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, Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has remained stiff-necked and obstinate. Along with Iran’s other mad mullahs, Khamenei has vowed, while breathing out threats against us, Israel, and all of Western Civilization, to continue to seek nuclear weapons, which kooky Khamenei intends to use to cover the earth with mushroom clouds. In the face of such madness, one cannot 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 all of this, 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.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is no possibility of negotiating with Iran's Ayatollah or mad mullahs. They are, as we’ve already pointed out, religious zealots that believe themselves under religious obligation to fight to the death for their false god, their false religion, and their religion’s founder, the false Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, without any hope of negotiation with them, the only solution is the elimination of them, since it all boils down to one frightening fact: It’s either us or them.

Permit me to make one final, important, and most pertinent point. Jesus taught us that war is inevitable in this fallen world (Matthew 24:6). The reason for the inevitability of war in this world is the reality of evil within it. Here’s the harsh and hard truth: We will either war with and overcome evil or evil will win and overcome the world. This explains why the Bible teaches us that there is a time for war (Ecclesiastes 3:8). It also explains why Niccolo Machiavelli said, “War cannot be avoided, only postponed to the advantage of your enemies,” and why Edmund Burke famously said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

The late Herschel Hobbs, in his book on Southern Baptist Confession of Faith, The Baptist Faith And Message, wrote that our refusal to go to war against evil “would turn the world into a jungle ruled by criminals and tyrants, a world in which all moral and spiritual values would disappear from the social order.” In other words, Hobbs, like Burke, taught the necessity of the world warring against evil, lest evil win the world! 

Although “War,” as William Tecumseh Sherman once said, “is hell,” it is nonetheless inevitable in this fallen world. While it is nightmarish, it is also necessary. Well, now you know why the launching of our military’s “Operation Epic Fury” attack on Iran this morning was necessary. It was regrettable, but nonetheless required by the reality of evil in this sin-cursed fallen world.