Iran's Qods force : proxy wars, terrorism, and the war on America / Mr. Owen Sirrs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sirrs, Owen L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Special forces (Military science)--Iran.

Special forces (Military science).

Iran--Military policy.

Iran.

Iran--History, Military.

Iran--Relations--United States.

United States--Relations--Iran.

United States.

Iran. Sipāh-i Pāsdārān-i Inqilāb-i Islāmī. Nīrū-yi Quds.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 pages)

Place of Publication:

Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2022]

Summary:

The end of the Cold War ushered in a challenging new era for U.S. defense planners. The certainties of planning for conventional war or, in extremis, nuclear war gave way to a new form of unconventional warfare waged by American adversaries like Al Qaeda, Somali warlords, and Iran. Iran's Qods Force examines how one nation state, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has exploited the advantages of unconventional warfare to expand its influence in the Middle East while, at the same time, limiting the impact of U.S. power in the region. At the forefront of its efforts is the Qods Force, the elite clandestine wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Owen Sirrs analyzes how Iran uses unconventional warfare to try to achieve one of its most cherished objectives, hegemony over the Middle East, and demonstrates how U.S. policymakers and warfighters were repeatedly stymied by Iran's unconventional warfare strategy, which straddled the threshold between conventional and covert warfare. Iran pursues its hegemonic bid even though it lacks many of the accepted attributes of national power like a strong, diversified economy; a modernized, power-projection military; and allies to balance the strength of its many adversaries. Still, as the book explains through specific examples of Iranian covert action in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Iran is closer to regional leadership in 2021 than at any time in the last three hundred years.

Contents:

The Iranian Revolution's Everyman

Baptism by Fire

War with Iraq

The Lebanon Corps

The Hezbollah Trojan Horse

The Khobar Towers Bombing

The Qods Force in Afghanistan

The Qods Force and 9/11

Iran and al-Qaeda

Iran and Afghanistan after 9/11

The Greater Prize

A Multidimensional Campaign in Iraq

Task Force

Undeclared Covert War

Overlord of Iraq

The Saudi Ambassador Plot

The Yemen Trap

Encircled

The Odd Couple

A Qods Force Tragedy

Coalition Warfare

General Soleimani Goes to Moscow

Entrenchment

Everywhere but Nowhere

Conclusion.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Sirrs, Mr. Owen Iran's Qods Force

ISBN:

9781682478066