Iran's money man in Iraq arrested, and more

An Iran-linked financier of Iraqi extremists in Baghdad has been arrested by U.S. troops. (RTENews)

The suspect, whose identity has not been released, is believed to be a special groups leader for the Bayaa neighbourhood in the western part of the Iraqi capital. Advertisement

The US military claims that such special groups of Iraqi extremists are trained, armed and funded by Iran's elite Quds Force, a unit of the Islamic republic's Revolutionary Guard.

The military accuses these groups of directing attacks against US-led troops and inciting sectarian violence in Iraq.

I look forward to more information on this financier. Money and financing different groups and countries in the region has been in the news, especially with the U.S. announcing the recent 20 billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia.

From Silent Lucidity, Deadly Bedfellows:

The US has been pumping a great deal of money, and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia (who is himself a Wahhabi muslim) is putting up some of this money, without congressional authority or any congressional oversight for covert operations in many areas of the Middle East where the US wants to stop the Shiite spread or the Shiite influence. Somewhere along the line, somebody decided that Iran and Hezbollah are more dangerous than Sunni jihadist groups connected to “al Qaeda”. All this at Saudi Arabia’s behest and in the name of fighting Iranian influence in the Middle East. The civil war in Iraq will end when the Sunnis and the Shi’ites realize that they are being played against each other by the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. (more)

Also, it seems arms are being shipped into Iraq that the U.S. has no idea about:

... Italian anti-Mafia investigators had uncovered an alleged shipment of 105,000 rifles of which the American high command was unaware.

The Italian team, in an investigation codenamed Operation Parabellum, stopped the £20m sale and have made four arrests.

The consignment appears to have been ordered by the Iraqi interior ministry. The US high command in Baghdad admitted that it had no knowledge of any such order, even though the ministry is supposed to inform the Americans before making any arms purchases. (Guardian)

Karl Rove has left the building, so what does this mean for the Bush administration? I'm wondering if Karl Rove will take a few months off and then start working for one of the 2008 Republican candidates. I'm not sure if he would bring too much negative baggage with him for any candidate to WANT to hire him.

Other reading:
Appearance and reality in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, FresnoZionism.org

Senator Lieberman’s Call to Attack Iran Is a Dangerous Provocation, Washington Hotlist

Israeli-Palestinian Peace: Will Bush Take the Lead?, Huffington Post

Afghan, Pakistan talks end with pledge to fight terrorism, Peace and Freedom II

A More Sensible Plan, Freedom's Cost and Israelated

Dore Gold: Be Careful What You Wish For..., YID With LID

For some fun, visit Learning Straight Up, "A break from politics to discuss guitars."

Comments

[Debbie]

Michael, that's an idea. I've heard from some that perhaps Saudi Arabia may be running out sooner than anyone originally thought. But reports are mixed on that.

[michael]

It always comes down to the money, doesn't it?

Personally, I think that the quickest way to peace, and victory over the Islamist terrorists, is to convince Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and Iran to boost oil production to record highs. When they run out, and the petro dollars stop flowing, the Islamists terrorist campaigns will start running out of fuel.

Of course, so will the rest of us, so it's not a perfect plan, but the US and Canada do have massive oil shale reserves out west.