OPERATION: ALTAIR

Simon Tisdall
Tuesday May 22, 2007
The Guardian



Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."

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This item appeared in The Guardian late last month, foreshadowing developments such as this item from the AP:

"Bergner said Iraqi extremists were taken to Iran in groups of 20 to 60 for training in three camps "not too far from Tehran." When they returned to Iraq, they formed units to carry out attacks, bombings and kidnappings.

"Our intelligence reveals that the senior leadership in Iran is aware of this activity," he said. He said it would be "hard to imagine" that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was unaware of the activity.

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MNF-Iraq knows it. The White House knows it. The press knows it. The Iraqi people know it. Does the United States Congress know it?

"The President's 'surge' strategy can not achieve it's goals of securing Iraq and giving the Iraqi government time to reach a consensus, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said on Face The Nation."

Apparently not.

Earlier this month, the American people inundated Senatorial phone lines, fax machines and email servers with a surge of their own, denouncing the Amnesty Immigration Bill and all but forcing the Senate to reject the measure. Perhaps it is time to re-surge the surge, and tell people like Lugar, Voinovich and Warner that we cannot allow a radical islamic state like Iran dictate US foreign policy. Iran is attacking our soldiers in Iraq, and the President should not have to watch his back from attacks on Capitol Hill.