The Iran-Qaeda Scandal

February 25th, 2007 Posted in Of Interest

I wish they would just make up their minds:

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

I guess we’re between Iraq and hard place. But seriously, folks, Cheney is running an Iran-Contra style scheme that ends up putting money in the hands of Al Qaeda in order to thwart Iran.

The man just missed his calling using piano wire in the special forces, that’s all. Just because you’re vice-president doesn’t mean you can’t kill lots of people.

What Cheney needs now is to provoke Iran:

Flynt Leverett, a former Bush Administration National Security Council official, told me that “there is nothing coincidental or ironic” about the new strategy with regard to Iraq. “The Administration is trying to make a case that Iran is more dangerous and more provocative than the Sunni insurgents to American interests in Iraq, when—if you look at the actual casualty numbers—the punishment inflicted on America by the Sunnis is greater by an order of magnitude,” Leverett said. “This is all part of the campaign of provocative steps to increase the pressure on Iran. The idea is that at some point the Iranians will respond and then the Administration will have an open door to strike at them.”

Of course, all you need to get Americans behind a war is just a dash of hawkish rhetoric and use of Iran and “evil” in the same sentence. But don’t forget to torture:

The U.S. military also has arrested and interrogated hundreds of Iranians in Iraq. “The word went out last August for the military to snatch as many Iranians in Iraq as they can,” a former senior intelligence official said. “They had five hundred locked up at one time. We’re working these guys and getting information from them.

Bush and Cheney are far more dangerous to the world than islamist terrorists.