Alleged Iran Plot To Bomb Saudi Ambassador Foiled – OpEd
Before I get into the thicket of this allegedly foiled terror plot, I’ve got to say the whole thing stinks to high heaven. I’m not saying that two Iranians might not have wanted to try to off a Saudi Arabian diplomat (jury’s out on that). But to link this to the Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian government (“an international conspiracy by elements of the Iranian government”) is beyond preposterous.
Here is how the U.S. attorney linked the alleged plotters to the Iranian government:
He said the men were connected to the secretive Quds Force, a division of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps…According to the complaint, other conspirators based in Iran were aware of and approved the plan…
Which means precisely what? And what evidence do we have of official government involvement? We’ll have to wait and see on that. But I strongly doubt it. While I have no love or respect for the Iranian regime, to think that they would as stupid as the Justice Department is making them out to be beggars belief. Not to mention the Mexican drug cartels, millions in funds transferred through the U.S. banking system. The whole thing strikes me as beyond belief.
I’m beginning to think of this as a Tonkin Gulf-type incident, which Lyndon Johnson used as a pretext to begin U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Then again, remember Bush’s escalations after 9/11 and what suffering they brought the U.S., Iraq and Afghanistan? What could Obama have in store? Who knows. But I think the “success” of the Bin Laden and Al-Awlaki murders has emboldened him to break out the guns from the U.S. arsenal.
He wouldn’t even have to do that if he chose not to. Israel is itching at the bit for a chance to take on the Ayatollahs. We’ve already supplied them with enough bunker buster bombs to make a tunnel all the way to Cleveland (or wherever the opposite side of the earth is from Qoms or Natanz). A shooting war? I don’t know. But you can be damn sure that Obama is after something far more disruptive to Iran than ratcheting up economic sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards, which he announced today.
This article appeared at Tikun Olam
