Ratchet Time

Throwing more mud on the wall, or a beginning of a real offensive?

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military accused Iran on Monday of a direct role in a sophisticated militant attack that killed five American troops in Iraq, portraying Tehran as waging a proxy war through Shiite extremists.

The claims over the January attack marked a sharp escalation in U.S. accusations that Iran has been arming and financing Iraqi militants, and for the first time linked the Iranian effort to its ally, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia. The allegations could endanger Iraqi efforts to hold a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said the Quds Force, part of Iran's elite Republican Guards, was seeking to build an Iraqi version of Hezbollah to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces — and had brought in Hezbollah operatives to help train and organize militants.

Let's face it. I don't think there's any doubt that Iran is in Iraq. Just like there's no doubt that the U.S. is in Iraq. I also don't think there's any doubt that aid is coming to Shiites in Iraq. Frankly, I'd be shocked if it weren't. And I suspect that some Iranian special ops have killed Americans as I am equally positive that Americans have killed Iranians.

My question is this. Does Iran have any less right to be meddling in Iraqi affairs than the U.S.?

Update: Add this to the mix. This is from Froomkin this morning on Bush's "soul searching" (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL):

"Bush is fixated on Iraq, according to friends and advisers. One former aide went to see him recently to discuss various matters, only to find Bush turning the conversation back to Iraq again and again. He recognizes that his presidency hinges on whether Iraq can be turned around in 18 months. 'Nothing matters except the war,' said one person close to Bush. 'That's all that matters. The whole thing rides on that.'

So we have 1) "emerging evidence" of Iranians killing American boys and 2) being fixated on Iraq, the only place the guy has any power left. That equals 3) a dangerous President who feels a need to "do something" to save his sterling image. Then Froomkin notes this, classic Bush:

And consider the best example aides can come up with of someone telling Bush what he didn't want to hear: "Aides said they do challenge Bush. White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten had what one colleague called 'a lot of hard discussions' with the president after the November midterm elections to shock him into recognizing that his approach to Iraq had failed. Bolten set up meetings so Bush could hear from critics of his policy and sent him written material to emphasize the need for change, the colleague said. That led to the decision to send more troops."

So a concerted effort to convince him of something that should have been obvious leads to a contrarian and potentially irrational response. That's not exactly something to brag about.

Bush is a page right out of the Diagnostic Manual for Psychologists. Don't believe me? Check out this quote from Bush:

"The problem with the Oval Office, it is the kind of place where people stand outside and say, I'm going to walk in and tell him what for; they walk in, and they're overwhelmed by the environment, and they say, man, you're looking beautiful today, Mr. President."

Sheesh. I rest my freakin' case.

Update II: Here's a mouthful from the same blog post:

"One thing we all struggle to protect is a positive self-image. 'The more important the aspect of your self-image that's challenged by the truth, the more likely you are to go into denial,' says [psychologist Peter Ditto of the University of California, Irvine.] If you have a strong sense of self-worth and competence, your self-image can take hits but remain largely intact; if you're beset by self-doubt, however, any acknowledgment of failure can be devastating and any admission of error painful to the point of being unthinkable."

If it were a comedy bit, when this is said a drummer would hit the cymbals with a bada boom, bada bing. Unfortunately for a lot of victims worldwide, it's no joke.