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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Ledeen: The Iran We Cannot Avoid |
| 2007-01-07 |
| Hat Tip to Melanie Phillips via Tipper EFL The Iran We Cannot Avoid There is no escape from the war Iran is waging against us, the war that started in 1979 and is intensifying with every passing hour. We will shortly learn more about the documents we found accompanying the high-level Iranian terrorist leader we briefly arrested in Hakim’s compound in Baghdad some days ago, and what we will learn–what many key American officials have already learned–is stunning. At least to those who thought that Iran was “meddling” in Iraq, but refused to believe that it was total war, on a vast scale. Several good journalists are working on this story (see, for example, today’s article by Eli Like in the NY Sun), and the outlines are pretty clear. First, we had good information that terrorists were in Baghdad, and had gone to the compound. We did not know exactly who they were. We entered the compound and arrested everybody who looked like a usual suspect. One of them told us he was the #3 official of the al Quds unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, a particularly vicious group. He was carrying documents, one of which was in essence a wiring diagram of Iranian operations in Iraq. That wiring diagram included both Shi’ite and Sunni terrorist groups, and was of such magnitude that American officials were flabbergasted. It seems that our misnamed Intelligence Community had grossly underestimated the sophistication and the enormity of the Iranian war campaign. I am told that this information has reached the president, and that it is part of the body of information he is digesting in order to formulate his strategy for Iraq. If he sees clearly what is going on, he must realize that there can be no winning strategy for Iraq alone, since a lot of ‘Iraqi’ activity—not just lethal materiel such as the latest generation of explosive devices, now powerful enough to penetrate the armor of most of our vehicles—is actually Iranian in origin. We cannot ‘solve’ the Iraqi problem without regime change in Iran. Those of you who have borne with me for the last few years will not be surprised to hear this; what’s new is the apparently irrefutable evidence that has now providentially fallen into our hands. The policy makers will not like this evidence, because it drives them in a direction they do not wish to go. I am told that, at first, there was a concerted effort, primarily but by no means exclusively from the intel crowd, to sit on the evidence, to prevent it from reaching the highest levels. But the information was too explosive, and it is now circulating throughout the bureaucracy. I have little sympathy for those who have avoided the obvious necessity of confronting Iran, however I do understand the concerns of military leaders, such as General Abizaid, who are doing everything in their considerable power to avoid a two-front war. But I do not think we need massive military power to bring down the mullahs, and in any event we now have a three-front war: within Iraq, and with both Iran and Syria. So General Abizaid’s objection is beside the point. We are in a big war, and we cannot fight it by playing defense in Iraq. That is a sucker’s game. And I hope the president realizes this at last, and that he finds himself some generals who also realize it, and finally demands a strategy for victory. |
| Posted by:Chuck |
| #11 How did we come to this? We're POWERLESS(unless you good folks know anything that I don't know) Sure...I have a medium-sized home/perimeter protective device collection arsenal to protect my family. BUT, I NEVER would have thought (until recently), that the "...Beacon of Democracy and Freedom..."; would ever have rolled over and played dead in the face of islamO-facist coc#suc#ers. Thanks U.S. State Dept., DOJ, MSM, ACLU, ABA, etc. I hope that you all rot in hell. |
| Posted by: Asymmetrical T 2007-01-07 21:55 |
| #10 The West has to stop allowing Iranian and Saudi support of terror mosques in our countries. For one thing, there is no quid pro quo. Those terror states allow neither inducement of conversion to the Mohammadan cult nor construction of facilities for other faiths. I recall an instance where Bush41 was in Saudi Arabia during Thanksgiving. In order to celebrate the holiday, the President had to be flown to a US military ship. He returned to the terrorist entity the next day. |
| Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 2007-01-07 15:36 |
| #9 This is just the sort of thing that Reagan would have taken personally. I hope Bush can get a call through to Pelosi and get her to come over to the oval office, open her purse, take out his balls and let him borrow them for a few days. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-01-07 13:04 |
| #8 Michael remains my candidate for a Medal of Freedom. Few have been more persistent and forward leaning in terms of liberty for Iranians. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2007-01-07 10:50 |
| #7 Klingons, Besoeker? I smell Orc. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-01-07 08:48 |
| #6 Any documents alleged to have been captured with the Iranians that might implicate Iran as engaging in acts of war against the US were no doubt fabricated and planted by the evil Chimpy Bushitler and his Halliburton minions to build support for his planned illegal invasion of peaceful Iran. See, anybody can be a Kos Kid; it's easy and fun, and takes no thinking at all! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-01-07 08:17 |
| #5 If we owned the Saudi oil fields, we could drive the price of oil down to $10/bbl. Hint hint. |
| Posted by: fmr mil contractor 2007-01-07 07:57 |
| #4 If oil drops below $50/brl look for rioting in the streets of Tehran. |
| Posted by: Baba Tutu 2007-01-07 05:06 |
| #3 Considering that every rantburg type in America - without any access to Intel - already knew the Iranians were involved in Iraq, I sure as hell hope the Intel community and the Whitehouse have known about Iranian involvement for years. If not, lets level the CIA building and put a playground in its place. We might as well let kids pretend to be secret agent man. Its a helluva lot cheaper then paying adults to do it. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-01-07 04:20 |
| #2 We will shortly learn ...that was phueching subsequently released due to "diplo-immunity." Thank you US State Dept and mindless Klingons. It seems that our misnamed Intelligence Community had grossly underestimated the sophistication and the enormity of the Iranian war campaign. Klingon denial and harboring of intelligence again? How can this be? Sounds like we need to relieve some US Army generals and put a Klingon in charge of DoD, oh it's already been done? .......sorry. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-01-07 04:07 |
| #1 I can almost see, in the near future, an intense aerial attack on Iran followed in a few hours by W going on national TV to disclose the extent of the war Iran has been waging against us in Iraq and the necessity to strike immediately, along with some kind of ultimatum. An intense effort against terrorism in Iraq would also have been going on for some time. I saw JFK on TV when he announced the beginning of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. This time the shooting is likely to start before a Presidential message. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-07 03:21 |