These days, on March 24th, marked another year since the start of the U.S. and NATO bombing campaign against the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on that date in 1999.
Coincidentally, as we commemorate the 27th anniversary of that crime, now, on the soil of the Islamic Republic of Iran, both the United States and Israel are launching bombs and missiles, targeting schools where more than 170 girls have been killed, as well as residential buildings and other facilities, where thousands of Iranian civilians have perished.
In this context, reports are circulating through various channels about the preparation and deployment of U.S. military forces to land in Iranian territory, fueled by the utopian hope of seizing its oil and other mineral resources.
While speculation about a possible ground incursion is being considered, I recall a question I posed to Yugoslav leaders a few months after the U.S. bombing of the Balkan country:
"Why do you think the U.S. troops didn't consider occupying any part of the Slavic nation, nor opt for ground operations?" I asked a high-ranking government official during a journalistic assignment.
While questioning my interlocutor, I noticed the effects of the rockets launched by the aggressors at a civilian hospital in the heart of Belgrade, and the remains of dolls and other toys in what had been a bombed kindergarten.
The Yugoslav official's response was immediate: "In our country, we have adopted and prepared for the concept of a people's war, and that means that if we are invaded by land, they will receive a massive response from a militarily prepared population."
When I asked for more information, he explained: "Can you imagine how many of the aggressor soldiers would die in a ground battle?"
And as if I needed to know more, he emphasized: "I don’t believe that those who directed this aggression against Yugoslavia from the United States would have remained in power when hundreds or thousands of bodies of soldiers killed on foreign soil, where they were sent to kill and destroy, had arrived in their country."
That interview with the Yugoslav official, as well as conversations with people from diverse sectors during my tour of various civilian facilities in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and other regions, provided me with insights into a country where history records a highly valuable partisan movement, the organization and execution of guerrilla warfare, and other elements that form part of its military ideology, or people’s war.
For example, I was told, the Partisan Detachments were crucial in the liberation of Yugoslavia in the fight against fascism and Nazism during World War II.
According to the consulted bibliography, by the end of 1944, the total partisan forces numbered 650,000 men and women organized into four field armies and 52 divisions, and by April 1945, the partisans numbered over 800,000 combatants. By the end of the war, it was the fourth largest army in Europe.
In the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, patriotic sentiment, combined with religious faith and military preparedness, constitutes a significant factor in confronting any aggressor attempting to occupy any part of its territory.
The United States cannot ignore the fact that the Islamic nation has been preparing for this possible scenario for the past ten years.
Furthermore, the brutality of the U.S. and Israeli forces in assassinating its most important and beloved leaders, as well as children, is a decisive factor.
The rhetoric of American military superiority may find in Iran a thorny path that could lead the aggressors only to the most crushing defeat.
