Thursday, June 26, 2014

Er, Those Brainiacs Barry and Kerry Know That Iran Is Playing a Double Game Re ISIS, Right?

Maybe not. After all, they think making common cause with the Iranian regime ('cuz it's Shia) against ISIS (which is Sunni) makes good sense:
Secretary of State John Kerry floated this idea in an interview on June 16 with Katie Couric, saying, "We're open to discussions if there is something constructive that can be contributed by Iran, if Iran is prepared to do something that is going to respect the integrity and sovereignty of Iraq and ability of the government to reform." President Barack Obama, in remarks delivered on June 19, seemed to rule out a direct military coordination with the Islamic Republic but nevertheless struck a similar chord of possible future cooperation. "Iran can play a constructive role if it is helping to send the same message to the Iraqi government that we're sending, which is that Iraq only holds together if it's inclusive," the commander-in-chief said, before adding that Iran's "hot and heavy" military support for the Assad regime has gravely worsened conditions in Syria -- implying that what is transpiring in Iraq now is spillover from that conflict next door. Perhaps not so surprisingly, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also seemed amenable to an entente cordiale with the Great Satan. In a televised address on Iranian state media broadcast on June 14, he appeared to invite U.S. military intervention in Iraq to stem the ISIS assault and presented (not for the first time) Iran as a partner in what was once known as the global war on terror: "We all should practically and verbally confront terrorist groups."  
Yet American veterans of the decade-long Iraq war and occupation say that the idea is both preposterous and dangerous. Iran, they maintain, has long played a double game in Mesopotamia and the Levant, both enabling Sunni extremists to infiltrate countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon and then swooping in as the only safeguard heralded against the very forces they helped unleash... 

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