Published: July 09, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War: Middle East - Iraq; Parallel Developments While Teheran Unites wi
By Willard Payne
Night Watch: TEHERAN - BAGHDAD - While Washington continues to chase the Jihad around Iraq by launching its fourth operation in less than a month with Operation Scimitar, Teheran and Baghdad announced military cooperation between their two governments.
The visit to Teheran by Iraq’s Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulemi was reported by AP who quoted him at a press conference with Iran’s Defense Minister Adm. Ali Shamkani, "We’ve come here to open a new page in our relations against the painful page of the past." Shamkani responded by saying joint committees would be formed and one of their tasks would be "modernizing Iraq’s army."
He added, "No one can prevent this cooperation." For obvious reasons he did not go into detail but this is 180 degrees in the opposite direction from statements made last year by Iraq’s then Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan who called Iran his country’s "first enemy." Iran also pledged to grant Iraq one billion dollars in loans. This fits the pattern of Teheran’s cooperation with every meeting, from Southeast Asia-Central Asia to the African continent, a lot of investment adds weight to Iran’s argument.
If Adm. Shamkani had mentioned details it would include the parallel development of the re-emergence of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who led the fighting last year over control of the slum city east of Baghdad, Sadr city, named after his family.
Just last week the news on tv showed his army drilling, formally, and wearing black uniforms wielding rocket-launchers on the order of Hezbollah. This site reported that Iran has been exporting weapons to 60 nations and one of those militias is obviously under al-Sadr who has just issued a religious decree to collect 1 million signatures for a petition demanding U. S.-led foreign troops to leave the country. I assume the decree was made with the approval of senior, prestigious cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who also probably has decided that the occupation should be more seriously challenged. Though there have been a reduction in the number of car bombings I suspect the occupation forces will be forced to confront more serious conventional fighting against better armed and trained groups.
It is significant that Iraq’s new Defense Minister is a Sunni. With Iran endorsing him, and therefore Iraq’s new government so openly, it implies that armed groups, whether Sunni or Shiite, should oppose the occupation and those willing to defend it. This undermines completely Iraq’s new military who must also have noticed Iran’s blatant support and the rearming of the al-Sadr militia not to mention other groups. There is no chance Iraq’s military will respond effectively as their loyalty to the occupation was probably questionable anyway.
If further details had been added by Adm. Shamkani he may have mentioned the basic strategy being to cause the occupation forces to be lured to the borders of Iran and Syria enabling the militaries of both countries to enter the fighting to make more deadly this obvious trap. The Admiral will probably call it, occupying the occupier. Keep him busy.
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