Friday, March 13, 2009
Notes from the proxy war
You do not read much about it in the papers, but American and Iraqi forces have been capturing Iranian agents inside Iraq on a fairly regular basis, including three in December announced only this week. These agents are helping insurgents kill American soldiers. Call it what you will and explain it away if you want, but if these allegations are true (and the linked article is more than a little credible, coming as it does from Bill Roggio) then Iran is in fact waging hot war against the United States. Of course, one cannot extrapolate any particular policy for dealing with Iran from that fact, but is there any doubt that even a military strike against Iran would be lawful and moral (whether or not it would be wise)?
8 Comments:
By 
Anthony, at
Sat Mar 14, 02:49:00 AM:
We've had that particular casus belli available for years under Bush and did little. I can't see PBO doing any more.
By 
, at
Sat Mar 14, 07:36:00 AM:
I'm figuring BHO won't touch this, or the growing tensions with other oil nations like Venezuela and Russia. They need oil prices to rise, and they're going to get them whether they need war or other disruptions to supply to get it. No one respects the sissy, and BHO isn't going to present anything but that.
By Dawnfire82, at
Sat Mar 14, 11:02:00 AM:
Applying that same standard, it would also have been lawful and moral for the USSR to strike the US during their Afghan campaign.
Just a reminder that it goes both ways.
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Mar 14, 11:48:00 AM:
Applying that same standard, it would also have been lawful and moral for the USSR to strike the US during their Afghan campaign.
Agreed, but the point of proxy war during the Cold War was to avoid direct super power confrontation, and both sides understood that by staying out of the other side's direct wars (Afghanistan and Vietnam, principally, but others). Since then the purpose of proxy war seems to have evolved. After all, there is no big cataclysmic risk if the United States and Iran end up in war. Iran uses proxies so that it can provide public relations air cover to anti-Americans who oppose United States military action on other grounds.
By , at
Sat Mar 14, 12:23:00 PM:
"After all, there is no big cataclysmic risk if the United States and Iran end up in war." - Tigerhawk
Not yet, but there soon will be.
-David
By Anthony, at
Sat Mar 14, 12:36:00 PM:
Iran uses proxies so that it can provide public relations air cover to anti-Americans who oppose United States military action on other grounds.
Unfortunately, those proxies almost surely include Hizbullah sleeper cells here in the US. If and when an open fight comes, Tehran will surely use those for something other than propaganda cover for their useful idiots in the US.
By Escort81, at
Sat Mar 14, 05:47:00 PM:
DF82 - You probably know the history better than I do, and maybe this is a distinction without a difference, but were any U.S. forces (regular Army, special forces, CIA SAD, etc.) actually in combat against Soviet troops in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1990? It seems to me that, based on reports, Iranian military and paramilitary types are on the ground in Iraq acting as shooters.
By , at
Sun Mar 15, 06:26:00 AM:
American troops are being killed by the armed forces of Iran. The only question is how we choose to respond.
