What General Petraeus Should Tell America

FOXNews.com's Alireza Jafarzadeh Blogs:

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The core problem in Iraq is neither a civil nor a sectarian war. The main strategic threat to Iraq is neither Al Qaeda nor the Sunni insurgents. True, they are both responsible for a significant portion of violence in Iraq, but they both lack strategic assets to take over Iraq politically and militarily.

Iraq’s No. 1 problem is, in fact, Iran’s widespread and deadly presence in Iraq. Iran is undoubtedly the main instigator of violence, instability and derailing the political process in that country. Unlike Al Qaeda, Iran is a strategic threat for a sovereign, unified and Democratic Iraq. It is a regime with vast resources dedicated to the sponsorship of terrorism and export of fundamentalism, a 900-mile porous common border, and huge political and intelligence assets both within and outside the Iraqi government. Tehran is spending nearly $70,000,000 per month arming, training and funding Iraqi Shiite and Sunni militias.

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Jafarzadeh issues a pretty damning indictment of Iran. It's refreshing to see a member of the MSM come out so strongly against that cancer on the Gulf.

He writes:

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Four years on, Iran’s leaders have exploited all aspects of Iraq’s political and security landscape. Currently, Iran has as many as 32,000 Iraqis on its payroll, including senior officials in the Iraqi police force, ministries, National Assembly and other institutions. More ominously, rather than fulfilling his duty to disband and disarm the militias, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is also enhancing Iran’s position by keeping his loyalty to Tehran and empowering the Iran-backed militias.

It may seem that under the present circumstances there is no hope for an improvement of the situation in Iraq. Some suggest bringing in the Iranian regime as part of the solution. But the Iranian regime is the main problem, not a part of the solution in Iraq.

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That Iran has Iraqi politicians on their payroll is news to me. I have been unable to locate any source for that information. That's not to say that it isn't true. It is certainly plausible.

Go read Jafarzadeh's full opinion.

Iran Plan for Iraq

Counterterrorism Blog:

Walid Phares is a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, D.C., and director of the Future Terrorism Project.

Dr. Phares has sketched a very grim outline of Iran's plan for Iraq, should the United States "catastrophically" withdraw from Iraq before that nation's government stabilizes and can defend itself. Grim is a euphemistic description of the future Phares believes Iran has in store:

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1) The pro-Iranian militias (SCIRI, Badr Brigade, Muqtada al Sadr, act.) would seize the control of two thirds of Iraq between Baghdad and Basra. The militias would create "security enclaves," perform several terror acts and assassinations leading to a crumbling of the central Government, and a pro-Khomeinist regime established.

2) Most moderate Shiite politicians and liberal elements in those areas would be eliminated, as did Khomeini with his partners in the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Within less than a year, most Shia partners of the Pro-Iranian forces would be eliminated.

3) And as it was practiced in Lebanon in 1990, the pro-Iranian future regime of Iraq will call in Iranian "brotherly" forces to assist in security and in the defense of the borders. The Pasdaran and the Iranian army will deploy in the southern Oil fields, along the borders with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan and would connect with the Syrian forces across the borders. The latter will be asked to help in the Anbar province.

4) The Sunni areas will be left to be dealt with later, along with Syrian interventions.

5) The Kurdish areas will be submitted to isolation, pressure and internal divisions, in a concerted effort with Syria and the Islamic Government of Turkey.

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In this post, I noted the strategic objectives remaining for the U.S. led coalition:

1) Complete the neutralization of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

2) Flip Moqtada al-Sadr and bring his militias into the coalition fold (al-Sistani's Badr Brigades are not fighting the coalition).

3) Eliminate or neutralize the Iranian backed JAM forces.

A fourth strategic objective should be discussed--crippling Iran's ability to supply finance and logistics support to its proxy forces in Iraq. Sooner or later, the U.S. will have to draw down and leave a largely special forces and civil affairs COIN presence. When that happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not step in and attempt to fill the void. We can not let Iran gain another ounce of influence, and we can not let them solidify anything gained to date.

Dr. Phares probably has a stronger basis for wariness of al-Sistani's Badr militia than I do. I frankly don't see al-Sistani as an Iranian puppet mullah, as he threw his support in with the new government fairly early on. It was al-Sadr who seemed to be the chief ally of Iran in Iraq, which is why flipping him becomes so important.

Very interesting, and clearly critical, times lie ahed.

Read Dr. Phares full article.

The Iraq Doomsday Report

At Young Americans, Pat Dollard blogs on the Doomsday report from Stratfor.

Pat writes:

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According to local press reports verified by a confidential military source in Iraq, the real story behind Muqtada Al Sadr’s order for the Mahdi Army to “suspend” its attacks, and his stated goal of “reorganizing” it, is that he is attempting to purge it of Iranian-backed agents who now control huge chunks of the organization. Much like the Sunnis found out that their ally Al Qaeda was no more than a nefarious invader looking to wrest control of their territory, Al Sadr is discovering that his ally Iran is engaged in doing the same thing to him.

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Clearly, al-Sadr lives as a free man because the United States and the Iraqi government believe al-Sadr can be flipped. If he is flipped, the last of the serious enemies in Iraq will have been isolated and targeted for destruction. The key players in Iraq's dual insurgency have always been the Sunni dominated Al Qaeda group and the Iranian backed Shiite Jaish al-Mahdi elements. Al Qaeda is nearly finished as a fighting force. Jaish al-Mahdi still has enough political and financial support to fight on.

The clock is counting down to March, when at least some of the surge troops will rotate out of Iraq and draw our forces down to pre-surge levels. That leaves three strategic objectives:

1. Complete the neutralization of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

2. Flip Moqtada al-Sadr and bring his militias into the coalition fold (al-Sistani's Badr Brigades are not fighting the coalition).

3. Eliminate or neutralize the Iranian backed JAM forces.

A fourth strategic objective should be discussed--crippling Iran's ability to supply finance and logistics support to its proxy forces in Iraq. Sooner or later, the U.S. will have to draw down and leave a largely special forces and civil affairs COIN presence. When that happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not step in and attempt to fill the void. We can not let Iran gain another ounce of influence, and we can not let them solidify anything gained to date.

The enemy is to the east of Baghdad, and it is the same enemy Leonidas and Alexander the Great faced. The enemy is Persia.

Israel says no Gaza offensive, for now

AP via Yahoo! News:

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JERUSALEM - Israeli leaders ruled out a large-scale military response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip but threatened on Wednesday to cut off electricity or other vital supplies to the impoverished area if militants keep up attacks.

Pictures of panicked Israeli children and parents running for cover as the school year began in the battered town of Sderot have dominated news in Israel this week. The government has been forced to address growing anger and frustration over the inability of the high-tech military to counter the crude Palestinian weapons.

Israeli media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying the need for a large operation in Gaza is approaching. But the Security Cabinet, made up of senior ministers, rejected an all-out offensive to move Israeli communities out of range by taking control of the areas where militants fire rockets.

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Emphasis mine, so that I can call "Bravo Sierra."

First of all, these are not crude weapons at all. They are Katyusha rockets or Iranian made mortars. They have very good targeting hardware on them and the mortar/rocket crews are well-trained.

Israel has the same counterbattery technology that the United States and other western militaries do. Those counterbattery systems have high resolution RADAR capability and computerized tracking systems. As soon as the round leaves the launcher, the RADAR acquires it and the system begins developing a firing solution for the launch location. The firing crew would have about enough time to get one more round off before a 155mm counter artillery round is on its way to send the terrorists to Allah.

The Israelis don't return fire for the same reason Coalition troops hold fire--the terrorists are firing from civilian areas. If the IDF returned fire, civilians would likely be killed or wounded and the international press would be all over that story.

Like the U.S. in Iraq, Israel can not expect informed, much less unbiased, coverage from the media.

Iran Buying Advanced SAM System from Russia

Press TV :

"Vice Chairman of Russia's State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky has urged the fast delivery of the magnificent S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.

Speaking at the open session of Russia's State Duma on Wednesday, Zhirinovsky stated, 'S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems should be delivered as early as possible to enable Iran to defend its air space.'

The S-400 is a new generation of anti-aircraft / anti-missile weapon system developed by the Russian Almaz Central Design Bureau.

The S-400 is capable of detecting and destroying targets out to a range of 400km (250 miles), such as aircrafts, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, including those with a range of 3,500 km."

Iranian State-run Website Using Moonbat Posts as Propaganda

Iran's state-run Website, Press TV, is using leftist and conspiracy nut comment posts as pro-Iran, anti-U.S. and anti-Israel propaganda.

Press TV quotes unabashed tin foil hatter, Jim McPherson:

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Who is the rogue country in the middle east? Israel has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and allows no inspections by anyone. Israel has hundreds of nuclear warheads. If we use the same criteria on Israel that is applied to Iraq and Iran, then, in the words of US General George Patton, "Hey, we're fighting the wrong guys!" Jim McPherson Roswell, Georgia www.truthseeking.org.

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McPherson is one of those conspiracy theorists who believe the Apollo Moon Missions were staged; that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Zionist conspiracy is almost ready to take over the world.

I know, he's obviously a wiener short of a can of Vienna Sausages, but he is an American and the target audience is not exactly going to care much about our Black Helicopter Contingent.

Press TV also quotes a Canadian, Kenneth T. Tellis:

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There is very great need for the truth about Iran being disseminated and made available, so that it is not blurred by those who do not see Iran's interest as being for peace. There are of course, other sites which information from those who promote anti-Irani propaganda and create the false impression of Iran being a threat to world peace.

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We will let the absurdity of these statements stand for itself.

"Halimah," presumably an individual of "Middle Eastern descent," chimes in from the United States as well:

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I don't know why the USA does not just call Israel its 51st state! The Zionists get more aid than have of all of the USA states combined...it is an outrage!

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Press TV recently added a comment feature to their website, allowing readers to post comments on articles and op/ed pieces carried by the network. These stories are predictably anti-American and anti-Israel, drawing the usual self-loathing westerners and reassuring them that hating the U.S. is Ok.

Iran says US Troops Vulnerable

Iran's former IRGC Commander says 200,000 US troops are in weak positions in the Middle East and Iran has identified all their locations.

Senior Advisor to the Leader for Military Affairs, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, made the remark Monday in a meeting with Imam Hussein University faculty in Tehran.

He is apparently responding to news reports over the weekend regarding a super secret Pentagon plan to obliterate the entire Iranian military in 3 days.

With regards to Iran having identified all of our troops locations, it's not like we're difficult to find. We've been in the neighborhood since November 2001 and basically have Iran surrounded.

Ahmadinejad Pouts over U.N. Vetos

Press TV:

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President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized the veto right of certain countries at the United Nations.

Addressing the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran on Monday, he said, "The veto right is a vivid example of inequality, discrimination and injustice."

He went on, "Today, certain powers use the veto right as a tool to bring the votes of nations under question showing disrespect for the rights of other countries."

"They exert pressure on the democratic Palestinian government and strive to topple it by subjecting it to economic sanctions," Ahmadinejad said.

The chief executive noted that the US violates the rights and the lives of Iraqi people and still calls for the change of the independent Iraqi government.

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Iranian President Ahmadinejad is pouting over the UN Security Council permanent members' veto authority. Any of the five permanent members--China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States--can veto a UNSC resolution.

There's a good reason for that, of course. It's to keep rogue nations like Iran from hijacking the council and passing scurrilous motions.

Report: Pentagon Has 3-Day Plan to Knock Out Iran's Military

FOXNews.com:

Goals of plan are to annihilate Iran's military capability in 72 hours.

The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert in Sunday’s edition in the Times of London.

Click here to read the full story from the Times of London.

Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners were not preparing for “pinprick strikes” against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “They’re about taking out the entire Iranian military,” he said.

Debat was speaking at a meeting organized by The National Interest, a conservative foreign policy journal. He told The Sunday Times that the US military had concluded: “Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same.” It was, he added, a “very legitimate strategic calculus”.

President George Bush intensified the rhetoric against Iran last week, accusing Tehran of putting the Middle East “under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust”. He warned that the US and its allies would confront Iran “before it is too late”.


One Washington source said the “temperature was rising” inside the administration. Bush was “sending a message to a number of audiences”, he said to the Iranians and to members of the United Nations security council who are trying to weaken a tough third resolution on sanctions against Iran for flouting a UN ban on uranium enrichment.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week reported “significant” cooperation with Iran over its nuclear program and said that uranium enrichment had slowed. Tehran has promised to answer most questions from the agency by November, but Washington fears it is stalling to prevent further sanctions. Iran continues to maintain it is merely developing civilian nuclear power.

FOXNews.com: Hijacker Received Al Qaeda Training

FOXNews.com: Hijacker Received Al Qaeda Training

ANKARA, Turkey — One of the hijackers of a Turkish plane received training at an Al Qaeda camp and wanted to be flown to Iran so he could eventually join Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported Monday, citing police.

Authorities didn't say at which Al Qaeda camp 33-year-old hijacker Mommen Abdul Aziz Talikh, an Egyptian of Palestinian origin, received training.

Police said Talikh, along with Mehmet Resat Ozlu of Turkey, wielded a fake bomb and claimed Al Qaeda ties when hijacking the plane early Saturday after it took off from northern Cyprus. The pair held passengers and crew hostage for more than four hours before surrendering peacefully at the Turkish Mediterranean resort Antalya, where the plane had been diverted after taking off.

Dozens of Turks have joined Al Qaeda in Afghanistan or Iraq, police have said. Suicide bombers linked to Al Qaea hit Istanbul in 2003, killing 58 people in attacks that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank. In February, a court sentenced seven people to life in prison for the bombings.

The two hijackers had met in northern Cyprus a year ago and were living together at the same house for a month, police said. Ozlu was registered at the literature department of a university in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus, Anatolia said.

Iran Equipped with High-Tech Missiles - IRGC Commander

And threatens to "punch" U.S. "harder..."

AND is reportedly shelling areas in northeastern Iraq.




Baztab News

A senior Iranian official says Iran is equipped with modern surface-to-surface and land-to-sea missiles to counter extraterritorial threat.

"Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is a major power in the Middle East," Major Gen. Yahya Rahim-Safavi, the Commander of the IRGC told the state Jam-e Jam TV network.

Safavi said Iran is equipped with the state-of-the-art military technology to safeguard the nation's interests.

"Of course we have changed our military doctrine and strategies after the US-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan," he said according to a report by Press TV on Friday.

IRGC is equipped with 2,000km range guided surface-to-surface Ballistic missiles and surface-to-air Tor-M1 anti-missile system, said the official.

Safavi said the Iranian surface-to-sea missiles can fire any target in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman and that no boat or warship can evade the missiles.

Iran has trained some 12,000,000 volunteer (Basij) forces, organized in 2500 battalions known as 'Ashura'.

Safavi also praised IRGC's Ground Force capabilities, saying the Iranian anti-tank missiles can penetrate into the Israeli Merkava and US-made Abraham tanks.

“We believe in our military might and we are concerned with the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East,” he said.

Meanwhile, today from the Kurdish region of northeastern Iraq comes this report:

Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.

Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.

On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.

This is not shrill rhetoric or idle sabre rattling anymore. I have to ask if Ahmadinejad and his merry band of mullahs like having signs on their backs that say "KICK THE SHIT OUT OF ME!"

Iranian agents training militias in Iraq: U.S. general

Iranian agents training militias in Iraq: U.S. general:

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence reports indicate there are about 50 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards training Shi'ite militias in how to use mortars and rockets in southern Iraq, a U.S. general said on Sunday."

"The enemy is ramping up indirect fire attacks. The enemy is more aggressive. The great concern is about the Iranian munitions he is using," Lynch told reporters in Baghdad.

"We have some members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. They are facilitating training of Shi'ite extremists. In my battle space ... we think there are about 50 members."

Fuck the denials from the "Tehran Bureau."

Counterterrorism Blog: CAIR's Legal Gambit (and another Graph)

Counterterrorism Blog: CAIR's Legal Gambit (and another Graph)

Another outstanding analysis from the Counterterrorism Blog. Aaron Mannes, from the University of Maryland, provides graphical information on the network of Hamas and its funding organizations. Insightful, keen, and a picture worth 1,000 words, +1.

UPDATE: Click the image below for the full resolution of Mannes' graph. For a patient explanation of what the graph shows, please follow the link above. Be patient, and follow the bouncing ball.

Outstanding work. Just outstanding.

The Thunder Run: Concerned Citizens: A Step Toward Self-Reliance

The Thunder Run: Concerned Citizens: A Step Toward Self-Reliance

A very nice post from someone reading the news from the same perspective of local reconciliation, without any prompting, prodding, arm twisting, bribery or cajolement from me.

Ahmadinejad: Islam Must Rule the World

Kabul, Afghanistan. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Tuesday that rule of Islam on mankind is the only way for salvation of human beings.

"There is no truth on earth but monotheism and following tenets of Islam and there is no way for salvation of mankind but rule of Islam over mankind," said Ahmadinejad in a meeting with Afghan Sunni and Shiite ulama at Iranian Embassy in Kabul.

President Ahmadinejad said nations are today distancing themselves from culture of materialism and selfishness and look for a new way for their prosperity, that is the path of Islam.

He said that the world is on verge of a great upheaval and ulama at this juncture shoulder a heavy responsibility that is introducing genuine Islam as it is.

"Nations today have no haven but religion," the Iranian president announced, cautioning Muslim nations against enemies' divisive plots.

He said, "All of us have the duty to resist the enemy by closing our ranks." He said that the Iranian nation today feels more than ever the need to stand beside the Afghan nation.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has kindly received their Afghan brothers and will continue to do so in future. Minor issues will cannot affect Iran's policies on Afghanistan," he added.

The president said Islam belongs to all generations and Muslims should get ready for global mission of Islam.