March 21st, 2006 by LA
According to Fox, we’re already secretly fighting Iran.
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March 21st, 2006 at 9:57 pm
I took their poll: Is Iran helping to fund the insurgency in Iraq?
I voted “not sure.” I don’t think they are, but what concrete information do I have?
92% of their zombies voted “yes.”
Apparently, 92% of Fox viewers are close enough to the Iranian regime to be supplied with top-secret information.
March 21st, 2006 at 10:07 pm
If I were high up in the Iranian security apparatus I would absolutely be funding elements of the Iraqi resistance. Obviously the government we’ve set up is not going to stick long-term. That bucket tipped over a long time ago. It’s in their interest to get in bed with whatever faction they think has a shot to end up with its hands on the levers of power.
It’s funny, to me, the entire debate about what Iran is doing right now. If they aren’t A) trying to develop a nuclear weapon and B) funding their favorite factions in the Iraq insurgency, I’m at a loss as to what they are thinking. Given the current direction of US policy there really is no other sane course of action available to them. Of course there are attendant dangers to world peace that are immeasurable, but in terms of Iran’s security, that’s got to be the strategy. I mean, raise your hand if you think the chances of a US invasion of Iran before 2015 are less than 50%. Get ‘em up.
Yeah. Didn’t think so.
APS
March 21st, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Ape–
Fox has been trying to link Iran to al-Qaeda in Irag. Given the ties between Iran and SCIRI, I would think that would be where their money is going. Them or the Shia Mahdi Army. But Fox wants a war with Iran, so they’re going with al-Qaeda.
March 21st, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Oh, sure. No argument there. And it’s not as simple as maybe I make it sound - there’s obviously a continuum between “the insurgency” and the legitimate political party structure in Iraq. My point mainly is that we’ve essentially forced Iran to pursue the strategy that we’re now gearing up to say gives us the right to attack her.
I’ll also say in the GOP’s defense they absolutely should start a war with Iran. As Redman said on Doc’s Da Name 2000, if you’re gonna be a monkey, be a motherfuckin’ gorilla.
“I write da madness, got ink foamin at da pen…”
APS
March 21st, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Well, at least if they’re funding SCIRI, which dominates the interior ministry and the army, then we’re all on the same side, right?
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 am
We’ve been “at war” with Iran since 1979. We funded Iraq to do the dirty work in the 80’s. We attacked and nearly sunk the entire Iranian Navy in less than a day (payback is a bitch).
Without our war with Iran, Chuck Norris would be a Hollywood nobody (”The Octogon” excepted, along with Col. Braddock et al).
Iran has been the target since the overthrow of the Shah. Iran has been isolated. Surrounded by our newly found friends in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Russia is no longer in the border equation, which excludes them as an impediment. Our old friend Turkey is there too. Our best new friends, the Emirates, Qatar and Oman let us build bases and build up combat forces there.
Did GWB think this up? I’d say no, he’s not that smart. I’d be willing to bet that someone in the Rand Corp did, though.
March 22nd, 2006 at 1:39 am
According to some Iraqis I talked to when I was over there, most of the insurgency is either getting equipment, funds, or personel from Syria and Iran. So I think for once, and I mean once, that fox may not be totally off on the poll. I also wouldn’t be surprised if special forces are doing operations in Iran.
March 22nd, 2006 at 3:45 am
Ziggurat05–
You could well be right. My point was that for 99% of us, the only really reasonable answer was “don’t know.”
I’m always entertained when polls ask people for matters of fact, rather than opinion.
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:40 am
I’m starting to think that we are kind of like the school bully that beats up the weak kid, until he finally hits back, and then we scream “He hit me” and then the play yard takes notice, after the public announcement, and the cheering for the rich strong popular kid from the ignorant around, and the weak kid gets beat up really really bad, and then gets his lunch money stolen.
I think we did that to Iraq. We’d been bombing them for a decade prior, as well as imposing sanctions, killing thousands, but we didn’t wait for them to strike. We just made up a lie about them. Then we stole their resources.
Since our main-stream-media’s sponsors are some that are profiting off the war, those that “get a cut of the weak kids lunch money” the truth isn’t completely exposed. The story is always posed to make us look good.
So, what are we to think about Iran? If only we knew. Damn it. BushWorld=Hell widespread on the planet. White phosphorous. Land mines.
Cluster bombs. Aerial bombings. Depleted Uranium. Lots and lots of dead innocents. Bombing, no matter what anyone says is not an exact science. G.Damn the neo-cons!!!!
March 22nd, 2006 at 6:36 am
Every time Sean Hannity does the Shrub-Squint I want to jump through the TV and kick his ass. Pussy.
March 22nd, 2006 at 9:32 am
to the extent that the insurgency is sunni-based and killing shia, it would seem unlikely that the iranian government would be arming the insurgency.
on the other hand, as long as we keep rattling our sword at tehran, they have every incentive to keep the u.s. bogged down in iraq. the mullahs are not in a terrible place right now. american preemptive strikes are discredited and will probably get the support of no one else. the new iraqi government is pretty pro-iranian as is the new government in afghanistan. the u.s. got rid of the iranian regime’s two worst enemies among the bordering nations (saddam and the taliban). so iran is using this rare opportunity moment to make a rush for nuclear weapons. once it gets them, it can deter further attacks in the future if things get worse for them again.
March 22nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Upyernoz:
Definintely true. I think here the impoverished nature of our terminology is getting in the way here. If by “the insurgency” we mean the purely rejectionist element of the resistance, the one that wants to restore Sunni dominance, then that’s true. However, I personally don’t think that’s a major element of the resistance at this time. If it were you wouldn’t see the attacks on US forces being supported by up to 50% of the Shiite population in polls.
There are lots of armed groups jockeying for dominance of Iraq, particularly the area in and around Baghdad, and many if not most of those forces are Shiite. Perhaps we don’t think of those forces as “the insurgency” but they are hostile to the central government and to the US military presence. It’s those forces that are likely receiving funding from Iran.
I can’t speak for Syria because to me the situation isn’t as clear in Syria’s case. The Syrian security apparatus certainly could be funding the Sunni guerillas, but the risk-reward calculation is different in Syria’s case I think. It’s less of a no-brainer.
APS
March 22nd, 2006 at 1:48 pm
So far, the “official” insurgency, as determined by the DoD, are Sunni rebels and foreign fighters. Out of that official denomition are all the Shia militias, like Sadr’s for exemple. These are without question funded and equipped by Iran. As are most of the legitimate pols of the Iraqi government and bureaucraty. In the future we will also likely see a Kurdish insurgency, most likely back up by Israel.
March 22nd, 2006 at 2:34 pm
i’m not sure if a kurdish insurgency would be backed by israel. first, the current parties in charge of kurdish areas are about as pro-israeli as you get in the region, second, israel’s only real ally among the middle eastern countries is turkey. stirring up the kurds is sure to burn that bridge
actually, a kurdish insurgency could actually be funded by the turks. creating chaos in kurdistan would be a way to avoid an independent kurdish state. on the other hand, if there’s too much chaos there, it would allow the PKK and other kurdish groups in turkey a nice place to hang out
March 22nd, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I can’t find back my source on that (it’s been a while) but the Kurds are already being supplied by Israel from what I read.
The Israelis have long decided that the US will never be able to fix Iraq and they’ve decide to back the only ethnic group in Iraq that doesn’t have any beef with Israel.