[lit-ideas] Iraqi problems caused by Iran (1)
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 08:35:27 -0800
Perhaps a surgical strike against just the nuclear sites won't be
sufficient:
On page 75, Berman writes, "Since the official end of major combat
operations in Iraq in May 2003, Iran has launched a massive strategic
offensive design to destabilize the post-totalitarian political system
there. This effort encompasses
1. The infiltration of hundreds of intelligence agents and Pasdaran
operatives into post-war Iraq. According to U.S intelligence reports,
Iranian agents have been tasked with uncovering details of U.S. military
planning, and of enlisting Iraqis to carry out attacks against Coalition
forces and Western interests within the country. To support them, Iran has
established an extensive network of safe-houses and institutional mechanism
to facilitate Iranian intelligence and covert operations on Iraqi territory.
In a summer 2004 meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Iraqi Interior
Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib publicly acknowledged this involvement when
he stressed Iran's direct role in the terrorist and sabotage operations
being carried out in Iraq.'
2. The relaxation of border controls to permit the infiltration of organized
criminal elements and terrorists into Iraq. As a result, Iranian drug
smuggling networks have established a major foothold within Iraq, using
religious tourism and trade as a cover for their activities. Persistent
reports from allied factions within Iraq suggest that Iran continues to
allow Islamic militants from groups like the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar
al-Islam to traverse Iranian territory into Iraq, and to reinforce their
compatriots with new weapons. In fact, Pasdaran officials themselves have
admitted that Iran continues to allow master terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
to traverse its territory with impunity.
3. The elimination of independent Iraqi religious leaders that could pose a
challenge to Iran's religious primacy. Pasadaran operatives, for example,
are believed to be responsible for the summer 2003 assassination in Najaf of
the Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, the independent-minded head of the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Other Iraqi
religious leaders, like the Ayatollah Abdel Majid al-Khoei, similarly have
been murdered by pro-Iranian forces.
Lawrence
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