Panetta Ties Iranian Weapons to Attacks on U.S. in Iraq

Well, it's not like this represents anything new. Even the Bush administration was caught off guard by Iranian influence in Iraq. The situation has changed. The threat's as substantial as ever.

At LAT, "Panetta: Iranian weapons used to attack Americans in Iraq":
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday that weapons supplied by Iran are behind a rash of attacks against American forces in Iraq, part of an escalating campaign of violence ahead of the planned U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of the year.

"We're seeing more of those weapons going in from Iran, and they've really hurt us," said Panetta, who arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit after a two-day stop in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said 15 U.S. troops were killed in June, the most in any month in two years. More than half of the deaths were caused by rockets known as Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortars that U.S. officials say are provided to Shiite militant groups by Iran.

A senior U.S. official said the attacks against U.S. forces were an effort by the Iranian-backed militias to make it appear as though they were forcing out American troops, all of whom are due to withdraw by the end of the year under a 2008 agreement between Washington and Baghdad.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other U.S. officials also have said publicly in recent days that Iran is behind the surge in violence against the 46,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq. The high-level effort by the Obama administration to blame Iran for the attacks comes as U.S. officials are stepping up the pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to resolve whether he will ask for some American troops to remain beyond the year-end deadline.

By playing up the Iranian threat, U.S. officials may be hoping to spur such a request from Iraq.
RTWT.

Amazing that an increase in casualties would spur the administration to prolong the deployment. Mr. President, you're ignoring your ASFL base. Duh.

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Iran Sends Arms to Iraq, Afghanistan

At Wall Street Journal, "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."
TEHRAN—Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior U.S. officials, in a bid to accelerate the U.S. withdrawals from these countries.

The Revolutionary Guard has smuggled rocket-assisted exploding projectiles to its militia allies in Iraq, weapons that have already resulted in the deaths of American troops, defense officials said. They said Iranians have also given long-range rockets to the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents' ability to hit U.S. and other coalition positions from a safer distance.

Such arms shipments would escalate the shadow competition for influence playing out between Tehran and Washington across the Middle East and North Africa, fueled by U.S. preparations to draw down forces from two wars and the political rebellions that are sweeping the region.

The U.S. is wrestling with the aftermath of uprisings against longtime Arab allies from Tunisia to Bahrain, and trying to leave behind stable, friendly governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran appears to be trying to gain political ground amid the turmoil and to make the U.S. withdrawals as quick and painful as possible.
More at the link.

This is classic international politics. I'm reminded of how the Soviet Union saw an improvement in the world correlation of forces after the American withdrawal from Vietnam. By the late-1970s the shift of influence and momentum in the Third World had shifted to Moscow. Iran can't operate on a global scale as the Soviets did, but most of the important developments in national security right now are in the Middle East and South Asia. And given how poorly the Obama administration has responded to current events, Egypt's revolution for example, and the political cut-and-run from Afghanistan, things aren't likely to improve a whole lot in the short term.

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Egypt to Normalize Relations with Iran and Hamas

The story's at New York Times, "In Shift, Egypt Warms to Iran and Hamas, Israel’s Foes."
The headline alone was ominous, and reading the piece gives you the chills. Egypt's looking for "flexibility" they say. But the goals of Egyptian foreign policy look to put a vice grip on Israel.
And check Barry Rubin, who warned about this very thing from the get go, "U.S. Government, Media Completely Wrong on Egypt, Now Advise on Peace Process."

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Hamas' New Russian-Made, Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Missiles Shift Balance of Forces at Gaza-Israel Border

Seriously.

Do these people even want peace?

At Fox News, "Hamas' Powerful New Weapon Alters Strategic Calculations Along the Gaza Strip."


This is why Israel maintains the blockade. Last December reports indicated that Iran and Syria were sending in laser-guided missiles, and the Fox report says that Hamas militants are hardened for battle. See also The Australian, "School bus attack may spark Gaza war":

THE possibility of another Gaza war heightened yesterday after Hamas used an anti-tank missile to hit a school bus in Israel and fired a further 50 rockets.

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