Iran, Iraq, Israel, and America

Although it's not exactly breaking news, more and more information is coming out about just how involved Iran is in the fighting in Iraq. Kimberly Kagan in The Weekly Standard writes:

Iran, and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, have been actively involved in supporting Shia militias and encouraging sectarian violence in Iraq since the invasion of 2003-and Iranian planning and preparation for that effort began as early as 2002. The precise purposes of this support are unclear and may have changed over time. But one thing is very clear: Iran has consistently supplied weapons, its own advisors, and Lebanese Hezbollah advisors to multiple resistance groups in Iraq, both Sunni and Shia, and has supported these groups as they have targeted Sunni Arabs, Coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces, and the Iraqi Government itself. Their infl uence runs from Kurdistan to Basrah, and Coalition sources report that by August 2007, Iranian-backed insurgents accounted for roughly half the attacks on Coalition forces, a dramatic change from previous periods that had seen the overwhelming majority of attacks coming from the Sunni Arab insurgency and al Qaeda.

Similarly, Major General James E. Simmons, Deputy Commanding General for Support of Multi-National Forces (Iraq), in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, gives the following first-hand testimony:

HH: [D]o you think Iranian-backed attacks are increasing or decreasing right now?

JS: I believe that the Iranians have supplied, they have surged supplies, training and munitions into Iraq to counter our surge operations that we are conducting.

HH: And what level does that rise to? Are they doubling, tripling their effort?

JS: I would hate to put a number on it, but what we saw was in July, we had the highest number of EFP’s that we have had in theater. Those EFP’s come from Iran. We have still seen a significant uptick in EFP’s, although the numbers are probably going to be lower in August than they were in July. The number of rocket attacks and indirect fire attacks into our FOB’s and our camps has been elevated, and the fires have come predominantly from Shia-dominated areas, and those are Iranian made munitions that are being fired in that.

Much more from that interview - read the whole thing.

So, why does this matter? Well, it's all pointing toward the fact that there is a major conflict with Iran in the making. Actually, the conflict is already in progress, but some people refuse to acknowledge it. Here are some reasons that should make you want to pre-emptively strike Iran:

- Iran pledged to never stop working on nuclear weapons.
- Iran now has the capability to make nuclear weapons.
- Iran has pledged to wipe Israel off the map.
- Iranians would dance in the streets if Israel was nuked.
- Iran has pledged to destroy America, the 'great Satan'.

Given that Iran made good on its first pledge, do you really think they wouldn't carry through on the last two? We could easily accomplish a simple surgical strike to disable Iran's only fuel refinery, then blockade the country and force their economy to a halt, all without sending in ground troops. But, if Iran strikes first, they could go nuclear on us.

If we fail to act, many, many Americans may end up dying needlessly. I hope we don't sit back and let it happen.

There's my two cents.