MULLAHS AND MISSILES 193of modern weaponry and even performed much of the equipment main-
tenance, were gone. The Shah had mostly bought those services, rather
than training Iranians to perform them. This may well be because the Shah
had realized that his subjects, on the whole, had not yet achieved a level
of literacy sufficient to provide him with the number of trained technicians
he needed to maintain his armed forces. As a result Iran’s arsenal was
filled with equipment it could not maintain and could only barely operate.
Iraq—a dreadful secular dictatorship—did declare a jihad but did not
carry it to an extreme. In contrast, Iran not only declared a jihad but made
extensive use of volunteer martyrs who were inspired by their Shia Islamic
faith to join the war against Iraq. The Iranians Shias viewed death in this
war as martyrdom in the path of God that granted immediate entry into
paradise. This was supported by the following Koranic verse:
And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah “dead.” Nay, they are
living, only ye perceive not. And surely We shall try you. (Surah II, 154)The Martyrs’ Foundation was established to provide for the families of
these martyrs, once they had been killed in the holy war against Iraq.
Funds came from the Iranian government, religious trusts, and income
from exiled Iranians. This foundation looked after the families of those
slain, assuring widows or parents a monthly income of $280 per month,
plus child allowances of $56 per month. In addition, the family survivors
were given preference in the allocation of scarce consumer goods such as
cars, motorcycles, refrigerators, housing, and admission to universities. In
the case of military personnel, an outright grant of $24,000 was made.
The government combined these material incentives with an appeal to
Islamic zeal to build and motivate its forces.
As deadly as the actions of Saddam Hussein had been, the Muslim
world was about to meet the genuine “Great Satan” of the globe, the
atheistic militarism of the Soviet Union.
The Russian invasion of Afghanistan occurred in December 1979.
Some suggest the invasion was a continuation of the historic Russian
endeavor to continue its push for warm-water ports. Those people have
obviously never considered the problems of road transport through the
mountains of Afghanistan, nor the fact that Iran or Pakistan would have
to be tackled next. Some suggest that it was an effort to continue the
spread of international communism. Others would suggest that Russian
paranoia drove the Soviet Union to surround itself with a line of puppet
states that would absorb any assault from the west. Some might also sug-
gest concern for a militant Muslim state forming on its southern border