Iran's Strategy in Iraq

(Washington Times) Arnaud de Borchgrave - Iran's insurgency leader in Iraq is Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani. Iran supplies his network and introduced a new breed of roadside bombs more lethal than any before. Based on a design from the Iranian-supplied Lebanese militia Hizballah, the weapon employs "shaped" explosive charges that can punch through a battle tank's armor like a fist through a cardboard wall. Sheibani's 280-strong team is divided into 17 bomb-making and death squads. Extensive pay records from August 2004 show Iran paying the salaries of at least 11,740 members of the Badr Shi'ite militia. Jordanian intelligence estimates there has been an influx of a million Iranians into Shi'ite Iraq in the south, location of the richest oil fields. This included 12,000 armed men and intelligence officers. Some 46 Iranian infantry and missile brigades are poised near the common border to move into Iraq,


2005-09-09 00:00:00

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