Iraq: Iran aiding Sunnis in order to incite civil war
NY Sun reports documents from Iranian diplomats, members of Revolutionary Guard obtained in Iraq show that Tehran stirring up Iraqi arena, trying to fan flames of civil war by sending aid to Sunni groups. Intelligence sources: Iranians connected to blast at Shiite mosque in Samarra
The newspaper The New York Sun quoted American intelligence sources who claimed after reading through the documents "that Iran is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups."
The documents show how Iran is stirring up the Iraqi playing field in a manner reminiscent of the Israeli arena. Iran, after all has it's hands in Shiite Hizbullah, and Sunni Hamas.
The documents obtained in Iraq revealed to the American the Iranians' terror attack plans and the telephone numbers of officials connected to the Sunni terror groups.
One of the documents refers to the internal struggle in Iraq, and includes an estimate that the Sunnis will double their efforts to help the Sunni rebels against the Shiite government, and that it is therefore necessary for Iran to maintain their influence with them.
The documents also revealed that there is a covert connection between the elite Iranian Quds Force, the military arm of the Iranian revolutionary guard that operates mainly outside of Iran, and the blast at the Shiite Golden Mosque in Samarra in February 2006.
Leaked to strengthen Bush, weaken Iran
Washington hopes that publishing this tidbit will damage the connections between the ruling Shiites in Iraq and Tehran. The explosion in the holy Shiite mosque was carried out only a short time after the democratic elections in Iraq, and was meant to harm Iraqi unity, dragging Iraqis into an all-out civil war.
White House sources told the Washington Post that these documents will influence President Bush's next speech during which he will present the American public with his new strategy for victory in Iraq.
From the Cabinet's perspective, the documents that were obtained prove that there is no point in including Iran in the dialogue on solving the Iraqi dilemma, as the Iraq Study Group suggested.
Leaking details of the documents that were obtained to the press was meant to help Bush sway the American public on the eve of the swearing in of the Democrat-ruled Congress. It was also meant to drive a wedge between Iran and the Shiite majority in Iraq by showing that Iran is playing for both teams.