Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Iran in Iraq
Wednesday, January 3, 2007

A lot of talk about this report in the New York Sun that U.S. officials have captured documents in Iraq showing that Iran is influencing both Shia and Sunni insurgetsn in Iraq to create "total mayhem." The key graf:

An American intelligence official said the new material, which has been authenticated within the intelligence community, confirms "that Iran is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups." The source was careful to stress that the Iranian plans do not extend to cooperation with Baathist groups fighting the government in Baghdad, and said the documents rather show how the Quds Force — the arm of Iran's revolutionary guard that supports Shiite Hezbollah, Sunni Hamas, and Shiite death squads — is working with individuals affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna.

Despite what you may hear, this story reinforces what I've been saying that reports of a broad Shia Crescent stretching from Iran to Gaza are grossly exaggerated. Just as the U.S. was doing back in the '80s when we supported Bin Laden (and Saddam) against various of our enemies (Afghanistan and Iran), Iran is primarily ensuring that the U.S. gets bogged down in Iraq, even if it means supporting their natural enemies. The rivalry between Iran and Iraq is too deep -- and too old -- to be easily erased.

Labels: Middle East

Posted by B Feiler at 2:53 PM
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