OK, so now can we bomb their asses? --- Update 3
Update: "White House: Can't rule out attack on Iran"
See previous: OK, so now can we bomb their asses?, 'OK, so now can we bomb their asses? --- Update, OK, so now can we bomb their asses? --- Update 2, U. S. troops raid Iranian not-a-Consulate Qods Piece
By Dafydd ab Hugh
So it's official: the US military says that the 5 Iranians we seized in Irbil (Kurdistan region of Iraq) were Qods Force: "Preliminary results revealed the five detainees are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qods Force (IRGC-QF), an organization known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilize the government of Iraq and attack coalition forces," the U.S. military said in a statement.
Hardly a surprise. Meanwhile, however, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini is getting increasingly shrill: Hosseini said the Iranian representative office where the five men worked was established in Irbil in 1992 to facilitate the visit of Kurdish businessmen and medical patients from Iraq to Iran.
"Then, both countries agreed to promote it to consular level," he said. "Agreement for formation of the Iranian consulate section was exchanged in the current (Iranian) year...."
"The United States should release all the five persons, prevent possible similar acts and compensate damages," Hosseini said. ....
Oh my gawd, people, this is tewwible! We've utterly failed to show the proper respect for an Iranian almost-consulate. Next thing you know we'll be dissing their embassies or something. Cry me a frickin' river.
*** U.S.: Iranian Detainees Had Ties to Insurgent Group
Five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq last week were connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday.
The five were detained by U.S.-led forces Thursday in a raid on an Iranian government liaison office in Irbil, a city in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq 217 miles north of Baghdad.
"Preliminary results revealed the five detainees are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qods Force (IRGC-QF), an organization known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilize the Government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces," the U.S. military said in a statement.
*** Tehran calling
Scott Johnson
In her Jerusalem Post column, Caroline Glick sketches out the regional war confronting both Israel and the United States. The Telegraph reports on the order given by President Bush to go after Iranian operatives in Iraq. The Telegraph story adds some details regarding Iranian support for the sectarian violence in Iraq: Iran has set up a network of fake import-export companies in Iraq's Anbar province to channel funds to Sunni fighters, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
At secret meetings, tribal sheikhs with close ties to the insurgents revealed details of the money-laundering to Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
"Truckloads of Iranian appliances like televisions are shipped into Iraq, apparently legitimately, and then sold for cash that can be channelled to Sunni insurgents," said Mr Rubin, now at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank. "The Iranians are very pragmatic about who they will deal with. ...
From Jenin to Baghdad
Caroline Glick "Qods" is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, and a frequent name for political or military factions across the Muslim world.
Two days after the raid, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President George W. Bush approved the strategy of raiding Iranian targets in Iraq as part of a broad effort to confront Tehran.
The U.S. accuses Iran of helping to provide roadside bombs that have killed American troops in Iraq, and a bitter standoff already exists over Iran's nuclear program ...
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Gateway Pundit has more on the Erbil raid here.
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Dan Riehl has more here.
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Causes for hope:
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