The Janus Face of a Crazy War - or Who's on First

Syria had supposedly given up their wmd plans and storage locations. They made the concessions for whatever reasons. However, that didn't stop the US Congress from imposing sanctions on them anyway. Now, it looks like they may be getting back at the US for that slap in the face - U.S. intel: Syria funding Iraqi uprising ( 4/16/04 WorldNet Daily)

Meanwhile, the US appealed to Iran to aid in negotiations with insurgents, the insurgents kill and Iranian representative, and then Iranian infiltrators target 11 Iraqi cities;
Israelis call campaign 'massive' (Geostrategy Direct, 4/16/04)

Some 2,000 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Islamic shock troops have entered Iraq and are seeking to control 11 Iraqi cities, according to London's Arabic newspaper, Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

The newspaper, quoting informed Iranian sources, reported last week that the infiltrators included fighters, clerics and students from the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq [SCIRI] and Al-Da'wah Party. Also sent were several hundred elements from the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Corps. Their members come from families deported from Iraq and speak Arabic with an Iraqi accent.

The IRGC intelligence service was able to deploy the forces from unguarded areas of the Iran-Iraq border near Al-Kut and Al-Amarah.

The infiltrators were equipped with radios, posters, pamphlets printed in Qom and large sums of money. The cash was intended for weapons for the Badr Corps and Quds Corps fighters from Iraqis, especially former Iraqi officers.

The Iranian plan calls for imposing pro-Iranian rulers in 11 cities and town with Shiite majorities. They include Karbala, Al-Najaf, Al-Hillah, Al-Kufah, Al-Diwaniyah, Al-Kut, Al-Nasiriyah and Al-Amarah. The Iranians want to set up revolutionary committees similar to those established after the 1979 revolution in Iran.

A senior Israeli intelligence officer in Israel termed the Iranian involvement in Iraq as "massive." The officer said the Iranians are attempting to identify mayors and district governors to undermine U.S. efforts to stabilize the country.

The Iranians are attempting to "Vietnamize" the country through the targeting, the official told Israel's Knesset committee on foreign and defense affairs."

So now are you confused? Yeah me too, but we are not alone. Safa Heiri from the Asia Times (4/17/04 Iran gets its hands dirty) senses the abiguity and attempts to explain it this way:

"There have always been two strains to US policy. Just as Iran often seems to follow policies where the one part of the government seems to differ from what the other part of the government is doing, we see the same thing in the United States very much. We have, from the beginning, in fact, relied on Iran and its assistance, especially in the south and its relations with the Shi'ite, to maintain peace and order and to lend support to a more moderate perspective in Iraqi politics. At the same time, almost without stop, we have been criticizing Iran's activities in Iraq," Sick (professor of Middle East politics at New York's Columbia University) said.

In more ways than one, one part of government doesn't know what the other part is doing. That is painfully obvious in the recent testimony before the 9-11 Commission. It is perhaps easiest to write it all off to the bureaucratic "inefficiencies" of government - perhaps all governments. However, it is equally likely that it is a deliberate strategy of CYA. This way, no matter which fickle way the tides turn governments can point to direct actions supporting any position. Or maybe I am just getting cynical.

Posted by rowan at April 17, 2004 8:35 PM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |