Basra and Iran

Friends,
Really, really hard to see this one coming. Iran? Who would have thought? Remember that Basra is around 12 miles from Iran, so it is not too much of a stretch to figure why Iran is involved in Basra. Beware of Bush and Cheney getting what they wish; a broader war including Iran.

Peace and Love,
Rev O

"The intensified focus on Iran coincides with diminished emphasis on al-Qaeda in Iraq as the leading justification for an ongoing U.S. military presence in Iraq."

"Despite earlier indications that Iranian backing for Iraqi armed groups and the flow of Iranian arms have waned, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that "this action in Basra was very convincing that indeed they haven't." Basra "gave us much more insight into their involvement in many activities."'

"Administration officials worried that Iran appeared in control of events in Iraq, while the United States seemed weak and uninformed."

Iran Top Threat To Iraq, U.S. Says Washington Post
Last week's violence in Basra and Baghdad has convinced the Bush administration that actions by Iran, and not al-Qaeda, are the primary threat inside Iraq, and has sparked a broad reassessment of policy in the region, according to senior U.S. officials.