Monday, February 26, 2007
Is Purple Dye Thicker Than Water?
Iranians have stopped training and providing weapons to Iraqi militants in Iraq in the last few weeks to allow a U.S.-backed security plan in Baghdad to succeed, a senior Iraqi official said on Sunday.
National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told CNN there was some evidence that Iranians had been supporting some Shi'ite militia groups fighting U.S. troops in Iraq.
"There is no doubt in my mind that recently in the last few weeks they have changed their position and stopped a lot of their tactics and interference in Iraq's internal affairs," Rubaie said in an interview. [...]
"Recently the Iranians have changed their positions and we have some evidence that they have stopped supplying arms or creating any of these shaped mines in the streets of Baghdad," Rubaie said.
He said the Iranians had also advised some of their Shi'ite allies in Iraq to "change their position and support the government to give the Baghdad security plan a good chance of success."
This is remarkable news. The surge is nothing short of a rampaging juggernaut of bountiful success. On a related note, this dramatic breakthrough should greatly defuse mounting tensions between the US and Iran. Victory looms.
In response to the skeptics and defeatniks ready to pour cold water on this good news, it should be emphasized that since this information comes from the same Iraqi government that we helped to midwife - which our soldiers continue to defend with life and limb - we have no reason to doubt its veracity one iota. After all, when push comes to shove, we know they'll side with us over Iran. For nationalistic reasons of course.
(h/t Juan Cole)
