Iran and Iraq

Surrounding the recent Congressional testimony of Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker, the Bush Administration, its Congressional enablers and the right-wing press disseminated a number of falsehoods about Iran. Now that al-Quaeda’s role in Iraq has been reduced, a new threat had to be found and, for those not acquainted with the truth, Iran perfectly fits the White House agenda. Americans must cautiously assess the spin being crafted to the role of Iran in Iraq.

-The Administration characterizes Iran as a ‘malign influence’ conducting ‘nefarious activities’. There was much talk of Iranian ‘special groups’, although these were never defined. There were rumors of Iranian weapons being used against US troops - particularly in the Green Zone - yet no proof was presented. The truth: the Middle East is so awash with black market weapons and arms stolen from unguarded US ammo caches, that it is a presumption to assume they are Iranian-supplied.

-Iran was accused of arming Sadrist militias, yet Iranian support goes overwhelmingly to the Badr Brigade of PM Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party. Maliki, incidentally, spent his years in exile from Saddam Hussein in Iran and Syria. The truth: Iran (our enemy) supplies more support to al Maliki (our mutual client) than to any other militia in Iraq. This was never stated.

-The truth: During the recent abortive attempt to take Basra, after al Maliki’s Iraqi Security Forces failed to defeat Moqtadr al Sadr’s Mahdi Army, it was Iran who brokered the cease-fire. This, too, was barely mentioned and - if it was - the role of Tehran as peacemaker was denigrated.

-Finally, the Bush Administration repeats the canard that Iranian President Ahmedinijad calls for the destruction of Israel. This is a lie. The truth: While no friend of Jerusalem, what was actually called for was ‘regime change’, not destruction. A careful and honest reading of the translation reveals the truth. Note: anytime Americans hear a speaker say that ‘destruction’ was Tehran’s object, the speaker is either a fool, a liar - or both.

The role of Iran in Iraq is extremely nuanced and complicated. Iranian support of Hamas and Hezbollah cannot be ignored and ought not be minimized. However: it is well worth Americans’ time to thoroughly understand the ongoing political and cultural ties between Iran and Iraq, particularly with respect to the al Maliki government whom we are spending $5000/per second to support. It is also critical to sift through the spin, obfuscation and lies from the White House which, apparently, is ramping up its bellicose language for the 2008 presidential campaign, creating a new enemy and hoping that the public is not paying attention and is buying its latest bill of goods.