May 1st, 2008 by Amanda

Steve Clemons at The Washington Note lambastes U.S. foreign policy, the ignorance of American public and media, and chides notable Middle East analysts including Fred Kagan, Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack.

He disdains the U.S. government as misleading by accusing Iran as the reason for the lack of political progress in Iraq. He asserts that “the leadership of the Iraqi government regularly consults Iranian officials and is closer to Iran than any other element in Iraq today,” yet analysts and press fail to place pressure on Washington’s anti-Iranian rhetoric. Clemons affirms the U.S. position by reporting that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has historically “pressured Iraq’s Arab neighbors to shield Iraq from Iran’s ‘nefarious influence’.”

At Wednesday’s U.N. Security Council meeting, Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Hamid Al Bayati and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad claimed that the Iranian and Syrian governments are incessantly attempting to destabilize Iraq, but they “insist there is no proof,” and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen, while echoing the Ambassadors’ comments, admits that no direct links can be traced.

The Middle East Institute’s Wayne White reiterates Clemons’ sentiment, declaring that “the U.S. once again is stepping up its rhetoric aimed at Iran.”

He believes that “not only have accusations escalated, but also the tone of Administration and U.S. military commentary on Iran has become noticeably more shrill.” He asserts that “something often neglected in American policymaking is the good sense to proceed cautiously in certain highly complex situations.” Both Clemons and White discuss the American commentary on questionable ties of Iran to Iraqi militias.

At Huffington Post, former Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg balances the debate, suggesting “there is little doubt that Washington is escalating its saber rattling against Iran as Iran accelerates its support for the Mahdi Army which is taking a growing toll of American lives.

The Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Iranian Ambassador to U.N. Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi rebutted to statements made by Bayati and Khalizad, arguing that “to date the United States has not ever come up with any single reliable evidence that would corroborate its claims against Iran - simply because there are not any such evidences and because these allegations are totally unfounded.” The article continues to affirm that “instead of scapegoating others for US’s policy failures in Iraq, the US Government should address its own wrong policies and practices in the country in an honest and sincere manner.”

As the exact relationship between Iranian-backed militias and elements of the Iraqi government remain unclear, some Congressional members note discrepancies. Senator Dianne Feinstein stated that “while she believed that there was evidence that Iran was aiding Shiite militias, she worried about the tenor of the administration’s latest warnings.”

Posted in Iran, Iraq, US foreign policy |