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As one U.S. official accurately described the policy: "We were bending over backwards not to fight back."
"Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq," by Dafna Linzer for the Washington Post:
The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort.
For more than a year, U.S. forces in Iraq have secretly detained dozens of suspected Iranian agents, holding them for three to four days at a time. The "catch and release" policy was designed to avoid escalating tensions with Iran and yet intimidate its emissaries. U.S. forces collected DNA samples from some of the Iranians without their knowledge, subjected others to retina scans, and fingerprinted and photographed all of them before letting them go.
Last summer, however, senior administration officials decided that a more confrontational approach was necessary, as Iran's regional influence grew and U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran appeared to be failing. The country's nuclear work was advancing, U.S. allies were resisting robust sanctions against the Tehran government, and Iran was aggravating sectarian violence in Iraq.
"There were no costs for the Iranians," said one senior administration official. "They are hurting our mission in Iraq, and we were bending over backwards not to fight back."
Three officials said that about 150 Iranian intelligence officers, plus members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Command, are believed to be active inside Iraq at any given time. There is no evidence the Iranians have directly attacked U.S. troops in Iraq, intelligence officials said.
But, for three years, the Iranians have operated an embedding program there, offering operational training, intelligence and weaponry to several Shiite militias connected to the Iraqi government, to the insurgency and to the violence against Sunni factions. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the CIA, told the Senate recently that the amount of Iranian-supplied materiel used against U.S. troops in Iraq "has been quite striking."
"Iran seems to be conducting a foreign policy with a sense of dangerous triumphalism," Hayden said.
Yes.
[...]
Information gleaned through the "catch and release" policy expanded what was once a limited intelligence community database on Iranians in Iraq. It also helped to avert a crisis between the United States and the Iraqi government over whether U.S. troops should be holding Iranians, several officials said, and dampened the possibility of Iranians directly targeting U.S. personnel in retaliation.
But senior officials saw it as too timid.
"We were making no traction" with "catch and release," a senior counterterrorism official said in a recent interview, explaining that it had failed to halt Iranian activities in Iraq or worry the Tehran leadership. "Our goal is to change the dynamic with the Iranians, to change the way the Iranians perceive us and perceive themselves. They need to understand that they cannot be a party to endangering U.S. soldiers' lives and American interests, as they have before. That is going to end."
A senior intelligence officer was more wary of the ambitions of the strategy.
"This has little to do with Iraq. It's all about pushing Iran's buttons. It is purely political," the official said. The official expressed similar views about other new efforts aimed at Iran, suggesting that the United States is escalating toward an unnecessary conflict to shift attention away from Iraq and to blame Iran for the United States' increasing inability to stanch the violence there.
But some officials within the Bush administration say that targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Command, and specifically a Guard unit known as the Quds Force, should be as much a priority as fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Quds Force is considered by Western intelligence to be directed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to support Iraqi militias, Hamas and Hezbollah.
In interviews, two senior administration officials separately compared the Tehran government to the Nazis and the Guard to the "SS." They also referred to Guard members as "terrorists." Such a formal designation could turn Iran's military into a target of what Bush calls a "war on terror," with its members potentially held as enemy combatants or in secret CIA detention.
Asked whether such a designation is imminent, Johndroe of the NSC said in a written response that the administration has "long been concerned about the activities of the IRGC and its components throughout the Middle East and beyond." He added: "The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force is a part of the Iranian state apparatus that supports and carries out these activities."
Posted by Marisol at January 26, 2007 12:19 AM
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the only way that you can win a war is to kill and keep killing the enemy until they are destoryed................seems that this has been forgotten by the PCness rule in America.........
The Texican.
Posted by: Texican![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 26, 2007 1:14 AM
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his
George S. Patton, Jr.
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.
Winston Churchill
at January 26, 2007 1:17 AM
"As one U.S. official accurately described the policy: 'We were bending over backwards not to fight back.'"
Whether one thinks the war in Iraq is a case of squandering resources in pursuit of exactly the wrong goal (a stable, united, prosperous Iraq), or not, everyone should be enraged to learn that there was, until recently, a policy of holdiing Iranian agents and then letting them go after a few days in order not to anger the Islamic Republic of Iran. This makes no sense. If the troops are there, as long as they are there, they should not be employed in "reconstructing" Iraq but in killing as many of the most dangerous Sunnis and Shi'a -- dangerous to Infidels, of course -- as possible. Ideally the Sunnis would find and kill the Iranian agents. But if at this point, it has been left to the Americans, then let them do it. Without any holding back for wrong-headed reasons, as has until now, apparently, been the case.
Posted by: Hugh at January 26, 2007 1:35 AM
Hopefully, our troops will also be authorized to kill Taliban attending funerals some time next year.
Posted by: george_rem at January 26, 2007 1:58 AM
U.S. had "catch and release" policy...
-- from the article above
So the American army perhaps doesn't quite need so many Humvees and airplanes and Bradley fighting vehicles and rifles and suchlike. No, what the American army needs is a few thousand, but very large, Hav-a-Heart traps that you use to catch squirrels, and then to release them a few miles away.
The New Army. It's not just for fighting anymore, or inflicting maximum damage on an enemy, or on several variants of the same enemy. No, no. Now the army is all about winning hearts. And winning minds. It's all about observing the rules for the "typical insurgency" ("The typical insurgency lasts about ten years.""The typical insurgency can be won if you first win over the people." "The typical insurgency..."-- fill in as the spirit moves you). It's all about rebuilding, or building for the first time, in many cases, schools and hospitals and power plants and roads, in order to make the people in this or that country happy, or at least temporarily subdued in their hostility, as long as the goods and services and cash keep on coming in, and coming in, because as soon as we stop the largesse, they will revert, or display openly, their inculcated hatred of Infidels not for what they do, but fo what they are -- Infidels.
And the New Army is those Hav-a-Heart Traps. It's the humane way -- whether you are dealing with little tiny furry creatures of the sciurine variety, or with Iranian members of the Revolutionary Guards, or some other unit dedicated to spreading mayhem and murder in Iraq, and especially directed at you.
Posted by: Hugh at January 26, 2007 2:40 AM
Texican says
the only way that you can win a war is to kill and keep killing the enemy until they are destoryed................seems that this has been forgotten by the PCness rule in America.........
This rule is followed by Islam and the jews,americans,indians have forgotten in their quest for political correctness and compassion for human kind.
for example Recently Israel knocked out the day lights of lebanon. The Islamic brave arriors hid behing civilians and survived. And when Israel finally stopped because of world pressure ,the hezbollah declared victory. In other words for them survival is victory.
So to make sure they dont get victory, the best thing is finsih them off. Do not leave the war half way.
at January 26, 2007 4:19 AM
Texican says
the only way that you can win a war is to kill and keep killing the enemy until they are destoryed................seems that this has been forgotten by the PCness rule in America.........
This rule is followed by Islam blindly
but
has been forgotten by jews,americans,indians in quest for political correctness and compassion for them muslims becso moderates come in the way pleading for help (which is a strategy of islam in in itself that when the enmy is winnig throw the moderate muslims in front to win sympathy).
For example Recently Israel knocked out the day lights of lebanon and did only little bit ot of damage then what they could have. The Islamic so called brave warriors hid behind civilians and survived.
And when Israel finally stopped because of world pressure ,the hezbollah declared victory. In other words for them survival is victory.
So to make sure they dont get victory make sure they do not survive, the best thing is finsih them off. Do not leave the war half way.
It may sound barabric and I am really ashamed to write it myself but in this war follow the rules the enemy follows and that is no POWs ,no enemy survivors,
at January 26, 2007 4:25 AM
Old Rules of Engagement (ROE)= What a soldier does when he is confronted by the enemy.
New Rules of Engagement (ROE) = What a couple does before they really get serious and "tie the knot".
In this case, all foreign agents (i.e. spies and provocatures) on Iraqi soil should have knots tied -- around their necks. No cell phone videos please.
Posted by: Spook-Fan at January 26, 2007 4:33 AM
New Modified Rules of Engagement (ROE) = Saddam-ize them, then make them as a true heavenly body, as in disappear.
Posted by: Spook-Fan at January 26, 2007 4:42 AM
Mr. Fitzgerald's comment above is quite telling. For it does seem that our American military forces have acted in too genteel a manner up to now. Have a Heart traps, indeed! I suppose it's in an effort to emphasize the differences between being an occupying force with ambitions of lifting up another democracy in the middle east, as opposed to how an Iranian-backed Hizballah would.
A 'catch-and-release' policy is good while fishing, but NOT in fighting a war on terrorism abroad. But how do we show the Iraqi population that our version of Democracy is superior, and "try it, you'll like it," when we are unambiguously also inplying that the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s should still be fought?
Our beef is with Iran, and the vitriole of the radical Shiites who rule Iran, and the terrorist Revolutionary Guard in power there. The U.S. needs to come to grips with that, and however it can be done, get the new government in Iraq to fully agree. I believe that doing otherwise is to ignore Islam's slavish spread, seemingly giving the green light to it.
at January 26, 2007 6:01 AM
Just heard on the radio that the PC way of dealing with Iranian operatives has just ended.
Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at January 26, 2007 6:04 AM
this is a sad commentary about the way the war is fought, the American people are justly upset at the way it is being fought. too much time and money and lives are being lost to cozy up the to liberal pc media and their ilk, the Democrats, time to fight this war to win.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at January 26, 2007 6:34 AM
The Muslims claim it is a honor to die in Jihad against the Infidels...
We should give them honor...
Do you remember all those Iraqis who surrendered so quickly and in such numbers (in the 1st Gulf War)that they were simply told to go home....Well, guess who is killing US soldiers now....Surrender and release is just as insipid as catch and release....The object of war is to eliminate the enemy threat not to reinforce it...You must kill the enemy in a time of war...
...By the way, click on to the DebkaFile link and read about all the weapons and munitions that were also found with the Iranians in Iraq...You will see nothing of this reported by the MSM...Our troops are having much more success than they are given credit for or being acknowledged by the MSM...
....When I watch the news on TV, I sometimes get the feeling they are hoping for a US defeat in Iraq...Rarely do they report the successes our troops achieve..
....Let the military do what it trains for...search and destroy....eliminate the threat forces...defeat the enemy... win the war...
Last man standing wins...
Posted by: exsgtbrown at January 26, 2007 7:10 AM
Recent bombing of at a animal companion pet/livestock market killing both people and animals underscores the need to make changes in Iraq policy.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,247060,00.html
Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at January 26, 2007 8:07 AM
I broke my glasses last week and am using an old pair that don't work as well.
Could someone with better eyes count how many people spilled the beans anonomysly in this story?
If the Walt Disney Corp. had as many leaks as our Federal govt. they would be out of business in a month. The newspapers don't even bother with disclaimers anymore (like name withheld for X reasons) they just give out information willy nilly and expect it to stand on it's own.
Don't ya just love democracy? If I walk out of our local libray with a book, I will go to jail Sandy Berger walks out of the National Archives with secure documents and gets a slap on the wrist.
Don't get me wrong. I am glad to hear the content of this article. It's just such a glaring example of the low level that journalism has sunk to in todays world. The Media makes or makes-up news today instead of reporting it.
Posted by: auntbea at January 26, 2007 8:39 AM
Hugh, perhaps we are sending the wrong soldiers.
Maybe if we send the Army Corps of Engineers. Maybe we would get better results.
They wouldn't risk their overeducated and overpaid butts quite so easily. I am sure our dam's ,rivers, levees and coastal waterways could get along without them for a while.
at January 26, 2007 8:54 AM
I wouldn't mind so much about catching and releasing these Iranians provided something were done to them to make them useful for US purposes.
Like implanting a tracking device in them. Or turning them into agents by whatever means necessary. Somehow, I don't see that happening, given how squeamish people are about fighting a war to achieve victory.
Of course, simply zapping them would be easiest, since they are legitimate targets.
Posted by: ISLAMSFORLOSERS at January 26, 2007 8:54 AM
Hav-a-Heart traps that you use to catch squirrels, and then to release them a few miles away.
Hmm. Bait the traps, "Wile E. Coyote & Roadrunner"-style, with boxes labeled "Highly Enriched Uranium--free! "
Posted by: MarisolJW at January 26, 2007 9:26 AM
Excellent news! Five years later, the troops can now put down the tranquilizer guns and start using real bullets! This proves the Administration understands the danger of jihad and is taking the threat seriously! Whoo hoo! More genius on parade.
Posted by: special_guest at January 26, 2007 10:42 AM
So the American army perhaps doesn't quite need so many Humvees and airplanes and Bradley fighting vehicles and rifles and suchlike. No, what the American army needs is a few thousand, but very large, Hav-a-Heart traps that you use to catch squirrels, and then to release them a few miles away.
Heh heh heh. More like bear traps, please.
Posted by: Carolyn2 at January 26, 2007 12:15 PM
Wonder how the iranians would like it if some ieds truck bombs car bombs etc were exploded in their country.
Posted by: callmeinfidel at January 26, 2007 12:21 PM
As long as our Commander-in-Chief refers to our enemy as "a noble religion" "a religion of peace® ", we won't go after these guys the way Patton swept across Europe.
http://www.bobtuley.com/georgepatton.htm
at January 26, 2007 12:24 PM
I guess we will keep playing around with Iran until there is a mushroom cloud in the air somewhere.
"catch and release" ? Isn't that what you do with trout ?
at January 26, 2007 2:11 PM
I guess we will keep playing around with Iran until there is a mushroom cloud in the air somewhere.
"catch and release" ? Isn't that what you do with trout ?
Posted by: TheRegulator
Yeah.. so they can breed more trout. Which is a desirable thing in the case of the trout. And only in the case of the trout.
at January 26, 2007 2:40 PM
The Iraqis are the ones inviting these guys in! Do you really think the don't?
Posted by: gregdn at January 26, 2007 2:43 PM
U.S. Politicians and leaders who contribute to stupidity such as this need to be released.
Preferably in al-Sadr city.
Posted by: A_Plague_on_Both_Houses at January 26, 2007 4:06 PM
Are we using the U.S. Border Patrol and INS agents in Iraq? Sounds like their M.O.
Posted by: A_Plague_on_Both_Houses at January 26, 2007 4:07 PM
Catch and release? My God! This is war, not a bass fishing trip! Please tell me this wasn't Dubya's idea!
Posted by: A.I. Steamroller at January 26, 2007 7:18 PM
There should have never been any reports of these iranians that were caught.There should not have been any reports of these iranians filed under missing either.If you catch my drift.
Someone earlier asked how the iranians would like the I.E.Ds blowing up in thier country?That would be a nice gift to give them.We have people in iran that could do such things and the kicker would be to use thier own confiscated explosives to do it with.
The people of iran,the ones who tasted freedom and liked it,do not have any love for little hitler.Once the chaos hit his soil he would go all military on them,worse than it already is and the people would not like it at all.
It's no wonder little imanutajoba has been whistleing and skipping,feeling all powerful and mighty.He must have thought he was really pulling one over on the U.S.
No matter his future is the same as all the rest of the zombies,not too bright and not very long.
As far as all the comments on the media,what took you all so long to see that they are fools?They all want to be walter kronkite or quite possibly more famous than him and they want it at any cost.
Embed the media to the latrines and mess halls.It would suck not having news from the war but at least then they could fight the horde without being the monster.Without the media to spin the war to thier uses we would already have victory.
What lost (didn't actually lose)the vietnam war was all the demonizing of the U.S. troops.I am quite positive that the media played it's part in the game as sure about that as i am that the administrations opposition at that time had a hand in it as well for thier own agenda and gain.
There is no doubt NONE AT ALL that it will have to take another attack here at home and possibly a worse one to rally people together and cheer on the fight against the true beast,that of islam.
WARNING: by this time do not be surprised that the "heroes and lions" of the horde are braver in thier attempts here on our soil,against your sons and daughters and husbands and wives or your brothers and sisters.The sad truth is though that there will only be a certain type of person to blame for such things.Who are those types of people? The ones still sleeping the future away,the ones to cause the many more to suffer and die. These dreamers in thier castles in the sky speak words in thier sleep they say "islam is a religion of peace",they say the "moderates "do not kill in the name of islam,they curse only the "extremists" while they drool with thier heads all cozy on thier pillows that all the men and women in iraq,afghanastan and all the other chaotic lands of the religion of peace gave thier lives for.
Bin laden and i agree on certain points,however whats needed to fix the problems we see eye to eye on differ enormously.I will not go into those details today because my rant now is of a different topic.
What is needed now is for our masters of war,the ones so well trained and gifted for warfare to be unleashed into the lands of the zombie and show them what bombs in the right places can do.They can do it ,they are mere shadows.
We have the means to start upheavels in the lands of dreamers,we have the means to bring castles in the sky crashing to the reality of the earth.
islam have robots,we the most modern civilization on earth have the means to destroy robots.
Books have great power not only in it's knowledge.The gov. should make up a few copies of a history book titled " The history of the last war to end all wars,world war 3".In this book the civilizations of the islamic world should be written out of this future history.Why? Because islam does not exist anylonger save for the few we salvaged,because it was anhialated,purged from the face of the earth.Murderers ,rapists and thieves have no placve in history as martyrs and heroes.Thise places are prisons and gallows....graves.
The copies of these books should be sent to all and every master of the slaves of islam,"ally" or not.
The smartest thing the U.S. could have done is all the military hardware and software it sold to enemy states was plant chips into them so that if we ever faced off against them we made them instant paper weights.
The women of islam ( "heroes and martyrs") obviously are not done talking yet,thier golden opprotunity not siezed yet another day.
Oh "lions" of the "mighty" when will be the day?should all the infedels tremble with fear daily at your roars? Are we doomed to only the scraches of your claws and not the bite of your teeth? Sieze the day oh "mighty" have you not grown strong enough yet? Is it peace you desire till a future date for the women,the fierce?
No my "heroes",noone trembles,noone shakes.There are no plans to run from the beasts of islam.beasts are made to be tamed or hunted,not feared.Your fate is in allahs hands this is true ,be him a god or a devil or in your mindset both.Has this entity not spoken to your hearts yet?Has he not granted you strength enough yet?
The begining had a place and time so shall the end.
Posted by: Dar al-harb at January 26, 2007 8:37 PM
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