Since 02-19-07
Iran's Iraq
Meddling - Hanging Tough against Weasels
Since 02-19-07
From:
americancongressfortruth [mailto:member@americancongressfortruth.com]
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 7:40 AM
Subject: Iran's Iraq Meddling
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Iran's Iraq Meddling
Dear James,
New York Post
THERE'S
a new myth being pumped by the anti-Bush crowd, that somehow the president is
once again "hyping" intelligence to make the case for war.
This time it's Iran and the allegedly hyped intelligence concerns Iran's
involvement in Iraq, as well as the administration's interpretation of Iran's
motives and intentions.
The anti-Bush crowd is concerned that Bush's new, hard-headed approach to
Iranian terrorists operating in Iraq is actually beginning to show results, and
it is desperate to sabotage any political benefit the president might derive
from this success.
"If the administration believes that any, any use of force against Iran is
necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority," Sen. Hil-
lary Rodham Clinton huffed on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
The president's Jan. 10 speech announcing his new Iraq policy was followed by
immediate action on the ground. That night, American and Iraqi forces raided an
Iranian intelligence headquarters in the northern city of Irbil, nabbing six
Iranians, including three top Revolutionary Guards commanders.
These and other Iranians captured over the past 18 months have yielded detailed
intelligence on Iran's penetration of Iraq and its supply of a new type of
armor-piercing, improvised, explosive device to Iraqi insurgents.
U.S. military briefers in Baghdad showed journalists some of the Iranian weapons
and other intelligence material on Feb. 11. They revealed that the expeditionary
forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, known as the Quds force, "trains
extremists and insurgents in terrorist tactics and guerilla warfare" and
"supports terrorism by providing advice, training and weapons to insurgents and
terrorist groups."
Within days, this information was challenged, with journalists pummeling the
president at a news conference with allegations that all of this was someho w a
"rogue operation" that bore no relationship to the government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
That's like saying that the 1,854 U.S. Marines on board the USS Boxer,
now cruising in the Persian Gulf, have somehow appeared out of nowhere without
the knowledge or approval of the U.S. government.
The Quds force is an integral part of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and
reports through the chain of command to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Its mission is terrorism.
Quds force officers have been directly involved in the bombing of the U.S.
Embassy in Beirut in 1983, the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires
in July 1994 and a host of other attacks.
The Quds force also trains foreign terrorists in Iran and manages a far-flung
commercial network around the world, including front companies in Germany whose
purpose is to acquire high technology for Iranian weapons programs and to
launder money for terrorist operati ons.
The president was right to point the finger at the Quds force for the murder of
170 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and to order a crackdown. The results are already in:
Renegade Iraqi Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr fled to Iran earlier this
month, along with many of his top deputies.
Iranian sources tell me that Khamenei "panicked" at the new U.S. policy, which
he referred to as mar-rouye domesh vastadeh - "the cobra standing on his
tail."
By late January, a new, blue-ribbon security/intelligence committee recommended
to Khamenei that Iran scale back its presence in Iraq. So Khamenei ordered some
of the Quds forces officers to withdraw and sent a letter to al-Sadr "inviting"
him to Iran.
Last week, I learned from Iranian sources that Khamenei has now ordered the Quds
force to reduce its exposure in other parts of the Persian Gulf, in particular
in Bahrain. Iran has thoroughly infiltrated Bahrain's majority Shiite population
an d has repeatedly sparked demonstrations against the presence of the U.S.
Fifth Fleet.
The latest ploy by the anti-Bush crowd is the allegation that the White House
ignored an Iranian offer in April 2003 to negotiate a "comprehensive settlement"
with Iran. According to this fairy tale, the Iranians were willing to discuss
their support for terrorist groups and their nuclear program and even recognize
Israel but the Bush administration turned them down.
The story is being hyped by rogue weasel Flynt Leverett, a former National
Security Council staffer who quit government in May 2003 to become an adviser to
the presidential campaign of John Kerry. The Iranian official who allegedly made
the proposal, Sadeq Kharrazi, was subsequently arrested for "unauthorized
contacts" with the United States.
So much for an authoritative offer.
What's clear in both these stories is that the Tehran regime fears a tough U.S.
policy. In Iraq and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf, it is already backing down
under pressure. And when it comes to negotiations, we learn that the one thing
the regime really wants is for the United States to cut off support for the
pro-democracy movement and to provide security guarantees to the regime.
The conclusion is simple: Hang tough. It's working.
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Everyday,
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