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U.S.: Iran, Syria Pursuing Lebanization strategy in Iraq

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Written by News Editor

Wednesday, 09 April 2008

The top U.S. commander and the American ambassador in Iraq have accused Iran, Syria and Hizbullah of supporting armed Shiite groups, adding that the Islamic Republic and the Assad regime were pursuing a "Lebanization strategy" in the war-torn country. General David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that Iranian support for the armed factions has emerged as the greatest long-term threat to a democratic Iraq. He also blamed Tehran for a flare-up of violence in Baghdad and Basra. The fighting erupted in response to an offensive by Iraqi government troops against Shiite militias in the southern port of Basra last month, upending what had been a months-long decline in violence. Petraeus said the fighting, which spread to Baghdad and other cities in the south, "highlighted the destructive role Iran has played in funding, training, arming and directing the so-called special groups." Petraeus said detentions of key figures in the armed groups had produced a clearer picture of the Iranian support, which he said was provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force with help from Hizbullah. "Four of the 16 so-called master trainers, for example, are in our detention facility," he said. "Unchecked, the special groups pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq," he told the Committee. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker charged that Iran and Syria were pursuing a "Lebanization strategy" in Iraq, co-opting elements of the local Shiite community to use as "instruments of Iranian force." "They're using that same partnership in Iraq, in my view, although the weights are reversed, with Iran having the greater weight and Syria the lesser. But they are working in tandem together against us and against a stable Iraqi state," the ambassador said. The comments of Petraeus and Crocker before a packed Senate hearing room came as they sought to justify an indefinite pause in the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq once five "surge" brigades come out in July. Petraeus distanced himself from the inconclusive Iraqi-led offensive in Basra, telling lawmakers he had not recommended it and that it was "not adequately planned or prepared." But Crocker suggested that Iranian support for the armed groups, including Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, had backfired politically. Despite promises by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop support for the special groups, Crocker said "nefarious activities by the Quds Force have continued and Iraqi leaders now clearly recognize the threat they pose to Iraq." Moreover, by taking on militias from his own sect, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had gained unprecedented support from across Iraq's fractured political spectrum, Crocker said. Crocker and Petraeus both held out hope that the intra-Shiite fighting may lead the Iranians to rethink their strategy. The ambassador said the U.S. was prepared to hold a new round of talks with the Iranians and that the Iraqi foreign ministry has contacted Tehran to try to set it up.(AFP-Naharnet)

 

 

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