Showdown In The Desert
Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qumi, has responded to the Bush administration’s bellicose accusations that his country is actively working to undermine American interests in Iraq.
Qumi ridiculed such evidence as the Americans have professed to possess as verification for hostile intent, claiming it confirmed nothing and that the U.S. was making unfounded accusations.
Instead, Qumi insisted that those Iranian operatives seized inside Iraq were there for diplomatic purposes, and had met with Iraqi governmental officials in order to help solve Iraq’s security issues, and to foster economic ties.
Qumi said Iran will soon open a national bank in Iraq, and that it was to be the first of several agreed upon with the Iraqi government. Iraqi officials confirmed this to be true.
Iran has also offered military assistance on the order of training, equipment and advisers in order to strengthen Iraq’s border defenses and provide security backup.
American officials continue to claim to have a “significant body of evidence” linking Iran to sectarian violence inside Iraq, and to accuse Iran of being a negative influence there. None of this proof has been released or confirmed.
One thing is clear; Iran believes it has better claim on future Iraqi direction as it’s immediate neighbor than does America, an imperial power half a world away. And America believes that, having done the heavy lifting, the spoils are hers. The oil spoils.
Does anyone really care what the average Iraqi wants in this ideological struggle, or are they just chips in an international power struggle?
