It looks like the Bush administration has lost trust in all Iraqi Shiites. At least that’s what U.S. troops have shown by detaining the son of top Iraqi Shiite politician Abdel Aziz al-Hakim on Feb. 23 as he was returning from Iran.
The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the elder Hakim’s organization, is an ally of the United States. By most accounts, it is also the most pro-Iranian of all Iraqi Shiite factions. It also has an allied militia called the Badr Organization, thought to be Iran’s main proxy in Iraq.
Ammar al-Hakim, a senior leader of SCIRI and the secretary-general of a charitable foundation the group runs, was returning from Iran via the Badrah border crossing in the southeastern governorate of Wasit. U.S. sources believe Ammar is involved in transferring money and weapons on behalf of Iran to Iraqi Shia. Moreover, he could also be spying on the United States.
In any case, Ammar’s arrest underscores the strain that seems to have set in relations between the Bush administration and its closest Iraqi Shiite ally. So far, American forces have gone after the radical al-Sadrite Bloc and its armed wing, the Mehdi Army.
An escalation of this crisis could shove SCIRI further into the Iranian camp. Furthermore, it could spur an alignment of anti-U.S. Shiite groups that have been fighting against each other.
Vice President Dick Cheney’s comments in Australia provide another insight into what could be happening. By drawing Iran closer into the Iraq conflict, could the Bush administration be intending to expose the ruling mullahs to wrath of Iraqi Sunnis? With the Iranians caught in their own Iraqi quagmire, maybe that full-blown U.S. attack on Iran might not be needed. Bush’s surge may be intended for Iran.
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