Rarely is the satisfaction of corroboration for an article so immediate as that provided today by Debka. In WikiLeaks shows US did not stop Iran using Iraq to spread its power, they touched on, almost point by point, my position that not only was the Iraq invasion a serious mistake (who, by now, doesn’t recognize that?), but that the US was involved in an elaborate subterfuge providing Iran freedom to build its political base in the now Shiite-dominated country and leadership. From today’s disclosures in WikiLeaks, the US failed to respond to Iran supplying training and arms, even active combatants against American forces in harm’s way. In my article, America’s Iranian entente (pt. 1) which coincidentally appeared on JPost the day before WikiLeaks hit the press, I discuss what I consider the motivation for this odd behavior by two consecutive US presidents. But I will allow Debka to tell the story from here:
“While condemned for placing US troops in Iraq in danger, the 400,000 classified documents WikiLeaks exposed Saturday, Oct. 23 on the 2004-2009 years of the Iraq War bared a catalogue of extreme abuse by Iraqi forces against fellow Iraqis and Iran''s deep involvement in terrorist operations against Americans and Iraqis alike - to both of which the US turned a blind eye.”
Debka’s analysis covers three points, only the third directly relating to my article. The four following paragraphs appear in their original order in Debka; the final paragraph not):
“Three: Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps'' Al Qods Brigades, under the command of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, orchestrated and led many of the attacks that terrorized American force and Iraqis over the years. Even when not directly involved, the documents recount how Tehran provided Iraqi militias with rockets, magnetic bombs attacked to cars, the lethal shaped EFP bombs, side arms and missiles, one of which downed a US helicopter in Baghdad in July 2007.
“According to one document, [Al Qods] commanders prepared a chemical weapons attack against the Green Zone in Baghdad for wiping out the entire American diplomatic and military command in Iraq along with Iraqi government heads. In this way, Tehran sought to diminish US authority and expand its own lead role in shaping the country.
“Washington''s inadequate response to Iranian aggression in Iraq continues up [to] the present.
“The reports make it clear that the lethal contest between Iranian-backed militias and U.S. forces continued into 2010 after President Barack Obama tried to open a dialogue with Iran and reaffirmed the agreement between the U.S. and Iraq to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.”
Debka concludes:"The spread of its influence of late was not a spontaneous natural phenomenon, but grew exponentially out of the strategic and logistical infrastructure Iran was allowed to lay down in Iraq in conjunction with its past and present allies, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian extremists of the Gaza Strip."