thr 067                                                               


Press-Iran  /POL/                                                     


   Daily recounts lessons of sacred defense                          


Tehran, Sept 25, IRNA -- The English-language newspaper 'Kayhan       


International' in its viewpoint column on Tuesday highlighted lessons 


from the eight-year of sacred defense both for the Iranians and their 


enemies.                                                              


    It said, twenty-one years have passed since the day Saddam Hussein


encouraged by his western backers, especially the U.S, launched his   


devastating war on Iran in a vain bid to topple the nascent Islamic   


system. But the government founded on the dynamic concept of Vilayat-e


Faqih by Imam Khomeini (may his soul rest in peace) has remained firm 


and strong despite the full force of terrorism unleashed against it by


enemies of all hues and colors.                                       


    What were the factors which inspired the Muslim combatants of Iran


during those eight epic years of sacred defense? What made them       


fearlessly frustrate the enemy's tanks, artillery barrages, aerial    


bombardment, missiles and chemical weapons?                           


    Ask those who had marched voluntarily to the war front as well as 


those who provided logistic support through the media, government     


offices and the various revolutionary and charitable organs. It was   


faith in God and commitment to humanitarian values that made them     


immune to the assaults of the armed-to-the-teeth enemy.               


    The defenders were the least distracted from their holy objectives


despite the foreign-funded assassination of top ranking officials     


including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Husseini Beheshti,         


President Mohammad Ali Rajaie and Prime Minister Hojjatoleslam        


Mohammad Javad Bahonar. They continued their defense even when        


Washington chose to interfere openly in the war on behalf of Saddam by


scuttling the merchant ship 'Iran Ajor', attacking oil platforms,     


engaging Iranian frigates in naval combat and downing an Iranian      


passenger plane with 300 persons on board on July 3, 1988.            


    The answer to this indomitable courage should therefore be looked 


for in the battlefields where obligatory prayers were performed in    


congregation amid the deafening sound of bursting shells. They should 


be looked for in bunkers which echoed with the Kumail supplication of 


Imam Ali (AS). They should be looked for in the tears that flowed from


the eyes of the Muslim combatants on recitation of the Ziyarat-e      


Ashura of the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS).                    


    In fact, it was the immortal epic of Karbala which made them      


invincible and created the spirit of Fraternity. Like a monolithic    


rock without any factional cracks they rallied to the call of Ruhollah


Khomeini to defeat the worst form of state terrorism ever imposed on  


an independent people.                                                


    The Ba'thist dictator, like all demigods priding on their military


might, had dreamt of destablizing Islamic Iran. But thanks to the     


values and ideals of the Islamic Revolution, it was terrorism which   


suffered defeat.                                                      


    Thus we should express gratitude to God and keep alive the        


ethereal values of the sacred defense. There are lessons to be learned


here for both Iranians and their enemies. For Iranians, in order to   


safeguard their solidarity. For the enemies, so that they would avoid 


the fate of Saddam Hussein and his self-inflated backers, concluded   


the editorial.                                                        


MM/AH                                                                 


End                                                                   


::irna    16:59