|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1646725,00.html
Hizbullah's Long Reach into Iraq
[TIME] Mark Kukis - According to the People's Mujaheddin Organization of Iran (PMOI), a longtime opposition group to the regime in Tehran, as many as 500 Hizbullah operatives are at work in Iraq training militiamen at the behest of Iran. The PMOI, which claims to have an extensive intelligence network in Iran and Iraq, says most of the Hizbullah operatives in Iraq are serving as trainers or assistant trainers to the Mahdi Army, the Shi'ite militia of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, the acting commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, said sophisticated kidnapping operations and high-tech bombs of the kind Hizbullah has been known to use in Lebanon are signs that the group is increasingly a part of the militia scene in Iraq. "I think it elevated the lethality of the militias for sure," Brooks said of the Hizbullah presence. "They are absolutely some of the world's best in terms of terrorist tactics." U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said Tuesday, "Over roughly two months we have actually seen militia-related activities that can be attributed to Iranian support go up and not down."