Op-Ed Commentary

 

 

Our view :
Uniting against Iran at the Jordan Summit

As Iraq's civil war accelerates, prompted by Iran and its Partition Iraq
strategy, so is international diplomatic activity on Iraq. Fortunately,
Iran's summit on Iraq, endorsed by the US, and totally misdirected because
it excluded Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, has collapsed in a major
embarrassment to Tehran. President Ahmadinejad is now counting on President
Bush to salvage Iranian equities at the Jordan Summit this week.

What is the status of the major issues?

Iraq is not engaged in a civil war, as is claimed by the US. Rather, Iraq
is engaged in a war of national liberation against Iran. Iran is now the
main force promoting civil war as the means of partitioning and dominating
Iraq. For its part, US is acting mainly on behalf of Iran.

Iranian occupation forces in Iraq consist mainly of the Supreme Council for
the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and its military wing the Badr
Brigade. The SCIRI is Iran's main Iraqi ally, also favored by US Ambassador
Khalilzad as a political partner, in creating a separate Shia state in
southern Iraq that would exclude Muqtada al-Sadr's power base, which is in
Baghdad. Iran's pro-partition forces in Iraq are assisted by al-Qaeda and
by the Baathist radical elements. Such pro-Iran forces do not have the
support of the Iraqi people, who overwhelmingly favor preserving Iraq's
territorial integrity and Iraq's identity as a multi-ethnic state.

Iraqi popular resistance forces are all those who oppose the Iranian
occupation and who favor preserving Iraq's territorial integrity, regardless
of political or religious outlook. The Iraqi resistance is creating a mighty
United Front that will soon sweep all Iranian forces out of the country.
Muqtada a-Sadr's Mahdi Army plays the leading role in the anti-Iran United
Front and is therefore a special target for Iran.

Iran intends to partition Iraq as a means of advancing Iran's conquest of
Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. In other words, for the Arab states, the line of
defense for Lebanon and Syria against Iranian imperialism begins in Iraq.
The wartime slogan of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria could be -- "the same enemy,
the same fight!"

Iranian efforts, with a US assist, to undermine Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki's government and impose Iranian rule will fail. PM Malilki's
government is strong because it has a democratic mandate , is patriotic and
pro-Iraqi (as shown by President Talabani's boycott of the Tehran summit)
and, most importantly, is supported by Muqtada al-Sadr and other patriotic
forces.

Likewise, Iran's efforts to turn Iraqi and even US military forces against
Muqtada al-Sadr will fail. The further Iran and the US go down this path,
the stronger they will make Sadr and his allies, while their own military
allies will become weaker.

Moreover, Iranian and U.S. efforts to isolate and weaken Syria, to Iran's
benefit, will fail in the same way. The vast majority of Iraqis,
Palestinians, and Lebanese know that Iran is the main threat, not Syria.

From a diplomatic and military standpoint, Iran is a Paper Tiger that is
isolated in the region. Tehran's embarrassing failure to convene a summit
on Iraq's future, boycotted first by President Assad and then President
Talabani, is case in point. Iran can talk a good game, but is incapable of
taking Iraq on its own much less Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.

Lastly, the problems in Palestine and Lebanon are now taking a back seat to
Iraq. The main task facing the Middle Eastern states today is how best to
stop Iranian imperialism, beginning in Iraq. Those who fan the flames of
the Palestinian issue (like Hamas) or the Lebanese issue (like Hezbollah) at
this time are Iran's accomplices.

In conclusion, Jordan's King Abdullah is now warning of three emerging civil
wars in the Middle East, in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq. He is also saying
these problems must be confronted now, and that 2007 is too late. What he
is not saying is that these three wars could merge, and indeed it is Iran's
express intention that they do so. To this end, Iran is seeking to build a
Hezbollah free of influence by Sadr and Assad in Iraq, on the basis of SCIRI
and the Badr Brigade. As noted earlier, the Middle East's first line of
defense against Iran runs through Iraq. If the Jordan Summit gets this
issue right, it will have made a breakthrough.

Petroleumworld

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Petroleumworld News 11/28/06

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