Even though we were faced with another dead white girl this past week (and a rather famous one at that), somehow the media still managed to transmit the assertion that we have obtained clear and irrefutable evidence that Iran is likely providing Iraqi civilians insurgents with either technology and/or materials to make powerful IED’s, or the IED’s themselves. In other words, Iran might be...doing...something. There’s a smoking gun if ever I saw one! This discovery, on top of the recent capture of Iranians in a sweep of Iraqis (like catching dolphins in a tuna net- we weren’t aiming for them, so if they happen to die in our custody, it wasn’t our fault), whets the appetite of certain war criminals administrative officials.
These facts, and the obvious ramifications, have been diaried en mass already.
So I’m throwing out another question.
What if it’s all true?
Don’t jump to conclusions, without first jumping below the fold.
So what if Iran really is helping Iraq. It’s what the administration has wanted anticipated and hoped for feared all along. It’s probably why we’re still there, because if we leave it will create a power vacuum that the Iranians will happily fill, and the last thing we want in the Middle East is two Iran’s. Remember that Axis of Evil nonsense? Replacing Iran, Iraq, and NK with Iran, New Iran, and NK doesn’t look like progress there. So, naturally, they’re telling us, if Iran is helping Iraq defend herself against the occupation liberating forces, they’re asking for a swift nuclear kick to the groin.
To simplify-
If Iran is helping Iraq, they should be bombed.
That’s the assertion being made by the constantly warmongering minions of BushCo.
As many of you have already figured out, though, the crucial part of that statement, "If Iran is helping Iraq, they should be bombed," isn’t the ‘helping Iraq’ part, it’s the ‘Iran’ part. It’s not about letting the Iraqis take care of themselves, founding their own government as the Iraqis want it to be without interference from outsiders. It’s not about instilling autonomy and peace in the area. It’s about looking for an excuse to bomb Iran, just like we had to dig for an excuse to invade Iraq in the first place. Wes Clark himself said:
I believe some in the Administration have seen this confrontation as inevitable - or have sought it - since late 2001. At that time a Pentagon general held up to me a Defense memorandum which he described as a five year road map to the conflict.
I for one believe the US is more responsible for the deaths of American soldiers than the Iranians are. Who invented intelligence to make the invasion necessary? Who sent inadequate forces in with the promise of being welcomed as liberators? Who failed to establish a post-invasion plan? Who provided arms to the new Iraqi army, even though only 80% or so of the army is considered trustworthy? Who insists on deploying additional troops to the region, in still insufficient numbers, with inferior body armor? That’s our BushCo, led by the one and only George "Wtf?" Bush, working hard but hardly working.
So if anybody needs to be forcefully extracted from this conflict, it’s us.
Never mind the fact that Saudi Arabia is at least as responsible as Iran, if not more so (thanks Bob). Since we’re such good friends with the Saudis, and since Iran EVIL, doesn’t it make sense for us to withdraw and offer support for Saudi Arabia to fight the Iranians in Iraq? That’s where this is going anyway.
Imagine if the French, after helping to the US in our Revolutionary War, stuck around to intervene in our Civil War. How unhelpful would that have been? In wars between countries it is easy to take sides, but whose side do you take when a country is fighting itself? That’s what we’re doing now. We’re in the middle of a civil war in Iraq, dying to save Iraqis from themselves.
Out. Now.
Like Cenk Uygur says, it's time to call bullshit, time to tell our Senators and Representatives to call bullshit on this administration and the manipulation of evidence in order to construct a rational for a war they've been planning since 9/12/01.
So what if Iran really is helping Iraq?
Let 'em. Better them than us.