Great Satan Go Home
A’jad gets more digs in and promises $$$ prior to exiting. Talabani reckons he got an agreement “to secure their borders in order to prevent infiltration of terrorists and smugglers.” Good luck with that.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:58 am Comments (7) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
7 Responses to “Great Satan Go Home”
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March 4th, 2008 at 3:28 am
I am amazed at the short memory of the Iraqis.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Talabani knows is all BS for the masses.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
A’jad complaining about foreign intervention is rich.
Too bad he wasn’t asked about Iran’s signature being on so many of the weapons used inside Iraq.
Or that the Katyushas lobbed into Israel from Gaza have Iranian provenance.
As Iran continues to supply and train Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as Hamas.
These guys put on immensely hypocritical faces with, apparently, no shame.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am
It’s just diplomacy, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It would be better if the talks were between two democracies, of course, rather than just one. The Iraqi politicians are somewhat accountable, while the Iranians can do whatever they want without repercussions from their people. Still, this does mean that if the Iranians break their agreement, it gives the Iraqi minority government something to use against the majority, and I would think that the Iranians would prefer to see the same people remain in power for now. So there is some incentive on both sides to make sure any interference is not obvious and not violent.
Whether Iran will stop trying to kill Americans in Iraq altogether probably is dependent on the strategy they have decided on. Either the Iranians have decided to just wait us out, or if they think we can be pushed out more quickly. On the one hand, they know that we won’t stay in force forever, so waiting us out makes sense. On the other hand, they’re worried about what our long term presence is going to do towards revitalizing Iraq, and the implications of that for the Iranian government itself. I found this quote from Ahmadinejad very telling:
“If [coalition countries] claim they want to spend their money developing the people of these countries, they’d be better off spending the money on their own countries.”
Exactly. They are very worried about the possibility of western (read American) money and influence pushing Iraq to new heights and making themselves look weak in comparison.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I know it’s all “just” politics. (not exactly diplomacy)
I simply detest that glittery eyed snake A’jad continuing to slither around the region in his leisure suit, flying on “Islamic Republic of Iran” personal jetliner.
Speaking out of both sides of his mouth, being a bigshot, while the internals, employment, inflation, infrastructure inside Iran continue to shoot craps.
I like reports that A’jad’s credibility is on the decline inside Iran and that more rational minds on the horizon might well be taking his place.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:52 am
“On the one hand, they know that we won’t stay in force forever, so waiting us out makes sense.”
It is not in Iran’s interest that Iraq have a huge military. The orginal US plan was to build an Iraqi Army of 81,000. A ratio of 3 soldiers/1000 residents…which is the ratio used by most European Countries. Unfortunately…the sustained level of violence has forced the Iraqi Government to build to 3 times that….along with an equivalent number of police.
So clever little Ajad has managed to create a situation where he ends up with an battle hardened American Trained Army…3 times the size the Americans had originally planned…sitting on his border. The Iraqi’s still haven’t gotten around to purchasing heavy weaponry, Ajad keeps it up and the Iraqi’s will end up with M1A1’s and F-35’s.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
You make a great point, SoldiersDad. Not only are they going to have a bigger army than expected, thanks to us it will be one of the best trained and most organized forces in the ME. Couple that with a growing economy capable of purchasing advanced weaponry, and what do you get? Regardless of what Iran originally had planned, at this point they have to be seriously worried about being eclipsed in the region by Iraq in every way, and ultimately, being put out of power when Iranian’s begin to compare their situation to their western neighbors.
I’ve always thought this would be the ultimate outcome, though it’s still far from a certain thing (and still seems a lot less certain than it did before 2006). If A’jad is worried, though, then I’m happy.