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Iranian arms importers captured in Iraq
Four terrorists linked to an Iranian smuggling operation — responsible for targeting coalition forces with powerful bombs — were captured yesterday in Iraq, according to Defense Department officials. The suspects were captured after U.S. forces conducted a raid in Qasarin, a small village north of Baqouba, in the Diyala province near the border with Iran.
Saying publicly what we've long known. Whether the decision to speak out comes from President Bush or General Patreaus is immaterial, especially coupled with the fact that the Surge is working.
"I would say that it's clear to us that there are networks that are smuggling weapons, both explosive-formed projectiles, IEDs, as well as mortar and other capabilities from Iran into Iraq," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander in Iraq. "And in fact, we believe some training is also going on inside of Iran. We have seen in the last three months a significant improvement in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate fires into the [coalition] Green Zone and other places. We think this is directly related to training that was conducted in Iran."

Earlier this week, American and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad and agreed to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in the war-torn nation. During the groundbreaking talks, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of spurring the violence in Iraq by arming and training Shi'ite militias. He warned that no progress can be made unless Iranian behavior changes. Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi countered that Tehran is trying to help Iraq deal with the security situation, but Iraqis are "victimized by terror and the presence of foreign forces" in their country.
*sigh* I'm not subtle enough to understand why we are engaging in these talks.
I'm not either, but I'll take a shot at it:

1) shows good faith with Joe Liebermann's of the world. Don't under-estimate the usefulness of that.

2) allows us to rattle the Sunni tribal chiefs to our advantage: cooperate with us or watch what happens when we make a deal with the Iranians. Likewise, it can be used to persuade the Kurds to be a little more reasonable on the oil plan.

3) gives al-Maliki a little breathing space to sort things out in the capital.

4) gives the surge a little more time to work, and perhaps (if this actually does something to calm the Sadr brigades, which I doubt) a little more measurable progress for the September report (which the Dhimmicrats have pledged not to read).
Peter Brookes, senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a national security authority, cites Iran's current involvement and support for Taliban groups in Afghanistan as an example of Iran's flip-flop foreign policy when it comes to defeating the U.S. "In the past the Iranians would have never given financial support to the Taliban," he said. "The evidence now suggests that Iran is offering them assistance in an effort to push U.S. forces out of the region." Iran and Syria are doing the same in Iraq, he added.
P'rhaps I'm not the only one confused.
Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=194739