In Sun Tzu's classic book, Art of War, he teaches us that to win a war you must first "know your enemy." Despite the devastation of his military, national defenses, and nuclear facilities, not to mention the potential total devastation of Iran itself, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains stiff-necked and obstinate. While he continues to breath out threats, he not only seeks nuclear weapons from other nations, which former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev says are lined up to give them to him, but he is also moving to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, in order to threaten global oil supply. One can’t help but wonder, what makes this cuckoo clock tic.

Iran's Ayatollah is not a conventional adversary, but a religious zealot who believes it is his religious duty to eliminate the state of Israel, to exterminate the Jewish people, and to destroy Israel's chief ally and benefactor, America. Contrary to popular opinion, Islam is not a peace loving religion. The word "Islam" was originally a military term used by the primitive Arabs to denote "heroism in battle." It literally means "submission" or "surrender." According to Islam, the world is divided into two households: "Dar al-Islam" and "Dar al-Harb." The first household, "Dar al-Islam," which means "the house of Islam," is made up of our world's 1.3 billion Muslims. The second household, "Dar al-Harb," which means "the house of war," is made up of our world's non-Muslim population with whom all Muslims are at war until the whole world is brought to its knees in submission to Allah, the god of Islam. This explains why Islam has always been called, “The Religion of the Sword.” It has always been and always will be a militant religion whose goal is world domination.

The Koran's famous verse of the sword teaches Muslims to "fight and slay the pagans [non-Muslims] wherever" they are found. In addition to the famous verse of the sword, there are 122 other verses in the Koran that teach Muslims to fight and kill in the cause of Allah. The founder of Islam, the Prophet Mohammed, taught that holy war or jihad—fighting against all who refuse to convert to Islam—was the greatest service a Muslim could ever render to his god, Allah. The following are not the words of a modern-day radical Islamist, but of the Prophet Mohammed himself, the founder of the Islam.

"The sword is the key to heaven and hell; a day of blood shed in the cause of Allah, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer: whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim."

When you add to the above, the additional teaching of the Prophet Mohammed about the "martyr's house," you can easily understand why Iran's Ayatollah appears to be suicidal in his obstinate opposition against overwhelming odds and overpowering opponents. In Islam, the only assurance a Muslim has of paradise is if they are killed fighting jihad; that is, killing unrepentant infidels. If killed fighting jihad, they are not only assured of going to paradise, but of going to "the house of the martyrs," which is the "superior house" of paradise. Here, the jihad martyr will receive a mansion within which are seventy houses. In each house is seventy rooms. In each room there is a table with seventy different kinds of food. Beside each table there is a bed. Upon each bed there is seventy sheets of different colors. And upon each sheet there is a beautiful virgin waiting to have sex with the jihad martyr forever.

In addition to the above, one must also understand that the Ayatollah, as well as most Iranians, are Shiite Muslims. They are awaiting the “Twelfth Imam,” “the Modi,” the Muslim messiah. They believe when he comes he will lead the jihad warriors to conquer the world for Islam and Islam’s god, Allah. However, they believe there is one last obstacle to “the Modi’s” coming. It is the nation of Israel, which they believe must be annihilated before “the Modi” can come and establish his world-conquering caliphate! This explains why the Iranians have publicly vowed to  “wipe Israel off of the map” as soon as they get their hands on a nuclear weapon. They’re not just kidding, they’re serious, since they believe it is their religious duty to do so.

Not only does the Ayatollah believe that a nuclear attack on Israel is his religious duty, but he also believes, as does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's former president, that a nuclear attack on Israel is the ultimate suicide bombing, assuring all Iranians of entrance into paradise. For instance, when asked by a reporter whether or not he understood that an Iranian nuclear attack against Israel would precipitate an Israeli counter nuclear attack against Iran, Ole "Mad Hatter" Mahmoud answered: "What do we care? They [Israelis] will be in hell and we [Iranians] will be in paradise." Don't forget, it was the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the present Ayatollah's predecessor, who introduced to the world the Muslim suicide bomber, by claiming all suicide bombers were shoo-ins for the Martyr's House.

The one thing Islamic jihadists, like Iran's Ayatollah, understand for sure is military force and might. In fact, they believe military victory proves the superiority of their god, Allah, over the gods of all of their adversaries. Therefore, to surrender, as President Trump is now calling upon Iran's Ayatollah to do, would be for the Ayatollah not only to renounce his religion, but also to admit that the God of Israel, Jehovah, and the God of "Christian" America, Jesus Christ, are superior to Allah, the god of Islam. Needless to say, the Ayatollah ain't gonna do it, but will fight to the death, regardless of the devastating consequences to Iran and all Iranians. 

Permit me to make one final pertinent point. Another teaching of Islam is that all Muslims have a religious duty to lie and deceive others, in order to further the cause of jihad. This practice of lying and deceiving others in order to get the upper hand on them is known among Muslims as “taqiyya” or “kitman” and was instigated and sanctioned by none other than the founder of Islam himself, the Prophet Mohammed. According to the Hadith, Mohammed taught his followers that “war is deceit.” He even bragged about his use of deception in the slaughter of his enemies. In the Koran, Mohammed praises his god (Allah) as the greatest of all deceivers. In addition to teaching Allah is the greatest of all deceivers, the Koran also teaches that lying is virtuous and the religious duty of all who “strive in the way of Allah.”

Now, in light of this, any pretense of surrender or compromise by Iran's Ayatollah should be taken with a grain of salt; otherwise, we will be guilty of the height of naiveté. After all, how can we believe an enemy who believes it is his religious duty to deceive us until he can get the upper hand on us, in order to destroy us?