« One Candidates Son IS “Fair Game” | Main | "Reconquista" – An Absolut Error »
April 09, 2008
Proxy War With Iran Ramps Up
by Jack Lee
(left) HMMWV blown up by Iranian bomb.
Shortly after the US invaded Iraq Iran began testing America by sending in a few agents, sponsored by Iran's Mullahs, to assist Shiite militias that were starting to form. That action followed by increasing shipments of munitions that included explosives for IED's. Since then the Mullah's actions have gained the cooperation of Iran's highest government officials who see little risk in attacking US forces using Iraqi fighters armed with Iranian weapons.
Our long standing pattern of conduct has been to apprehend Iranian's in Iraq, seize weapon shipments, but little else. Meanwhile Iran has flexed its muscle and become increasingly bold and confident knowing their enemy has no desire to do them harm and expand an unpopular war.
Unfortunately, we have to admit what goes around comes around. This proxy war is very similar to a time when Russians were trying to prop up Afghanistan's pro-communist government and we supported the Taliban and Bin Laden's friends with advisors and munitions. We know how all that worked out for the Russians. What do you think this will do for us if we continue to follow our predictable response to dealing with Iran's meddling?
Now here is a brief history of Middle East events involving US and Iran and be sure to read the last paragraph, it really lays it all out:
May 21, 1987 USS Stark attacked in Gulf by 2 Iraqi Exocet missiles, killing 37; United States blames Iran.
April 18, 1988 US blows up 2 Iranian oil rigs, destroys an Iranian frigate and immobilizes another.
July 3, 1988 USS Vincennes shoots downs an Iranian Airbus passenger aircraft, killing 290.
Nov 6, 1994 Iran fires Scud missiles at bases of Mujahedin al-Khalq in Iraq.
July 6, 2004, US captures two Iranian Intelligence Officers in with explosives in Baghdad.
March 6, 2006,, US captures shipments of deadly new bombs capable of penetrating armor at the Iran-Iraq border. US says this links Iran by tell-tale manufacturing signatures, certain types of machine-shop welds and material indicating they are built by the same bomb factory.
Feb. 11, 2007, US literally put on the table the first evidence that Iran is supplying Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with deadly weaponry, including a roadside bomb that pierces American armor. The US military accused the "highest levels" of Iran's government of supplying increasingly sophisticated roadside bombs to Iraqi insurgents.
Mar. 10, 2007 Iran captures 15 Royal Navy personnel in International waters and holds them hostage for three weeks.
May 04, 2007, US forces arrested two Iraqis suspected of smuggling weapons and armour-piercing explosives from Iran in a dawn raid Thursday into Baghdad's Shiite slum Sadr City.
July 27, 2007, US captures two Iranian's associated with a network of terrorists that have been smuggling explosively formed projectiles (EFPs), other weapons, personnel and money from Iran into Iraq." Referring to powerful, armor-piercing roadside bombs that have killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers in recent months.
Sept 20, 2007, Coalition forces on Thursday arrested a member of an elite Iranian unit that has been accused of training and equipping insurgents in Iraq. The military said the man is a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force.
Feb. 08, 2008, Middle East Times reports new information was brought to light Thursday revealing "an overwhelming amount of intelligence indicating a political-military buildup by Tehran's mullahs, targeting not just the south, but the heart of Iraq." According to Jafarzadeh this latest move by Tehran "can only be interpreted as indicating an aggressive buildup, by an aggressive regime with an aggressive agenda." Iran's plan, according to Jafarzadeh, is to expand its terrorist network in Iraq through the deployment of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' elite units – the Qods Force.
One of the Qods Force's main tasks is to funnel weapons from Iran to Iraq, according to the resistance opposed to the mullahs in Tehran. Most shipments enter Iraq at the Marivan border crossing. A city in western Iran, Marivan was surrounded with military trenches during the Iran-Iraq war. Mules are used to transport the weapons. In October 2007 about 100 Katyusha rockets were smuggled through this route. On the Iraqi side of the border, individuals belonging to Abu-Jafar al-Boka's network arrive at the location driving tanker trucks filled with water. They load the rockets and transfer them via military roads to Baghdad. To evade inspection at checkpoints, al-Boka uses official papers issued by Iraq's Ministry of Interior.
Weapons transferred through the Marivan passage include Katyusha rockets, explosive packages, TNT, and anti-helicopter surface-to-air missiles.
Posted by Post Scripts at April 9, 2008 09:09 AM