(May 22, 2007) Iran's secret plan for summer offensive to force US out of Iraq

The Guardian ^ | Tuesday May 22 2007 | Simon Tisdall

[nikos1121]

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say. "Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."

[nikos1121]

And what is Iraq going to do about this? Just sit back and let it happen?

[TheRobb7]

If I am reading about it here...is it still secret?

[Southack]

Yawn...

[gridlock]

Hard to keep it a secret, what with all those bombs going off...

[elhombrelibre]

Ever wonder why the suicidal al Qaeda fanatics don’t attack Iran ping....

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I hope Bush plants his foot in I’mANutjob’s ass over there in Teheran.

My tag line says it all.....

[mgc1122]

Five days of round the clock non stop utterly devastating attacks against Iranian Revolutionary Guard assets (not regular Iranian military) should be sufficient to enable the Iranian people to conduct a successful overthrow of the mullahs.

[r9etb]

against Iranian Revolutionary Guard assets (not regular Iranian military)

Yup.

[gridlock]

Five days of round the clock non stop utterly devastating attacks against Iranian Revolutionary Guard assets (not regular Iranian military) should be sufficient to enable the Iranian people to conduct a successful overthrow of the mullahs.

But I saw a CGI video about how that was quite impossible, and Iran was invulnerable to air attack!

[gridlock]

Five days of round the clock non stop utterly devastating attacks against Iranian Revolutionary Guard assets (not regular Iranian military) should be sufficient to enable the Iranian people to conduct a successful overthrow of the mullahs.

But I saw a CGI video about how that was quite impossible, and Iran was invulnerable to air attack!

[SolidWood]

It would be convenient to win over some Iranian Army Generals (regular Army, not Guards) for a post-war situation.

[saganite]

The Iranians are probably coordinating with Democrats so the military campaign can be coordinated efficiently with the Dems PR campaign for withdrawal.

[elhombrelibre]

The article is from 2007, by the way.

[mgc1122]

“But I saw a CGI video about how that was quite impossible, and Iran was invulnerable to air attack!”

LOL ... yeah, Iran has the same lame ass air defense system Syria has. Ask the Syrians about how well it worked last September.

[The Great RJ]

This is the same strategy that was so successfully pursued by North Viet Nam. Fuel the anti-war sentiment in Congress and boost the fortunes of a cut and run Democratic Presidential candidate by upping the body count of US service personnel. Even tough George McGovern lost in a landslide to Nixon in the 1972 election, the Democratic majority in Congress succeeded in cutting off funding of the Viet Nam war leading to those sickening scenes of people desperately holding on to helicopter skids to flee while N.Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon. Unless McCain has some backbone, look for the Democratic majority in Congress to do the same in 2009 giving us similar scenes when Iranian tanks roll into Baghdad as US troops pull out.

[mgc1122]

“It would be convenient to win over some Iranian Army Generals (regular Army, not Guards) for a post-war situation.”

Not only convenient but smart militarily as well.

[faithinchaos]

My fear is that if we don’t do something about Iran soon it may be too late. That is because if Neville Chamberlain Jr. aka Brack Obama, becomes president then nothing will be done about Iran.

Nothing but so-called diplomacy which never works with radical fanatics like Ahmedinijah (sp).

[Ingtar]

Iran will do something like this if they think, for a second, that we will pull out. All we seem to show any more is signs that we do not support the war. They look at our track record and think we will bail out if they make it difficult enough. They need to dominate Iraq to dominate their Moslem brothers, or they will be irrelevant.

[SQUID]

Well, folks, get ready for more war and more printing of the dollar so our dollar becomes worthless and our debt becomes unbearable for generations to come.

And what about Israel? Why don't they strike? What the hell do we give them money and weapons for?

[WarToad]

AHHHH HA HA HA HA HAA!! This secret attack was for summer ‘07. LOL

[nikos1121]

You’re right it’s from 2007!!!!!!! This goes to show what a pos the media is. Who is this guy who wrote the article...

On the other hand, the article is true, and perhaps we missed an opportuinity back then.

I’ve seen NOTHING in the news regarding the Iraq war for days now. What’s going on over there?

[bill1952]

Wrong.

>should be sufficient to enable the Iranian people to conduct a successful overthrow of the mullahs.

The Iranian “people” are not all united and seething underground plotters to overthrow the Government.
Where this even remotely true, then Iran would have been overthrown and the Mullahs would be dead.

The simple fact staring the world in the face is that the vast majority of ordinary Iranians are not going to do thing one at any time to destroy their government and that is the way that it is, despite some Western wet dreams to the contrary.

It was not some isolated kooks who stormed the American embassy and held our people hostage for years.
It was the Iranian people, and nothing has changed since then except to harden that reality.

Bomb Iran? Sure
But bomb the living sh*t out of the government and the government infrastructure.

Bomb the Iranian military until there are not two sticks nor two stones to lean against each other, and then we will achieve our aims.

[elhombrelibre]

And Iran did try it in 2007 and we did thwart them.

[Wallace T.]

The question must arise as to whether the Russians or the Chinese would object to a vigorous bombing campaign in Iran. The ties between Russia and Muslim militants date back to the Cold War era; the Soviets certainly did not oppose the toppling of the pro-Western Shah of Iran. The Iranian nuclear program has a distinct "Made in Russia" stamp on it. Additionally, China is a major creditor of the United States, financing a considerable portion of our national debt. They will have financial leverage as well.

Johnson and initially Nixon refused to effectively bomb North Vietnam and cut off the NVA and Viet Cong supply lines, out of fear of Soviet retaliation and Chinese intervention, as had occurred in the Korean War. Only when Nixon and Kissinger started serious bombing, calling the Sino-Soviet bluff, did the North Vietnamese engage in serious negotiations with the U.S.

Bush could call a Russian and Chinese bluff should Iranian intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan continue. However, he is a lame duck, less than eight months from retirement. Either a President Obama or a President McCain with his hands tied by a more liberal Congress will be in no position to follow up Bush's moves in 2009 and beyond.

Like it or not, we have limited options with respect to the Middle East and the Islamic terrorists.

[mgc1122]

Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if or when the Iranians overthrow the mullahs. Destroying the secret police and Revolutionary Guard only provides an opening to do so while simultaneously removing active threats against us and our interests.

I am not calling for invasion of Iran - I don’t want to take any ground, merely cause sufficient chaos the government will have to spend its time and money dealing with internal matters for a long time to come.

[NordP]

To me...why waste large parts of a Country, when you can take care of "the main problem" in an isolated incident - that wouldn't take up much room to achieve.

HELLO...CIA??? GOTTA JOB FOR YOU GUYS. DUH

[nikos1121]

i think he’s actually more dangerous as a lame duck president. He can do whatever the he*l he wants to do for at least four months before anyone would put a stop to it...I’m sure he’s just getting the intelligence together, and waiting for the right time. Any serious provocation I think will be met with a strong response. You can take this one to the bank.

[bill1952]

>The question must arise as to whether the Russians or the Chinese would object to a vigorous bombing campaign in Iran.

Considering that they are arming the snot out of them for such a confrontation, I would say that there is no question at all as to their objecting. - the only question would be “do we care?”

>However, he is a lame duck, less than eight months from retirement.

Exactly why he should do it.

A few months of active bombing and interdiction will moot the point and enable us to destroy their nuke plants without Bush having to worry about the political concerns of re election.

[Brilliant]

“The article is from 2007, by the way.”

Interesting... It appears that the article was correct, but that the offensive failed.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq...

How interesting! Given that Iran is primarily Shiite and would have the least to gain by the Sunnis becoming powerful in Iraq again.

It would, however, suit them just fine if the Sunni minority were wiped out to a man.

No matter: I fully expect GWB to invade Iran prior to the election.

MOVE ZIG!
FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

[topher]

We should have some accidental missile hits just inside Iran on military areas that are trying to kill US/Iraqi Troops...

There have been friendly fire accidents before -- or is fiend/foe fire incidents... These missiles are not human -- so if some Iranians trying to cross into Iraq get blown up with a shipment of arms and explosives, well, these things happen.

[firewalk]

message for mr imanutjob:
no...

[bert]

......The Iranians are probably coordinating with Democrats
......

The message was passed to Princess Nancy by Bashir Assad when she visited him.

(pass it on)

[Allegra]

Yeah, let us know how that works out for you, Iran.

[nikos1121]

Shows again that the author of this peace is just full of it. I agree, Bush will not leave office with a nuclear Iran...I think he’s waiting for the right provocation.

[elhombrelibre]

Your sarcasm is very insensitive. ;-)

[elhombrelibre]

Yup.

[maine-iac7]

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements, Sunni Arab militias in Iraq , and traitors in Washington, in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces

Why is it not called treason, this encouragement, aiding and abetting of our enemies?

If we do end up in war with Iran - it will be because of the libTards - Marxists all. But they are merely carrying on what jimmah started -

[Allegra]

Your sarcasm is very insensitive. ;-)

Why, thank you. ;-)

[wildbill]

This post has been overtaken by events.

But I guess it is good to recall last year’s news to show that the MSM was unaware of the surge strategy’s potential.

[Wallace T.]

Perhaps so, but the right time to have bombed Iran was in early 2007 or even earlier. Ahmadinejad has been a thorn in our side and a threat to Western and Israeli interests since 2005. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, but after the initial goals were achieved, the follow up was horrendous. Lincoln and FDR did not hesitate to change field commanders to get the desired results. They also managed to place the U.S. clearly on the path to victory prior to their reelection campaigns. The Administration dithered for over three years until the GOP rout in the 2006 elections to get rid of Rumsfeld, who seriously underestimated the size of occupational forces needed, as Defense Secretary, and put General Petraeus in charge of field operations. Rather than ruthlessly exterminating the enemy as we did with the Germans and the Japanese, we fought another "no win" war with hand tying rules of engagement, just like in Korea and Vietnam.

A war would essentially stop Iranian oil from entering the marketplace, and the beginning of conflict would drive crude oil prices skyward due to the cutoff and speculation. $200 or higher a barrel oil, translated into $5 per gallon or higher gasoline, will assure Barack Obama's election in November. Obama, of course, would undo any benefits the bombing achieved by pulling troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving a vacuum that the Iranians (and their Russian ally) will be happy to fill. At that point, Kuwait, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia will be forced into cutting deals with the new hegemonic powers. The old dream of the Tsars and Stalin was to extend Russian/Soviet power to the Persian Gulf would be fulfilled by Putin.

We will have to fight the Islamofascists again and their Russian and Chinese supporters as well. The U.S. may have to take a Vietnam style loss in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can hope for a conservative revival in the 2010s as Obama and the Congressional Democrats overreach with socialistic domestic measures that will probably prolong the economic downturn, damage energy production, destroy the private market in medicine, and increase taxes. Throw in a few terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists on domestic targets and a dithering response by Obama and Brzesinski and we could reverse the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2010 and re-take the White House in 2012.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks,...so maybe Iran’s tie in with al Qaeda finally becomes more visible.

[elhombrelibre]

The report was from 2007.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The article is from 2007, by the way.

Now you tell us.....ROFL!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I’ve seen NOTHING in the news regarding the Iraq war for days now. What’s going on over there?

So ...just where do you get your NEWS?

[musicman]

[rawhide]

This ‘news’ is a year old. If this happened last summer, I must have been asleep?

[rawhide]

Iran's secret plan for summer offensive to force US out of Iraq

Ahhh, now I know why I did not hear about this, it's a secret!

[Hamilcar_Barca]

Isn’t this a year old story? Not just the date in the header but it references Gen. Petraeus’s scheduled September meeting with Congress. That was September 2007.