekji / Reuters

Chinese officers check rifles of ARES Defense Systems, Inc from the U.S. at the opening of the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) at King Abdullah I Airbase in Amman May 8.

Ali Jarekji / Reuters

Jordanian special forces take part in a drill during a parade at the opening of the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) at King Abdullah I Airbase in Amman May 8.

Khalil Mazraawi / AFP - Getty Images

Fire billows from explosions during a military display by Jordanian special forces at the opening of the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) at King Abdullah I Airbase in Amman on May 8. The exhibition showcases the latest technologies by defence manufacturers around the world.

Salah Malkawi / Getty Images
A delegation official examines a gun during the 9th Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) May 08, 2012 in Amman, Jordan. SOFEX brings together the defense industry and government and military leaders to investigate innovations in special operations technology and tactics.

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Belarus Special Forces to Receive Ultralights by 2015

Belarusian special forces will be equipped with ultralight aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by 2015, the Defense Ministry said on its website on Wednesday.

The forces will get T-2M-3 ultralight aircraft and Moskit and Lastochka (Swallow) aerial drones as part of a rearmament program, which also includes new special-purpose small arms and reconnaissance equipment.

The T-2M ultralight was developed by Ukraine’s Antonov Design Bureau at the end of the Cold War.

It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration open cockpit, tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft can be used for infiltration missions. 

The Belarus Special Forces Command was formed on August 1, 2007 to meet the challenges of modern mobile warfare. It currently comprises several mobile brigades and a special operations brigade.

The Belarusian Special Forces have recently acquired 9A-91 compact assault rifles, VSK-94 silenced sniper rifles and OSV-96 large caliber sniper rifles, PK-AV scopes, NV/G-14 night vision goggles, laser range finders and Lesnik-3 special-purpose parachute systems.

Belarus is also developing a portable battlefield management system adapted for personal use by members of special forces units

Special forces make leap of faith

Service members prepare for their jump over Ie Shima July 26. The service members worked with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 to conduct parachute training and sustain readiness. “We practice jumping quite regularly to maintain the skill, so we are always ready to deploy,” said one of the jumpers. The service members are with 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne).

OKINAWA, Japan - As cold air rushed through the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter, Army special forces and their Navy team members prepared themselves for a leap 5,000 feet above their landing zone.

Soldiers and sailors with 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), practiced their parachuting skills with the help of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, July 26.

Pilots with the squadron flew two CH-46Es in the skies over Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan, enabling the service members to conduct parachute training.

“We enjoyed helping the unit with this (training),” said Capt. Vladimir Y. Yarnykh, a Marine Corps CH-46E pilot with the squadron. “We have taken them out several times to help with parachute (training), and we plan to help with future (training) as well.”

The service members practiced static-line parachuting, during which a static line is attached to one end of the aircraft while the other end is attached to the pilot chute inside the jumper’s backpack. This opens a jumper’s parachute automatically upon exiting the aircraft.

In addition to static-line parachuting, the service members also performed free-fall parachute jumps.

“Though people may think it’s not a perishable skill, it really is,” said one of the Navy jumpers. “If we don’t practice jumping constantly, then we won’t be able to do all our formation landings and jumps well.”

The unit’s airborne group frequently conducts parachute training evolutions to ensure its service members can perform their jumps safely when called upon.

“Safety is our number one priority with the jumps,” said the Army senior medic for the battalion. “Wind, weather and location all play a part in a successful jump. If the wind is too (strong), then we may not be able to control where we land, and if there are thick clouds, we won’t be able to see.”

To help ensure safety, Marine pilots communicated with Army Special Forces support personnel on the ground at the drop zone.

“Communication between people on the ground and the pilots is paramount to ensure a safe jump,” said an Army jumper. “If we go to jump, and there are clouds (obscuring our view of the drop zone), we have to be sure everything is safe on the ground. If it’s not, then we have to cancel the jump.”

As the training came to an end, the service members gathered and discussed the training evolution.

“The training went well,” said the battalion’s senior medic. “Everyone did their part and landed in formation like they were supposed to. Some had a few problems with their parachutes at first, but the important thing is that we know what improvements can be made, and we make (future jumps).

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THE NEW WOMEN’S SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND AND THE DISSOLVING FRONT LINE

The US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) in a highly controversial move, launched a first ever program to train and deploy female special operations soldiers as part of a new program to include women in the US Army’s elite special forces units; reporting their initial performance in the Afghanistan AOR as “off the charts.”

This move by USASOC marks the country’s first ever effort to open up direct action combat units to women, allowing them for the first time to serve along side their male counterparts in some of the most rigorous and specialized covert missions not previously available to women.

Female soldiers should be included as part of special forces units as a necessary component of any SOCOM unit to defeat the ongoing counterinsurgency threat in the new asymmetric battle space.

Major General Bennet Sacolick, Commander of the US Army Special Warfare Center and School which runs this new program dubbed, Cultural Support Teams or CST, says “When I send an [SF] team in to follow up on a Taliban hit… wouldn’t it be nice to have access to about 50% of the target population — the women?” He goes on to say, “And now we’re doing that with huge success, they are in Afghanistan right now and the reviews are off the charts. They are doing great!”

The new Female Engagement Teams aren’t required to endure all of the training of an Army Ranger or Special Forces soldier, but they do have to learn advanced weapons handling, regional culture, intelligence collection, small-unit combat tactics, and fast-roping.

A current shortage of properly trained female special forces operators is limiting Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF)’s ability to connect and collaborate with a critical part of Afghanistan’s society — the women.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a press briefing that he foresaw a day when the military would lift its ban on women serving in elite special forces units as a result of the ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan AORs which have thrust women into firefights, forcing US Commanders to reevaluate the centuries-old policy that has existed since its first inception.

The top commander of US Special Operations Command, Admiral Olson, thinks it’s time for women to go into combat as Navy SEALS.

Admiral Olson goes on to say, “I think it’s much more important what they’re made of and whether or not they have the courage and the intellectual agility to do a job rather than the number of push-ups they can do. There are a number of things that a man and a woman can do together that two guys can’t.”

The opportunity for women to begin serving in these direct action roles with Special Operations teams comes as an Army commission prepares officially to recommend that women be permitted to serve in combat units. The nonpartisan Military Leadership Diversity Commission evaluates Pentagon policies to make sure they promote equal opportunities for all soldiers.

The US Army is not the first branch of the US military machine to begin employing female soldiers in special forces roles. USARSOC got the idea for including women as part of this elite team from the US Marine Corps after it began setting up similar teams back in 2009.

Although this is a progressive move for the United States military, it still hasn’t lifted the ban on women in direct combat positions. However, other countries are far more progressive than the United States in this decision. Australia just announced on September 27 that it will begin allowing women to serve in combat roles; making it one of just a handful of countries to allow women to serve alongside their male counterparts in some of the most dangerous roles in modern warfare. 

In an aggressive 5-year plan, Australia will join Canada, Israel, and New Zealand, as the only developed countries to allow women to serve in direct action capacities. Even the new military developed and trained by the US in Iraq employs female soldiers in direct combat roles. (Pictured Above)

Although the United States is making slow movement in the right direction, it still places restrictions on female soldiers taking certain Military Occupational Specialties (MOS’) that Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and now Australia allow. In other parts of the world, women are quickly becoming relied upon for direct action roles, including long-time allies of the United States. Israel for example makes frequent use of women as highly trained snipers and sniper trainers. Several Soviet women distinguished themselves as Fighter Aces recently in an elite class of combat aviators in that country.

The fact of the matter is, in a US military increasingly hurting for qualified new applicants and also dealing with high attrition rates, as long as an individual can meet or exceed the minimum requirements of their job, gender should be arbitrary.

Those opposing such a move commonly use a rank hypocritical argument that women cannot meet the performance targets set for their MOS. Quite the contrary. In the US Army for example, performance targets are routinely calibrated for age and position. This means a 40 year-old soldier undergoes less rigorous training requirements than that of his 20 year-old counterpart. However, both men are sent into combat. The modern high-tech battlefield and the new asymmetric threats faced by the US military with women suicide bombers and women killing US soldiers in surprise attacks increasingly means that technical expertise and critical thinking skills are more valuable than the old mentality of brute strength.

Additionally, combat experience is usually regarded as a necessary promotion requisite to senior officer positions. Denying female personnel this experience ensures that very few will ever reach the highest echelons of the military command structure, furthering the issue of sexism across the Unified Combatant Commands.

In a Rand Corporation study of increased deployment of women in all three branches of the US military throughout the 1990′s was an impetus for Rand to move forward with its endorsement of the further integration of women in the different services of that period.

Of the more than twenty nations that have expanded the role of women in the military to positions that are likely to see combat, none have repealed their decisions.

In summary, the “front line” has become increasingly dissolved. In this era of diffuse and protracted conflict of asymmetric warfare, the front line is everywhere in an AOR. The very premise of a “front line” in guerrilla-style warfare and civilian surges is mendacious. Take for example the Jessica Lynch case, or the killing of two women marines in a suicide attack in late June of 2005. The fact of the matter is, the type of modern warfare that the US is becoming increasingly engaged in is against non-state actors; women are exposed to “front line” risks no matter what their MOS or combat support role is.

With the increasing number of firefights that women are becoming engaged in while supporting combat roles, it simply makes more sense to train them appropriately as front line soldiers so they have the same level of training as their male counterparts; lest they continue to be needlessly killed from a lack of proper training because they were never trained for “front line” positions in a place and time where that “front line” no longer exists.

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Women's role in special operations forces could grow

As the Pentagon moves toward bringing female troops closer to the front lines, women's role in U.S. special operations forces could also grow exponentially over the next few years. 

All-women units, known as female engagement teams, are already play a key role in assisting American regular and special forces units train and equip U.S.-backed local militias in Afghanistan, Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) noted during Wednesday's hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. 

The local militias would act as a government-backed paramilitary force to back up Afghan National Security Forces in particularly restive provinces in Afghanistan. 

These militias would also theoretically be the frontline forces that would detect Taliban or al Qaeda activities in areas beyond the reach of Kabul. 

While those female engagement teams are being rotated out of the country, the opportunities for women to serve with special forces units on certain types of missions will only increase Jacqueline Davis, executive vice president at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, testified on Wednesday.

Female soldiers and officers have also risen through the intelligence and personnel fields within Special Operations Command, she told members of the committee. 

But with special operations forces set to grow, in both size and operational tempo, the opportunities for women within the command to take part in operations worldwide will only increase. 

"I think in the future as the numbers go up in [special operations forces] to 71,000 ... I think you will see a larger percentage of women in operational settings as well as in the headquarters in the United States as well as in the [theater special operations command] organizations," Davis told subcommittee members. 

Those opportunities will likely fall under "indirect action" missions, such as long-term training and advising efforts with foreign militaries, rather than direct combat-type operations, such as the Osama bin Laden raid last May. 

"In this set of indirect action [type] mission areas [is] where women I think will increasingly be able to bring to bear their capabilities," Davis told the subcommittee. 

To that end, Davis testified that Special Operations Command chief Adm. William McRaven has recognized the importance of "utilization and leveraging of our particular assets as part of the female gender" within the command. 

In February, the Pentagon announced that women would be formally permitted in crucial and dangerous jobs closer to the battlefield, allowing female soldiers to assume frontline jobs such as medics and radio operators. 

However, the department's decision did not lift the military's ban on women serving in regular combat infantry units or special operations teams engaged in direct action missions.

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US Army Universal Camouflage Pattern Dropped

Image copyright US Marines

The US Army will no longer use Universal Camouflage Pattern-based uniform, it's been announced. Much-heralded on its arrival in 2004, UCP hasn't been too effective in the majority of combat settings, so a replacement pattern is now expected to be introduced in coming months.

It is understood that the Universal Camouflage Pattern cost a staggering $5bn to develop but, ultimately, its pixelated green and grey shades don't offer the level of protection they should.

Consequently, US warfighters deployed in Afghanistan have recently been provided with another type of uniform - MultiCam. Introduced in February 2010, Crye Precision's MultiCam was found to be 21 per cent better at concealing than UCP after a series of intense trials. The remainder of troops, however, continue to wear the Universal Camouflage Pattern.

"Essentially, the Army designed a universal uniform that universally failed in every environment" an unnamed US Army representative told The Daily, adding: "The only time I have ever seen it work well was in a gravel pit."

Universal Camouflage Pattern

UCP's roots lie in the MARPAT camouflage the US Army co-developed with the US Marines in the early 2000s. The Universal Camouflage Pattern development programme really gained momentum after the start of the Iraqi and Afghan conflicts and work on it took place at the Natick, Massachusetts-based US Army Soldier Systems Center. However, according to a center representative, political agendas then took over.

Almost a decade later, the camouflage design is being withdrawn because it simply doesn't work against a multitude of backgrounds. "You've got to look back and say what a huge waste of money that was", Lawrence Holsworth, a camouflage expert, commented, adding: "UCP was such a fiasco."

US Army UCP

"I wouldn't characterize it as a 'fiasco", US Army Soldier Systems Center representative David Acetta stated in comments quoted by AOL Defense. "The UCP did have fairly good results in a number of different environments. It's not the best for all, but it is effective to a different degree in all different climates, environments, day and night light levels."

Armed Forces International will report further on the US Army's new choice of camouflage in future News coverage.

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