February 14, 2007

Mr. President, what are you prepared to do?

This article appeared on the MSNBC Hardball Hardblogger

In his press conference Wednesday, President Bush said he is convinced that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force is providing components to Shia militias for use in roadside bombs. He also said he is not sure if the supply of the munitions was “ordered from the top echelons of government.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace seemed equally vague, saying, “…I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit.”

Having worked the “Iranian problem” for many years while in the intelligence community, the thought that the Qods Force could supply weapons and deploy personnel to Iraq without the knowledge and complicity of the Iranian government is ludicrous.

Iranian-made weapons components are being used in roadside bombs that are killing American troops. American forces have detained Qods Force personnel in Iraq, recovered documents indicating their involvement in a variety of operations in Iraq, and captured weapons that were manufactured in Iran. Whether or not the orders came from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei, President Ahmadinejad, or the commander of the IRGC, the bottom line is that someone in the Iranian regime authorized these operations.

The president at one point remarked, “I’m going to do something about it.”

If it was up to me and I believed that the IRGC Qods Force has American blood on its hands (it does), there would be strikes on IRGC facilities in Iran. How’s that for dialogue with Tehran?

Mr. President, just what are you prepared to do?