September 20, 2005

Iran Stirs Up Mookie's Rookies

The British are feeling the pinch from Iran in Basra (h/t The Corner):

British officials are convinced that Iran is implicated in the upsurge in violence and suspect it may be connected to Britain’s hardening position against Tehran’s nuclear programme. Britain has been working closely with Iran over the past two years to reach a compromise. But with the victory last month of the hawkish President Ahmadinejad, Iran has hardened its position.

Sadr's Mahdi Army has killed several British soldiers now, although their leader, a fellow named Fartusi, has been captured.

Rusty linked to an NRO article about Iran and Sadr a while back that predicted exactly this kind of pressure: if the Allies made any move toward Iran's nukes, Iran would unleash the Shiite insurgency against our troops in Iraq:

Sadr is accused of being a pawn of Tehran’s mullahs as well, helping them subvert the progress of Iraqi democracy. If military action is taken against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Sadr’s Al-Mahdi militia could counterattack within Iraq.

Maybe just the threat of military action was enough to stir up Iran's insurgents. While it sounds like the arrest of this Fartusi is an important first step, Sadr himself is holding the Mahdi together. There are already warrants out for his arrest, as the article points out. Why are we waiting?

By See-Dubya at 06:58 AM | |