Thursday, April 21, 2005
Iran signals intent to attack American soldiers
At a ceremony organized by the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement in Tehran on April 20, a group spokesman said 440 young men and women volunteered to carry out suicide attacks against Americans in Iraq as well as Israeli military targets. The spokesman said the group already has carried out attacks inside Israel, although the group has not previously claimed responsibility for attacks there.
Since you can't twitch in Iran without at least the tacit consent of the government, is this not a declaration of an intent to wage war against the United States under any plausible understanding of international law? If we do go to war against Iran (very possibly a bad idea), this is all the justification that we should need.
This same group has been at it for some time, with the support of the government:
The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: train for suicide attacks against US troops in Iraq, or train for suicide attacks against Israelis. Or train to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie.
It looked at first glance like a gathering on the fringes of a society divided between moderates who want better relations with the world and hard-line Muslim militants hostile toward the United States and Israel.
But the presence of two key figures – a prominent Iranian lawmaker and a member of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards – lent the meeting more legitimacy, and a clear indication of at least tacit support from some within Iran’s government.
Of course, I'm sure that the Iranians believe they are justified in organizing attacks on American soldiers. That does not make them any less our enemy.
4 Comments:
By 
Gordon Smith, at
Thu Apr 21, 12:23:00 PM:
This is what's wrong with the Fear stance America has taken since 9/11.
440 wingnuts shake their Korans in Tehran, so we ought to wage war on the entire nation? We ought to wreck the infrastructure, kill untold thousands of innocent civilians through collateral damage, and then try to set up a regime in order to control fewer than 500 guys? This is a fool's tactic - kill thousands in a misguided effort to control 440? Give the rest of the Islamic world more ammunition in recruiting drives for Al Qaeda or its imitators?
If we're justified in waging war on another nation because of 440 wingnuts, then there are many nations who could justifiably attack the United States right now.
By Cardinalpark, at
Thu Apr 21, 01:28:00 PM:
Actually Screwy, I am certain we will not wage war with Iran due to a few hundred guys who've signed up to try to kill our soldiers. Do you know why? Because we let them seize our Embassy in 1979 (a legitimate causus belli, considering a country'e embassy is sovereign territory), hold 54 of our citizens hostage and did nothing. We let their proxy kill 240 of our marines in Beirut in 1983, and we did nothing. We let them kidnap and murder any number of our citizens, both civilian and military, and we did nothing.
More recently, we have confronted Iranian Intelligence Service officers in Iraq, killing them while they tried to kill our people in Najaf, for instance. They are building nuclear weaponry and long range delivery systems so that they can threaten Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq -- that is, dominate the Persian Gulf region. Of course and finally, they run a tyrannical, theocratic regime which oppresses its own populace, limits freedom and blames others for its own problems and shortcomings. They have certainly waged verbal war with the US since 1979 daily, and actual war via terrorism and its proxies since then as well.
So Screwy, when do you think it might be okay to go to war with Iran? What what be sufficient cause for you? Hmmm?
By TigerHawk, at
Thu Apr 21, 01:44:00 PM:
Also, Screwy, there is a difference between "wingnuts" in a police state, and wingnuts in a democracy. Iranian wingnuts operate with state sanction and even support (as discussed in the linked article).
By the way, I agree that there are a lot of countries that have cause to go to war with the United States. That's why we must maintain a dominant military for as long as possible.
By Jude the Obscure, at
Sat Apr 23, 03:48:00 PM:
The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: train for suicide attacks against US troops in Iraq, or train for suicide attacks against Israelis. Or train to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie.
Result:
Zero for Iraq, zero for Israel, 300 for Salman Rushdie. Well, that's what I would do. Get to Britain and enjoy all the benefits while hunting down an unarmed man. Could take years.
