Iran's Secret Plan For Mayhem

The New York Sun's Eli Lake reports the Iranian Qud's Force commanders captured in Iraq last month were carrying documents that laid out how Iran has been working with members of Sunni jihadist groups, including al Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunna, in Iraq.

Iran's support of Shiite militias has long been accepted. Iran has also been been suspected of trying to destabalize the fledging democracy in Iraq by providing aid to Sunni insurgents as well, but the evidence for this theory, has not been as well accepted. As Michael Rubin, an Iraq expert and Bush administration advisor told the CSM, "There has been lots of information suggesting that Iran has not limited its outreach just to the Shiites, but this has been disputed."

Though at least one U.S. official described the documents as the "smoking gun" indicating Iran's involvement in the Sunni insurgency. Other Iran observers remain skeptical. As Michael Rubin told the NY Sun, "When documents like this are found, usually intelligence officials may confirm their authenticity but argue they prove nothing because they do not reflect a decision to operationalize things."