The Ancient Code
President Trump is disrupting the order of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States - those who have been equal among themselves for many years. Middle Earth clashes with Enlightenment. And the Tolkien elements of this particular story cannot be avoided.
It is the sandal against the shoe; the folklore of the camel against the isotope. It is the medieval wars of Frederic II which sought strength through confederacy; the greater ambitions which court the smaller aspirations: Iran and Yemen... Lebanon and Gaza. The balloon expands its gases, but it is the same balloon.
The Ancient Code gives booty to the combatant and is dismissive of the potential of the peasant. It enriches the few and impoverishes the rest. Not only their lives, but the social etiquette and traditions which anchor their own culture will be erased. The Ancient Code does not assimilate but demands assimilation. It does not anchor but it imprints. It hosts-within-the-host and it colonizes.
There is no pivot, because it is an Ancient Code supported by hundreds of thousands of documents and important folios housed within our libraries and halls of academia, guarded within religious seminaries, top shelf product in the hands of the imam.
The Ancient Code is about war.
In time of war, equations involve time, distance, and numerical strength. For our Department of War, distances are short-sheet beds of the quarterdeck because of our Naval Surge Doctrine and dominance of the skies We are generations from Icarus.
The Ancient Code: Remove the time, the distance, and numerical strength.
The time does not compute into compressed time-frames, operational tempo, nor days, months, and years. Every day the seventh century shakes hands with eschatology. To paraphrase - "It is the eschatology, stupid!" There is only one frame. This is it.
The distance is the length of one step. The first step toward a land of Ribaat... a land of Jihad... is also the final step to martyrdom. The Ancient Code is devoid of time, except for prayers in time of fear.
Numerical considerations are irrelevant. When one falls, one hundred will rise to take his place. And on 7 October 2023, the ancient Imanus resurrected to ride on the back of the motorcycles of Hamas. The ancient ogre recognized an Ancient Code. And with their eyes, the Jews who were slaughtered saw him in the eyes of their aggressors.
The posturing and movement within the Sunni camp gives (small) reason for cheer. But the disruptions of Trump will be virtually impossible within the Shi'a camp. Because of the nature of their history, the more organic processes involved in their governance, stronger ties to mysticism and a doctrine of martyrdom, there is greater resiliency.
Harder, because with approximately twenty central commands with the individual chain of command of each Grand Ayatollah, the man in the black hat in Tehran is not the only concern. The bunker might be in Iraq, but the field office is in London. The bunker might be in Lebanon, but the field office is in Paris. Within each chain, the constituents who are bound to the fatawa (pl) of their Mar'ja - and not the fatawa of the others. Thank God, for small mercies.
When I served as a LCDR in the USNR I had read three separate transliterations of the Qur'an while my fellow officers were saying, "Fuck Iraq!" I had correspondence with a man who had direct ties with Al Qaeda. My teammates had never picked up a Qur'an. I knew businessmen who did not know the difference between Sunni and Shi'a. Entered the chain of command of a Grand Ayatollah in Lebanon and received an official letter in response. The Arabic was translated by a legal Mufti who was my mentor. I was the speaker for a Naval Academy Alumni luncheon at a Dallas club. Presented strategy to a group of Jewish attorneys at another Dallas country club. One of the men made an interesting comment to me in private regarding our relationship with Israel. He must be thrilled with "yesterday". smile
I spoke for an enlisted gathering in Fort Worth and placed twenty dollars in the pot for the raffle. All of the above - because Swofford never forgets. All of it for my nation and for damn good reasons. But there is so much more.... My job now - is to educate. Take it. Or leave it.
The Ancient Code exists.
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