What is going on in Iran?

[pstans]

On Meet the Press Rep. Weldon (R-PA) is talking about how Iran is the where are the insurgents in Iraq are coming from. They also mentioned Syria, but he said the majority are from Iran. It sounds that they are making the case for attacking Iran this summer. Weldon also said that he has heard from US Generals that Osama Bin Laden has been in and out of Iran.

This made me think about the interview Randi Rhodes had with foreign weapons inspector Scott Ritter. (http://www.ericblumrich.com/rrsr.mp3)
Ritter said that the Bu$h administration has been planning attacking Iran and the plans will be ready in June.

Then I see that a bomb exploded in Iran, killing 8 people and injuring 35 or so more. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050612/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_explosions;_ylt=AnLqxIYTUekPL.z27b_7Wies0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2NzN0azRvBHNlYwN3bA--


I don't know if they are any connections, but I am going to be watching the news for more information about Iran.

[Roland99]

1. My summary of Weldon/Biden on MTP (Weldon says bin Laden in Iran)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3838991

[acmejack]

3. Wasn't he in Afghanistan, then in Iraq...

Is there a pattern here, possibly?

[whistle]

2. Not surprising at all, in fact the early date for an attack on Iran...

...is June 15, 2005. That's just three days from now!

[bahrbearian]

4. No mention of Saudis involvement

[Igel]

9. I doubt that the Sa'udis would be involved.

If by "Sa'udis" you mean the government or the muttawila. (I think I spelled that right.)

The Arabs in Iran are Shi'a.

[notadmblnd]

12. I don't know.. the thought occurred to me to day...

I saw an interview with Karen Kiwatowski (sp?)recently, I don't remember her rank but she was military assigned to OSP, she said there were 3 reasons we went into Iraq, to get our bases out of Saudi Arabia, to protect Israel and oil.

After the SA princes' visit with boosh last month the price of gas went down for a short time (under 2.00 a gal). I remember thinking at the time, that if holding hands with the prince could get gas under 2.00..... then imagine how low it could go if boosh had given him a BJ? then the price of gas went back up and my hopes were dashed.

As I was watching the morning news shoes, it suddenly occurred to me that SA could very well be behind the insurgency in Iraq. Nothing in Iraq has gone right for the administration, SA promised boosh they would keep the price of fuel down during the election and even that did not happen. I think SA is keeping the pot stirred in Iraq for it's own financial gain. If we were to get the country stabilized and could get the fuel out.. how much farther would the price of oil drop?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. i heard the Faux news people this morning say the "insurgantsare Saudi's"

[htuttle]

6. The bomb might have been from these guys

From 4/14/2005

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=160707

Kurds prepare for guerrilla war in Iran

Near Sulaimaniya, Iraq: Kurdish fighters dedicated to overthrowing the Iranian Government are hiding out in the mountains of northern Iraq, waiting for a chance to strike at Tehran.

Gulf News gained exclusive access to the militiamen as they trained for a full-scale guerrilla war that could send shockwaves through the region.

(snip)

The fighters are members of Komala, a group of militant socialist Kurds dedicated to bringing down Tehran. Hundreds of young men and women armed with AK47 rifles, machine guns and RPGs are training in northern Iraq for this mission.

Many more are based across the border and group leaders say the rebels are already carrying out "covert actions" in Iran.

The Kurds are the new Hmong, right?

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. So the insurgents are BOTH Sunni AND "from Iran"?

Does that idiot know anything at all about the region?

Here's a clue, Weldon: Iran is a Shia country, and the main beef of the Iraq-Iran war was the SCIRI's possible influence on Iraq's majority Shia population - a major fear for the ruling class Sunnis. The Sunni Arabs of the Iraqi heartland - where the vast majority of the insurgent attacks are occurring - generally want nothing to do with the Iranian Shia.

However, for a good part of 2004 (beginning in April), the Shia in southern Iraq and in the Shia areas of Baghdad were in outright revolt, as witnessed in the major combat that took place in Sadr City and Najaf; this revolt was precipitated by US/UK colonizing forces and the puppet government's moves against Moqtada al-Sadr, the "renegade" Shia cleric and son of one of the main anti-Saddam Shia during the Sunni reign. It may have been plausible that Iran provided some support to that stage of a Shia insurgency, but it appears to have been mainly homegrown. The Shia insurgency has declined since the Battle of Najaf and the elections, but the Sunni insurgency rages on unabated.

But there is no way in hell that Iran is funnelling Shia insurgents into the Sunni areas of Iraq, and no way in hell that the local Sunni tribes would cooperate with Iranian infiltrators if they were being provided. The entire theory is laughable on its face, and demonstrates nothing but pure ignorance of even the basic political structures of Iraqi society.

[CJCRANE]

8. I thought Bin Laden was in Pakistan..

and that the Pakistani authorities were on his trail..?!

Plus Laden is an extreme arab Sunni. The Iranians are Persian Shias.

They are opposites, there's no way they would team up. (I've said this before) but it's like saying (Catholic) Irish terrorists are going to team up with the (Protestant) British government, just doesn't make sense.

[pstans]

11. He was 10km inside Iran

near the Pakistan border.

[Igel]

10. There are a couple of possibilities;

I don't watch tv, so I don't know if they've been discussed.

Al-Hakim's Badr Brigades are Shi'a, and want Shi'a Arabs under a Shi'a Arab government. They despised Hussein. They're not too zipped up over Iran. Yes, they sheltered in Iran. But that doesn't imply long-term support for Iran by Hakim, or by all the people under him. It's not like the Iraqi government is the only entity that has free-thinking people in its ranks.

There's persistent rumors that various and sundry Shi'ite leaders get support, personnel and materiel, from Iran. Not all. And this leads to a fair amount of problems among the Shi'ites, because Shi'ites are not, contrary to popular wisdom, a monolithic block--either in being equally observant, or following the same models for emulation.

Another possibility is a tad convoluted to follow, and I'm not sure when all the i's are dotted and t's crossed it makes sense.

While the Sunni Arabs may frequently regard the Shi'a as somewhat less than Muslim, nonetheless the Syrian government is officially Alawite, which is generally regarded as a form of Shi'ism. Syria has been in talks with Iran. Syria can support an Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. Most Syrians, I believe, are Sunni. So if Syria is sponsoring or facilitating Sunnis going into Iraq to blow themselves up, the victims they're helping to produce are Shi'a; and if the Iranian government is perceived to be as active in helping Syria with Iraq as it was with Hizbullah, this has got to piss off a lot of Shi'ite Arabs. In other words, some Shi'ite Arabs just might figure that the Aryan Shi'ite Iranians have no problem with helping to blow up Shi'ite Iraqi Arabs if it furthers their plans. My response, I think, would be to want to blow up Shi'ite Persians. If the Iranians can play politics in Iraq, why can't Iraqis play politics in Iran?

[CJCRANE]

13. Fair enough

that seems plausible, it's just that the neocons will say that Bin Laden is in Iran to work with the Iranians to try and implicate the Iranian govt.

It's the same trick they did with Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, implicating Saddam Hussein, when in reality they were in the Northern no-fly zone outside of his control.

[JNelson6563]

14. Same plan replicated

why not? Worked last time.

Julie

[Roland99]

15. Actually...it was *Seven* bombs!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/international/middleeast/13iran.html?hp&ex=1118635200&en=c9141b5922f8655e&ei=5094&partner=homepage