Friday, March 21, 2008

Petraeus: Iran continues to support Iraqi jihadists, Syria allowing foreign fighters passage

The Iranian proxy jihad rolls on. And "raising concerns" will do little to stop an enemy whose modus operandi is to cheat, lie, and talk out of both sides of his mouth. "U.S. commander: Iran still meddles in Iraq," from CNN:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said Iran continues to support Iraqi insurgents and Syria is allowing foreign fighters passage into Iraq. "We are concerned very much about the lethal accelerants, as they are called, that do come from Iran," he said. "And we appropriately raise that to those who have a broader perspective, then, who have a regional and then a global look.

"And the same way that we do about what comes through Syria."

The general's comments about Iran come just a day after Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said there are continued fears that Iran may be training Iraqi extremists in Iran and sending them back to Iraq.

McCain expressed concern about a large cache of explosives found in Iraq and hinted that they may have been sent from Iran.

In January, Petraeus said attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq with bombs believed linked to Iran -- known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- had risen sharply after several months of decline. But that came after several months of decline in Iranian involvement.

The Bush administration and the military have long maintained that Iranian agents, particularly the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have been arming and training Iraqi insurgents.

Relations between Iraq and Iran have been improving.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Iraq earlier this month and pledged to help Iraq with energy supplies, while denouncing U.S. statements about Iranian involvement with Iraqi insurgents.

Projection Alert:

"We do not care about their statements and remarks because they make statements based on erroneous information. We cannot count on what they say," Ahmadinejad said.

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