Anti-Western elements across the globe have been able to overlook any ideological, religious, or political difference that under other circumstances might have pit them against each other in a struggle to the death, and they have thus began to collaborate effectively and without reservation.

It may be quite simple to think of today´s numerous despots, rogue regimes and terrorist groups as isolated players on the world stage. At first glance, one may reasonably ask oneself how Islamo-fascist Al Qaeda remnants in Afghanistan are connected with Marxist guerrilla fighters in Colombia, or what Iran´s Shiite extremist Revolutionary Guards share in common with Communist, godless North Korea. Nonetheless, these enemies of the West and other global pariahs are collaborating in a manner that is both real and severely alarming. Adopting the age-old maxim that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," anti-Western elements across the globe have been able to overlook any ideological, religious, or political difference that under other circumstances might have pit them against each other in a struggle to the death, and they have thus begun to collaborate effectively and without qualms. As a result, the West and all it stands for — liberal democracy, tolerance of political opinion, freedom of expression, equality before the law, economic opportunity, separation between church and state – is faced with a lurching, pitiless foe that seeks to eradicate its very existence. Our civilization´s survival depends first and foremost on recognizing the peril at hand, however discomforting the truth may be.

The first unpleasant fact that must be acknowledged is that the magnitude of the current conflict spans nearly every corner of the globe. In a recent interview, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich described the current state of affairs quite succinctly, stating that we are faced with "the third World War." It is undeniable that we are faced with something much more serious and threatening than a few isolated, regional wars or sui generis terrorist attacks against Western cities.

In analyzing the situation somewhat more meticulously, one realizes that the war against the West was not declared by the Al-Qaeda members who struck the US on September 11, 2001. Rather, hostilities were opened by the revolutionary clerics who seized power in Iran 22 years before the first jetliner was driven into the World Trade Center. In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini's totalitarian, Shiite government called for "death to the great Satan," and since then it has waged a relentless war of terror against the US and its allies. This campaign has included the 1979 takeover of the American embassy in Tehran, the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut, the 1984 bombing of the US embassy in Lebanon, the 1996 Khobar Towers Building bombing in Saudi Arabia, and continuous support for Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority. As Michael Ledeen put it, today´s hostilities have "a common prime mover, and that is the Iranian mullahcracy, the revolutionary Islamic fascist state that declared war on us 27 years ago and has yet to be held accountable." Today, Iran proudly constitutes the epicenter of the extremists' struggle against the West, "vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the earth" as it spreads its tentacles far and wide.

Since Saddam Hussein´s fall, Tehran has been thrusting waves of terrorists across the Iraqi border, instructing them to target and kill coalition troops. Once they wreak destruction upon the democratizing forces, they reach safety by simply returning to Iran, for coalition soldiers are under orders not to pursue the enemy outside Iraqi territory. Aware that a successful democracy in Iraq will only encourage a suppressed population yearning to be free from the fundamentalist, tyrannical yoke, Iranian leaders are intent on fostering sectarian violence in Iraq and in undermining the rule of law. In fact, the failure of Iraqi democracy remains one of the primary objectives of the Iranian regime, a government which is prepared and willing to sponsor an insurgency that slaughters not only American soldiers, but also Iraqi civilians in order to meet its aim. Meanwhile, the Syrian dictatorship, also eager for democracy to falter next door for the sake of its own survival, emulates Iran's methods of destabilization by using its territory as a launching pad of terror against Iraq's fledgling, liberal government.

It should by no means be overlooked that Iran founded Hezbollah, the southern Lebanese terrorist group which until recently attempted to carry out its vow to "push Israel into the sea." Iran continues to give Hezbollah $120 million a year and has supplied it with over 13,000 rockets, many of which rained down upon Israeli civilians in Haifa during the last weeks.  Sources report that Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, evaded the Israeli Defense Forces by hiding in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.  It is also established that certain key weapons used by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas are manufactured in Iran and then delivered into Gaza and the West Bank.

Iran´s support for Hezbollah, however, would not be nearly as effective without the active cooperation of the Syrian government. It is widely known that most of the Iranian weapons that are delivered to Hezbollah in Lebanon first pass through Syria. The intricate connection between Hezbollah and Damascus, which until only last year kept an army garrison in Lebanon, is widely documented. As the London Times accurately reports, "Hezbollah has made good use of the six years since Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon. With help from Syria and Iran it has amassed large arsenals, laid traps, built an intricate system of bunkers and tunnels, studied Israeli military tactics and developed a well-trained force of highly motivated fighters." As we write, Damascus maintains spies and hidden soldiers in Lebanon in order to prevent the Lebanese government from exercising independence. Meanwhile, the Times announced on August 9th that, "there were reports (on August 8th) that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hezbollah guerrillas killed by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon."

Intelligence reports state that in late July a meeting took place in Damascus between the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, and Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.  The topics of discussion remain undisclosed, yet it is undeniable that these countries cooperate with each other intimately, as Iran leads the way in the joint effort to aid terrorist organizations and to oppose the rise of Middle Eastern democracies.

Although Tehran is exerting its influence throughout the Middle East, its sight is set far beyond the confines of the region. It is known that Iranian Revolutionary Guards were present in North Korea on the 4th of July, the date chosen by tyrant Kim Jong Il to test seven long-range missiles, one of which was aimed towards Hawaii. We are also aware that the Iranians buy long-range missile technology from North Korea; their presence at the launch might well be explained by their desire to determine the most effective method to deliver the nuclear weapons they are attempting to produce.

North Koreans have likewise been present in Iran during the past few years. Kim Jong Il´s engineers have used their expertise to build a network of bunkers and tunnels throughout Iran which are now being used to conceal and protect the development of nuclear weapons. While analysts in the United States attempt to determine how long it will take Iran to develop such weapons, the frightening truth, as Speaker Gingrich pointed out, is that if Kim Jong Il sold nuclear weapons to his Iranian allies, they could be delivered from Pyongyang to Tehran within a few hours.

Iran is also in close cooperation with Venezuelan despot Hugo Chavez, a sworn enemy of the United States.  Last month in Tehran, the Iranian government unveiled a statue of Simon Bolivar, the South American liberator, announcing that the figure was created to celebrate Iran's alliance with Mr. Chavez’s "revolution." Mr. Chavez, it should be noted, was elected democratically and, after altering the constitution, won a referendum in 2004 to determine the legality of his mandate. Since then, however, he has proceeded to abolish Venezuela's system of democratic checks and balances by filling nearly all supreme court seats with his supporters, placing members of the armed forces in key civilian positions, and creating the pitiful electoral conditions that led to the boycott of last year's elections by opposition parties and thus to the unhindered Chavista dominance of both branches of congress. Mr. Chavez' latest ventures include the purchasing of several billion dollars worth of weapons from Russia, constant references on television and radio to an impending invasion of Venezuela by the US armed forces, the creation of an armed militia composed of 15,000 civilians entrusted to "safeguard the revolution" against any external threats and stating that he intends to remain in power until the 2020`s.

During the first week of August, Chavez visited Tehran for the fifth time since he became the head of the Venezuelan state.  Upon receiving him, Iranian President Ahmadinejad stated: "we are determined to stay by each other's sides forever and we are confident that our nations will eventually win the victory." It is also of note that Venezuela openly expressed its support for North Korea´s missile tests, and that Israel recalled its ambassador from Caracas following Mr. Chavez' comments comparing the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah to Hitler's blitzkrieg.

Iran has suggested that it will assist Venezuela in its own development of nuclear power, and Venezuela is considering selling F-16 fighters to Iran as well as Cuba, another Iranian ally in the Latin region.  This coalition threatens the Western democracies in South America, and particularly Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), naturally allied with Cuba's communist regime in their effort to install a Soviet-style dictatorship in Colombia, receive support from elements within the Venezuelan military, although whether this occurs with or without Caracas' approval remains unknown. Nevertheless, an influx of weapons of any type into Venezuela naturally raises concerns, as considerable segments of Colombia's population begin to wonder if some of these arms will eventually fall into the claws of FARC narco-terrorists.  Interestingly, in May of 2002 the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress reported that terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah were collaborating with FARC members in Colombia, and that there was substantial proof of their presence in the border shared by Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

The West faces a threat not only from terrorist groups and the regimes that sponsor them directly, but also from the pro-Western governments that are either unable to control their own territory or collaborate with rogue regimes for a financial profit. For instance, Hezbollah's hegemony over southern Lebanon was made possible only by Beirut's inability to establish its legitimacy throughout the country. In Somalia, a weakened state is powerless against terrorist groups — including Al Qaeda – that use the country as a safe-haven from international law.  Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, does nothing to expel from its territory the infamous Madrasas, fundamentalist Islamic schools where fomenting hatred toward Western culture and civilization is an intricate part of the curriculum. Also, Saudi private citizens fund terrorist actions around the world without the slightest reproach from their government.

Meanwhile, Pakistani terrorists not apprehended by the state frequently strike deep into India and Afghanistan. Russia, on the other hand, recently sold a $700 million air-defense system to Iran and announced arms sales to Venezuela consisting of more than $1 billion worth of advanced jet fighters, anti-aircraft missiles, and possibly a submarine. At the same time, China sells weapons to the Iranian theocracy while continuing to provide aid, trade, and diplomatic assistance to North Korea, thus complicating the efforts to persuade Kim Jong Il to give up his nuclear weapons. The Chinese even threatened to veto UN resolutions calling for North Korea to surrender its nuclear program if the decrees authorized the use of force. Lastly, both Russia and China have allowed their economic interests in Iran to stand in the way of strong UN resolutions calling for the mullahs to abandon their nuclear aspirations.

The scope of the crisis we face cannot be underestimated; the current situation is no less grave than that which preceded each of the first two World Wars.  Enemies of the West such as fanatic Al Qaeda, secular Syria, theocratic Iran and neo-populist Venezuela may have very little in common, yet Nazi Germany, Imperialist Japan and Fascist Italy shared only totalitarian inclinations, hunger for power without regard for human life and a deeply entrenched aversion to Western-style, liberal democracy.

Today, our principal opponents, namely terrorists who are willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives to fulfill their agenda of hatred and the tyrants who assist them, are united chiefly by a deep-seated enmity towards Western liberty. It is undeniable that the spread of democracy and freedom of any type — the freedom of women, of expression, of religion, of political opinion, of the market — poses a deadly threat to their regimes, their ideals and their way of life. They are thus willing to use these very liberties against civilized populations across the globe so as to coerce tolerant nations into a terrorized submission. In the end, what all of the aforementioned amounts to is a deadly struggle in which the forces of civilization and liberty must defend themselves from enemies that seek to destroy the Western way of life, and to impose failed philosophies and systems ranging from an eighth Century Caliphate to a Marxist-style dictatorship.

These foes are keenly aware that they are not sufficiently strong to wage traditional warfare upon Western armies, yet in order to fulfill their aims they are willing to carry out measures as cowardly and extreme as the detonation of a nuclear bomb in a Western capital, a situation which would make the September 11 attacks seem pale in comparison.

Our enemies are clearly united by an ideology of hate and a hunger for power over their own people and the rest of humanity, yet we must not forget that the United States and our allies are integrated by our common belief in human freedom, human rights, and human dignity. We should also remind ourselves constantly that this is not the first time in which the civilized world has stared directly into the heart of darkness before emerging triumphant. On January, 1942, in the midst of the Western democracies' stand against fascism, Winston Churchill spoke the following words before Bermuda's Parliament:

We are confronted with embattled powers not based upon the public will, allowing no freedom of discussion, of speech or even of thought, but seeking to subjugate great nations and, if they can succeed, the whole world, on the basis of a party caucus, on the basis of a military hierarchy, on the basis of tyranny, terror, and brute force. We are confronted with totalitarian States which deny as a fundamental principle the right of free debate and the expression of popular opinion . . .We have stood alone all through the summer and the autumn and the winter of 1940 and 1941. But we did not flinch, we did not weaken. We did not worry because we could not see our way through. We said we will do our duty, we will do our best. The rest we must leave to Providence.

And so, as our forebears before us, we are left to either brace the struggle ahead of us or witness our great civilization succumb. Yet we must never abandon the West's great, enlightened vision of an improved society in which man lives harmoniously, having put the horrors of war permanently behind him. It is essential that we hold on to those dreams, even as we live in times which require utter wakefulness.