IRAN

IRAN - Oct/07

Earlier we highlighted Iran’s complicity in the destablization of Iraq, this as part of their master plan to establish dominance in the entire region. We predicted that this presented the next major US hurdle. Last week general Petraeus told a group of reporters that, "Iran is responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers." What can we expect next?

Progress in recent months in Iraq has served our goal to enhance American security as al Qaeda has gone from near-ascendancy in 2006 to near-collapse in 2007. From the Weekly Standard, "In front of all the world, Iraq’s Sunnis, to use the biblical phrase, are vomiting out al Qaeda. This is a defeat and humiliation in the extreme - an Arab Muslim population rejecting al Qaeda so violently that it allies itself in battle with the infidel, the foreigner, the occupier." This process has been highlighted in past postings. The turning of Sunni Iraq against al Qaeda is a signal event in the war on terror.

Now the US must and will focus on an Iran which has not only increased training and shipments, but has dramatically increased its efforts to destabilize the elected, Shia-dominated government of Iraq (as Iranian-sponsored Shia terrorists have been set back by combined US, Iraqi efforts). Iran has too long been allowed to enjoy a free ride in mounting a proxy war against the US.

At this juncture the US with some allies will adopt the idea we have long advocated, to begin to work outside of the UN framework to impose tough sanctions on Iran. James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation summarizes, "The goal of these actions will be to force Iran to choose between the national interests of the increasingly isolated regime. Shining a spotlight on Iranian subversion in Iraq and making clear the attendant risks of continuing that policy could eventually pay dividends by driving a wedge between Tehran’s radical regime and the Iranian people, who have a strong interest in avoiding international sanctions that could hobble Iran’s economy and constrict Iran’s links to the outside world."

Robert Craven