Dubya made it clear in his speech that he aims to get though with the Iranians and its links to the new Iraqi government, but by providing an additional 20,000 troops for Iraq, does this raise the spector of future diplomatic and other serious incidents involving Iran? So far, unfortunately, the answer is yes...
US north Iraqi raid angers Iran
Iraq map
US forces have stormed a building in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six people said to be Iranians, prompting a diplomatic incident.
BBCIranian and Iraqi officials said the building was an Iranian consulate and the detainees its employees.
The US military said it was still investigating, but that the building did not have diplomatic status.
The troops raided the building at about 0300 (0001GMT), taking away computers and papers, according to local media.
AFP news agency quoted Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman as saying he did not know the nationality of the six but said they were "suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraq and coalition forces".
"I can confirm for you through our forces there that this is not a consulate or a government building," he said.
However, Tehran said the attack violated all international conventions. It has summoned ambassadors from Switzerland, representing US interests, and Iraq.
A spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry described the raid as an attempt to sabotage Tehran's relations with Iraq. One Iranian MP said it showed America's cruelty and meanness.
The raid comes amid high Iran-US tension.
In a major speech on Wednesday, President George W Bush said the US would take a tough stance towards Iran and Syria, whom he accused of destabilising Iraq.
The US also accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms. Iran denies both charges.
Tehran counters that US military involvement in the Middle East endangers the whole region.
Pressure
A local TV station said Kurdish security forces had taken over the building after the Americans had left.
Irbil lies in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled north, about 350km (220 miles) from the capital Baghdad. Reports say the Iranian consulate there was set up last year under an agreement with the Kurdish regional government to facilitate cross-border visits.
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One Iranian news agency with a correspondent in Irbil says five US helicopters were used to land troops on the roof of the Iranian consulate.
It reports that a number of vehicles cordoned off the streets around the building, while US soldiers warned the occupants in three different languages that they should surrender or be killed.
In December, US troops detained a number of Iranians in Iraq, including two with diplomatic immunity who were later released.
Thursday's raid came as US President George W Bush unveiled his new strategy in Iraq, which included increasing troop numbers and a commitment to stop Iranian support for "our enemies in Iraq".
BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the raid could signal a ratcheting-up of pressure on the Iranians, in line with the rhetorical thrust of his speech.
Glen Greenwald writes in his blog:
That makes unplanned -- or seemingly unplanned -- confrontations highly likely, whether through miscalculation, miscommunication, misperception, or affirmative deceit. Whatever else is true, given the stakes involved -- the unimaginable, impossible-to-overstate stakes -- and the fact that we are unquestionably moving forward on this confrontational path quite deliberately, this issue is receiving nowhere near the attention in our political discussions and media reports that it so urgently demands.
For all the pious talk about the need to be "seriously concerned" and give "thoughtful consideration" to what will happen if we leave Iraq, there is a very compelling -- and neglected -- need to ponder what will happen if we stay and if we escalate. And the need for "serious concern" and "thoughtful consideration" extends to consequences not just in Iraq but beyond.
This is the most serious action yet. Isn't it a definitive act of war for one country to storm the consulate of another, threaten to kill them if they do not surrender, and then detain six consulate officers?
Shutting the Iranian Embassy and all it consulates in Iraq, in a surprise attack, escorting/deporting all the Embassy/consulate employees to the Iranian border, while confiscating/analizing all the their paperwork and computers, would be fully justified in light of the Iranians trashing the US Embassy in Tehran.
Of course, bogus Macho Man dubya is bluffing Iran, just as Saddam was bluffing Iran about his nuclear/WMD.
The point of the above post seem to elude me. Could someone explain what
in the world the point is suppose to be?
It's about Bush, itching to pick another fight.
Political agenda knows no bounds. sigh....
So, if Iran is manufacturing and sending in road side bombs to blow up our soldiers and Iraqis, it's okay.
But if we detain a couple of people intel has tracked and identified as supporting the insurgency, we're trying to pick a fight?
Fun logic...
I was suggesting that he is flirting with the idea of SPREADING his failed campaign. He made that very clear with his speech.
I like logic.
Besides, you'd think in four years that controlling the border with Iran might be a good idea. Then again, I can't recall a good Bush idea.
Let me see if I have this correct. Iran is wanting to produce atomic
weapons, which most of the world is against.
Iran has inserted itself into Iraq affairs.
Iran supports ever terrorist organization in the ME. With money and
weapons and personnel.
But it is Bush who is itching to spread his "war". Okay. Now I understand.
Oh, and I think that Iran is also the one country who says it will
take out Israel, which is a legitimate government, is it not?
But you know those Bush folks. Damn war mongers. Not like the
peaceful Iranians.
We should let the Iranians kill off all their enemies in the middle east and then when they are done we should invade Iran. Their defenses will be low because of all of the wars they just fought. After we defeat them we can fill the middle east with honest, hard working white people.
I think we can agree here, Ray. You must think I want us to lose. History repeats.
The US and Iran seem to have inserted themselves into Iraq affairs. The US was first. Iran has jumped on the opportunity to expand their influence in their region, a direct gift from Bush. Couldn't have happened without Bush. We are not virgins to capitalizing on the blunders of others.(Russia in Afghanistan) Wouldn't you be worried if a superpower made up reasons to destroy you?
They did that after the world united in GWI to kick Saddam's ass.Iran has jumped on the opportunity to expand their influence in their region
YOu don't get it guys.
Iran is what is stabilizing the region right now.
Please tell me you are being sarcastic.
Iran has no ties to 911
The Middle East is stable?
i doubt the usa can win in a civil war......
the iraq situation now is out of control, pack up ur bags and leave like you did in vietnam? i was watchin a few news clips of Rice answering diplomatic issues in congress, doesnt she look like mike tyson hahahahah, anyway back to the subject, bush is creating a mess leaving for the next guy to clean up....
You think it's bad now, this il scare the out of you...
DiscourseWashington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.
The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country.
The looming battle for Sadr city and the Iranian backed Muqtada Mehdi Army would mean the killing of thousands of unruly Shi'ites, mainly by Kurdish Iraqi forces and U.s. coalition troops...
Asia TimesThe basic fact remains that Bush's escalation is designed to smash Muqtada's Mehdi Army. That can only mean, in practice, a mini-genocide of vast masses of unruly, extremely dispossessed Shi'ites: the coming battle of Sadr City, which the Pentagon has been itching to launch since the spring of 2004. The Pentagon is actually declaring war on no fewer than 2.2 million (poor) people. A sinister symmetry still applies: the Pentagon will attack dispossessed Shi'ite masses - just as the Israeli Defense Forces attacked dispossessed Shi'ite masses in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
There's more. Bush's escalation, according to his own speech, will ensure there will actually be two major battles on two different fronts: the battle of Sadr City, against Shi'ites, and the Great Battle of Baghdad, as the Sunni Arab muqawama (resistance) has been dubbing it. A tangential taste of this second front was provided this week by the day-long fight in Haifa Street between coalition and Iraqi forces against militants.
Muhammad al-Askari, the military adviser to Maliki, justified the bombing of Haifa Street as crucial to the killing of "50 terrorists". Anyone familiar with the Sunni Arab resistance knows they would never be dumb enough to concentrate 50 top fighters in a single Baghdad street in full view of US firepower. The battle of Haifa Street actually fits into Maliki's preferred developing pattern: systematic ethnic cleansing of Sunni areas by the heavily militia-infiltrated, and US-trained, Iraqi army.
Bush's escalation is also certain to incinerate the stars of counterinsurgency ace Lieutenant-General David Petraeus, currently spun as the new military messiah who will "save" Iraq for the US. After all, he is the co-author of the new US Army counterinsurgency field manual. But according to Petraeus' own doctrine, the Pentagon would need at least 120,000 combat troops to have a shot at winning the counterinsurgency game in Baghdad. The US currently has no more than 70,000 combat troops in the whole of Iraq. It controls not even a hectare of al-Anbar province - which is practically on the way to becoming an Islamic emirate. The US controls the Green Zone - and that's it. So in essence Bush's 21,500 extra men are doomed to total irrelevance - not to mention raising their odds of returning home in a body bag, courtesy of the upcoming resistance surge.
They're such a stabilizing force that because of their nuclear ambitions several other mid-east countries are now looking into starting nuclear programs of their own.
Yay for stability.
@ Dan, back to citing Asia Times for news.
We've been in a proxy war with Iran in Iraq for a while now, with Sadr's Shiite militia. The only scary thing is that it took us this long to fight back.
Thought this was interesting...
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/p...2/1013/48HOURS
The al-Quds Brigade is behind groups like Hezbollah. Their #3 man was caught in Iraq instigating and organizing violence against our troops, and the US is the one who is instigating?Last month, U.S. forces nabbed two senior Iranians - Brig. Gen. Mohsen Chirazi and Col. Abu Amad Davari - in the first round of raids. Chirazi is the No. 3 in the al-Quds Brigade and the highest-ranking Iranian ever held by the United States
That's funny.
dubya instigated the bogus invasion of Iraq, and botched it into a geopolitical disaster, which invited Iran to come into Iraq.
With Saddam still in power and Saddam and Iran mortally, eternally hating each other, there wouldn't be Iranian generals running around Iraq killing US military.
No offense, but that makes no sense at all. Any foreign country cannot "win" in another country's civil war.
True.
Also true.With Saddam still in power and Saddam and Iran mortally, eternally hating each other, there wouldn't be Iranian generals running around Iraq killing US military.
But it doesnt give Iran some sort of free pass. As long as the US military has a presence in Iraq they are required to defend their territory with extreme prejudice.
In all reality, Iran (I believe) wants no part of American might. Unlike fighting some vague enemy labeled "terrorism", Iran flies a flag, has borders and a uniform wearing military that could get the kicked out of it in record time if they around too much.
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