TEHRAN - Afghanistan could become another Vietnam for the U.S. and its allies, according to the Supreme Leader’s senior advisor on military affairs.

“It seems that the defeat of the United States’ military strategy will be much worse in Afghanistan than in Iraq, and the possibility that Afghanistan will become another Vietnam for the U.S. and its allies is increasing,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi told the Mehr News Agency on Saturday.
Signs of a velvet revolution plan in post-election incidents
Safavi also said that there were signs of a plan for a velvet revolution after the June 12 presidential election.
“Some signs of a velvet revolution became evident” in the illegal incidents that were provoked by certain people after the election, he added.
Safavi noted that soft threats cover a wide range of activities meant to induce people to change their views. For example, these activities are usually meant to persuade people to adopt Western values, he added.
“A velvet revolution requires education because the attitudes, values, and thoughts of nations can be changed through education. The Americans and the British have come to the conclusion that only soft threats can bring about the necessary changes in independent nations,” he said.
Safavi cited Georgia as an example where the United States educated over 200 individuals in the U.S., who put what they had learned into practice when they returned home.
Thus, it is necessary for the Islamic Republic of Iran to understand the sources of soft threats and to devise plans to counter them, he added.
He also criticized certain presidential candidates, saying they did not recognize the threats against the nation, and thus their reputations were ruined in the eyes of the people.
The election was one of the most successful elections since the victory of the Islamic Revolution and could have raised Iran’s profile in the international arena, he noted.
However, the activities of a number of political groupings and prominent figures were in line with the West’s objectives and undermined the effect of a tremendous turnout, he stated.
Some candidates were not able to control their parties and in fact were controlled by their parties, and these candidates oppressed the nation and undermined the system, Safavi said.
Obama didn’t change U.S. foreign policy
Elsewhere in his remarks, Safavi pointed out that U.S. President Barack Obama has not changed U.S. foreign policy.
“The military strategy of the Obama administration has not changed remarkably from that of the Bush administration except for the withdrawal of 35,000 military forces from Iraq and the increase in the forces in Afghanistan,” he said.
The presence of over 200,000 foreign troops in the region and the increasing number of military bases in the Middles East are the root causes of regional instability, he observed.
And peace and security can only be established in the region when all foreign troops are withdrawn, he said.
He went on to say that animosity toward the U.S. is at its highest level ever in the region.
U.S. promoting Iranophobia in the region
Safavi also stated that the U.S. is promoting Iranophobia in the region.
“The Americans are trying to instill Iranophobia into the minds of a number of Arab leaders in the region,” he said.
The U.S. has repeatedly told the Arabs that Iran is the main threat to them, not Israel, he noted.
And former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney held a four-hour meeting with an Arab leader about the alleged Iranian threat to Arab states, he said.
Safavi also pointed out that the Iranophobia strategy has allowed the U.S. to sell billions of dollars of weapons to the Arabs.
Iran can give devastating response to any aggression
Commenting on Israeli officials’ threats to attack Iran, Safavi said that Iran’s armed forces would deliver an “unimaginable” response to any attack.
“Although the Iranian armed forces have great might, they will not underestimate the Israeli threat. However, if they make any mistake, Iran’s (response) will be unimaginable and very devastating,” he insisted.
Israeli officials have had frequent meetings with officials of certain countries, and Israel will make some political and probably (also some) military moves by the end of the (Iranian calendar) year (March 2010) to compensate for their humiliating defeats in the 33-day and 22-day wars in Lebanon and Gaza, Safavi stated.