May 9,2008: With the collapse of Sunni Arab terror groups in Iraq, the biggest source of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops has become Shia Arab groups (like the Mahdi Army). These are backed by Iran (with cash, weapons and technical experts). Recently, the Iraqi government sent a group of Shia politicians to Iran, to try and get this terrorism support stopped. The Iraqis brought with them evidence (documents, names, photos). The Iranians denied everything and sent the Iraqi politicians packing. Meanwhile, some members of the ruling elite in Iran are speaking openly about what a bad thing such interference is, but will not come right out and name names, much less insist that the Quds Force be reined in. The Iranian government did say that shutting down the Shia militias in Iraq was a good things. The Iraqi government took the hint (that the Quds Force activities was an internal matter for Iran), and stopped complaining openly. At least for now. But to make their point, the Iraqis turned around and supported the United Arab Emirates in a dispute with Iran over ownership of three Persian Gulf islands. In response, Iran recalled its ambassador to Iraq. The Gulf Arabs, who are largely Sunni, see Iraq as suspect because most of the population is Shia (as are nearly all Iranians). But this backing of their fellow Arabs, over the islands dispute, makes Iraq "one of us (Arabs)." Despite the religious affinity, Iraqis tend to come down on the side of being an Arab, and anti-Iranian (Iranians are not Arab, but ethnic cousins of Europeans and Indians), when it really counts.

The U.S. (not to mentioned Palestinians, Israelis, Egyptians and Lebanese) are also upset about Iranian support of Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. These two groups are recognized terrorist organizations, and are the recipients of cash, weapons and technical experts from Iran. Officially, the Iranian government denies all this, but radical elements in the government are less shy about admitting to it. Thus the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Quds Force are an embarrassment to the government, especially when these radicals boats of their mischief in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and elsewhere. For example, Iran has been backing the Lebanese Shia Hizbollah group in its efforts to take control of the Lebanese government. This has recently led to open combat between Hizbollah and Lebanese government forces. Iran denies any involvement, it always does.

Stories about U.S. plans to bomb Iran are all smoke and no fire. For the clerical dictatorship in Iran, the best thing that could happen to them would be U.S. bombers attacking Iran. This would make the unpopular government popular, at least for a while, as most Iranians rallied to defend the motherland. But it's too good a headline to pass up, and the media keeps flogging it.

The Iranian lifestyle police want Western toys in general, and Barbie dolls in particular, banned. The Islamic radicals believe that corrupt (un-Islamic) teenagers are created by exposure to Western media, and toys, especially degenerate items like Barbie. The government does not want to ban this stuff, because it is too popular, and the image of the lifestyle police taking toys from crying children is not what the government wants to world to see.

Britain is trying to get five of their citizens, kidnapped last year in Iraq, released. The five were grabbed in an attempt to get four Iranian special operations people released (after they were captured by U.S. troops in northern Iraq.) The U.S. refused to bargain, and the kidnapped Brits were moved to Iran last Fall. Of course, Iran denies everything, and the British are eager to work out a deal before someone in Iran decides to have the five hostages disappear, to avoid further embarrassment.

The government admitted that an April 12 explosion in a southern Iraq mosque, which left a dozen dead and nearly 200 wounded, was not an accident. Police tried to blame the explosion on an accident involving weapons left in the mosque after a military exhibition. Mosques are frequently used to store and show off weapons. Islam considers itself a "militant" religion, so weapons are welcome in mosques. But now the government says they have captured the ringleader of the group that set off the bomb, but little else has been revealed, except to blame it all on the United States.