Iran's long militant tentacles in Iraq, Afghanistan — VOICES for REASONVOICES for REASON

Iran’s attempts to turn post-war Iraq into an Islamist vassal is a way under-reported story. For a long time, that narrative was downplayed, minimized, denied. No more, perhaps.

What comes into sharp focus in this New York Times report is a horrifying picture of Iran’s considerable efforts to dominate in Iraq. The NYT summary is long, but well worth reading. Despite our supposed “success” in Iraq, Iran’s power-grab persists. Just how many Americans have died in Iraq because of Iran’s backing of insurgent groups (both Sunni and Shiite) is hard to calculate; but Iran’s culpability and militant ambitions should no longer be in question.

Now Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, has conceded that his administration has received payouts from the militant theocracy in Iran. To what end is Iran backing him? My assessment: To solidify Iranian influence and power over Afghanistan. (There was already evidence that Iran was backing certain Islamist forces in the country.)

Add these two data points to the Iranian regime’s decades-long rap sheet. This is a regime with which our current (and our former) president has sought a rapprochement? A more healthy relationship based on “mutual respect and mutual interests”? This is a regime ambitious to expand its Islamist dominion far and wide, by force. It has continually shown itself to be an aggressive enemy of America and our interests.