Iraq defends Iran

The Bush Administration seems bent on showing the world how disruptive Iran is to creating a stable Iraq. The US has accused Iran of supplying weapons to Iraqi militias who have been using them to kill American forces. There was no mention however of American made weapons getting into the "wrong hands" and being used to kill Americans. Whatever shortages exist in Iraq, weapons are not one of them.

Keith Olbermann looks at the weapons situation in Iraq:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=pD6t0Mo-ee4]

In the meantime the Iraqi government has begun to distance itself from the American animosity towards Iran. This was made clear in an interview given by Maryam al-Rayyis:

Maryam al-Rayyis, the Prime Minister's adviser on foreign relations, said the Iraqi Government and people have deep respect for neighboring countries, including them Iran.

"We should separate between the Iraqi Government's stand toward Iran and the American one. The Iraqi Government does not want to be a party in the conflict between this and that country." She added that the Iraqi constitution was clear about this through articles stipulating that Iraq would not be a door or an arena to conflicts between other countries.

Even the Kurds do not appear to be as anti-Iran as the Americans:

Kurdish Deputy Mahmud Uthman did not rule out Iran's support for the Shiite militias in Iraq and said: "There is no doubt that Iran is backing the Shiite militias. They are bound together by old ties." He explained however in a telephone contact with Asharq al-Awsat that the United States has its reasons for these statements, is in dispute with Iran, and "is pinning the reasons of its failure in Iraq on Iran, Syria, and the Iraqi Government."

He was not very impressed with the display of Iranian weapons by the Americans:

Regarding the presence of sophisticated weapons that the armed groups have started to use in their fight against the American forces in Iraq, the Kurdish deputy said that these did not necessarily come from Iran since the gunmen "can bring them from any other sources like Syria or the former Iraqi army."

Washington seems at odds with most of the countries surrounding Iraq in its attempt to isolate Iran. Even Saudi Arabia which rivals Iran for domination in the region, has held talks with top Iranian officials about ways to cooperate in many areas of common interest in the Middle East, including Iraq.

It certainly appears as if the Bush Administration is not only ignoring the voices of other Americans who would like to see more diplomacy and less saber rattling, but also the efforts of the other countries in the Middle East to try to involve rather than isolate Iran. Maybe the Bush Administration is trying to make a case for the invasion of Iran. I hope this is not the case.