Keep your eye on this development out of Southern Iraq….
Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have been spotted by British troops crossing the border into southern Iraq, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday. Britain’s defence ministry would not confirm or deny the report, with a spokesman declining to comment on “intelligence matters”.An unidentified intelligence source told the tabloid: “It is an extremely alarming development and raises the stakes considerably. In effect, it means we are in a full on war with Iran — but nobody has officially declared it.”
“We have hard proof that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have crossed the border to attack us. It is very hard for us to strike back. All we can do is try to defend ourselves. e are badly on the back foot.”
The Iranians are clearly playing with fire. I just hope the West has the cojones to step up to this growing menace. I had a feeling 2007 was going to be a very bad year…
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
UPDATE (from GPW): Fellow Pajamas Media blogger Confederate Yankee raises some doubts about this story, noting “that this story was linked to anonymous sources within the British government” and finds, “this story does not have any credible supporting evidence to date.”
“Britain’s defence ministry would not confirm or deny the report, with a spokesman declining to comment on “intelligence matters”.”
CURVEBALL 2 – ELECTRIC BUGALOO
GP, that violates the left-liberal talking points memo which claims Iraq is in a “civil war”, not under steady attack by Iran and al Qaeda.
Therefore, it can’t be true. (Stuffing hands in ears, like a leftie) La, la, la, la, la, la, la…
Actually, Iran has been sending Revolutionary Guards into Iraq (if more as “advisors” than as ground combat troops), and committing other acts of war, for some time now – probably for years. Anyone can go to http://billroggio.com and search on “Iran”. Lots to read. In late January, Iranian agents kidnapped and executed U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Iran even works with – that is, *arms* – al Qaeda in Iraq. (Oops, another impossibility because it violates leftie dogma; forget you saw that…)
GP, that violates the left-liberal talking points memo which claims Iraq is in a “civil war”, not under steady attack by Iran and al Qaeda.
How so? It’s certainly possible for factions in a civil war to get assistance from outside parties.
Iran doesn’t have the resources to conquer Iraq without support from the local population.
Therefore, it can’t be true. (Stuffing hands in ears, like a leftie) La, la, la, la, la, la, la…
Now you’re just being silly.
Sigh. I’ll clear this up for you, but you might want to hold on to something… Ready?
Iraq can be *both* in a civil war and be being interfered with by outside countries and terrorist groups. The fact that Sunnis and Shia are killing each other madly does not preclude the Iranians helping whomever they feel like nor AlQ from moving into the country to exploit both the insurgency and the civil unrest.
Whew. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
We’ve been at war with Iran since The Carter Administration.
TP – First, just a small point I’m curious about – Have you been to the Middle East lately and talked to the people there?
I went a few months ago. To Egypt not Iraq. Nonetheless, the people I spoke with there – who were by no means pro-American – assured me that the real difference between Sunni and Shia is smaller than the Western difference between Catholic and Protestant, and not anything that most Iraqis care about. Further, their own relatives in Iraq tell them the violence is unquestionably fomented by outsiders, and not anything wanted by 90% of Iraqis.
I’ll clear this up for you, TP: There would be no “civil war”, so-called, if it hadn’t been actively fomented and indeed manufactured by al Qaeda and (more recently) Iran over the last four years. And al Qaeda and Iran are who we, and the Iraqi people themselves, have been fighting in Iraq the last 2-4 years and are fighting today. OK with you?
(I.e., the sectarian violence. It took a big uptick with the Golden Mosque bombing in Feb. 2006 – which was an al Qaeda operation, in keeping with aQ’s published strategy of attempting to drag Iraqis into sectarian violence they wouldn’t otherwise have nor want.)
I should probably write something acknowledging the Update – i.e., that Confederate Yankee now says the Sun’s story is shaky. Here it is. As I said earlier, Iran has been doing a lot of acts of war in and around Iraq, for some years. If this incident is untrue, then I’m disappointed in the Sun (in that case) for dirtying the waters or spreading confusion about a deadly serious issue.
Ilovecapitalism.
I believe that the extent of your “information” while in Egypt was to talk to the guide on your Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples tour For Americans only.
The Shiite and the Sunni have been at each others troths for generations. In Irak in particular way before the place was called Iraq. Today Iran expansioninsm and new found power status (thanks to Bush’s policies in Iraq) is widley considered a treat to all Sunni Nations.
The Shiite and Sunni situation can be compared to the 17th century situation that the Protestants and the Roman Catholics experienced. At the time the two sects of Catholicism were bitter rivals, but could unite to fight the Turks. Is the same with today’s present situation. The Shiite and Sunni can unite to fight Al Quaida, or Israel, but they do hate each other too.
Don’t be so naive my friend. Al Quaida was the point of the arrow only. The conditions were ripe for Al Quaida’s attacks to take hold and expand the hatred that was already there. Have you forgotten how the Sunni treated the Shiite and the Kurds under Saddam?? Have you forgotten how the Shiite wanted to consolidate absolute power (and still do) in Iraq as soon as the “Democracy” gave them the chance to do so??, have you forgotten the Sunni reaction to this power grab by the Shiite?? That’s the root of the Civil War going on today in Iraq….. Al Quaida is only there to make things worst, and prevent any tipe of compromise.
Is nice to go to Egypt, and Turkey …. I recommend Globus Travels. I also recomend you STUDY A BIT OF HISTORY to make your trip more interesting, and not depend on the so called “locals” to feed you wherever you want to hear.
They are not playing with fire. We have no fight left in us. The events in Iraq, and here at home, has neutered our abillity to mobilize against a distant enemy. There is plenty of blame to go around.
And al Qaeda and Iran are who we, and the Iraqi people themselves, have been fighting in Iraq the last 2-4 years and are fighting today. OK with you?
That’s a perspective I haven’t heard. It sounds like our strategy is geared towards exactly the wrong enemy.
We’re fighting as if we faced a home-grown insurgency; one that knows the terrain and one where there’s no easy way of telling friend from foe. That’s forced us into a fundamentally defensive position.
If we’re fighting outside elements that don’t have the support of the Iraqi people, then fighting’s just gotten a lot easier! We should ask the locals if they’ve seen any suspicious foreigners in the neighborhood. That’ll let us find their bases and trace their supply lines. Let’s see how the enemy likes dodging mortar fire and IED’s for a change!
(Do you see how the situation changes? If Joe and Jack Iraqi have been neighbors for the past 40 years, and both of them claim that the other is a terrorist, how do we know who’s telling the truth? What if neither one of them is telling the truth; they’re just making accusations as part of a stupid 40-year-old grudge? If we guess wrong, then their friends and family are going to be upset and we’ll have made more enemies. But if Joe has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, and Jack showed up last year and can’t explain where he came from or what he’s doing, then it’s safe for us to be suspicious of Jack.)
This is so obvious that I’m surprised we’re not doing it already! (Well, none of Bush’s mistakes really surprise me any more, but even so…)
The Shiite and Sunni can unite to fight Al Quaida, or Israel, but they do hate each other too.
So much so that many neighborhoods in Iraq, especially Baghdad, are both Sunni & Shiite.
It’s a testament to the sorry state of today’s media that we are all chasing these chimeras called Shiite, Sunni, al Qaeda, Iran. These are all useful enemies from a domestic political consumption basis, to “launch the propaganda, ” as Bush famously said, but they do not serve as an analysis of what’s actually going on in Iraq. The vast majority of the violence — and infrastucture attacks — are directed at the occupation, mostly the puppet government(s), collaborators like those sheiks, informers, or to create anger and instability at the failure for the US to provide basic security. Most, but not all of this, is homegrown – Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel, among others, create some of the violence, but the sum total is the same: Iraq is united against the occupation, and will become increasingly unified as the long fight against the invaders kicks into high gear. Rebranding the enemy as al Qaeda or Iran only narrows our myopia about Iraq into full-scale blindness.