Tehran calling
In an important paragraph tucked away in his prepared remarks yesterday, General Petraeus observed:
In the past six months we have also targeted Shia militia extremists, capturing a number of senior leaders and fighters, as well as the deputy commander of Lebanese Hezbollah Department 2800, the organization created to support the training, arming, funding, and, in some cases, direction of the militia extremists by the Iranian Republican Guard Corps’ Qods Force. These elements have assassinated and kidnapped Iraqi governmental leaders, killed and wounded our soldiers with advanced explosive devices provided by Iran, and indiscriminately rocketed civilians in the International Zone and elsewhere. It is increasingly apparent to both Coalition and Iraqi leaders that Iran, through the use of the Qods Force, seeks to turn the Iraqi Special Groups into a Hezbollah-like force to serve its interests and fight a proxy war against the Iraqi state and coalition forces in Iraq.Iran's proxy war against the United States is being fought in Iraq, but not only in Iraq. Today our friends at the Claremont Institute publish Thomas Joscelyn's extraordinary pamphlet: Iran's Proxy War Against America. Joscelyn traces the war from the embassy bombing in Beirut and collects evidence suggestive of Iran's collaboration with al Qaeda in attacks including the Khobar Towers bombing, the 1998 embassy bombings, 9/11 and the al Qaeda/Taliban "great escape" from Afghanistan in late 2001. Joscelyn concludes with policy recommendations including the recognition of "the realities of Iran's persistent assault." Please check out this important essay.
