Iraqis receive training in Iran

Washington Times ^ | Jan. 9, 2006 | Sharon Behn

[conservativecorner]

Shi'ite clerics are recruiting young Iraqis to go to neighboring Iran for political indoctrination and militia training, said the uncle of one young man who recently returned from a one-month session.

Upon the return of the young man -- whose name has been withheld from this article to protect his family -- he was recruited into the armed wing of the pro-Iranian Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) political party, the uncle said.

The claim is consistent with remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, who has repeatedly warned about Iranian meddling in Iraq's affairs. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) -- an exiled opposition group -- also charges that Tehran has been training Iraqi and other nationals in intelligence gathering and terrorist operations at garrisons across Iran.

The uncle, who agreed to be identified only as Muhammad, said the young man and a number of others were recruited from Husseiniya mosque, a large Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad. The young man told his father he was going to visit a religious site in Iran.

[humint]

ARTICLE: "All the training he received was required training for the militia. They also had political classes, and classes in how to kidnap people if they are against the Islamic people of Iraq and Iran," Muhammad said.

WHAT The ?!?! The Iraqis have a shot at something good, like democracy; meanwhile Iran is training them to kidnap political opponents! This sounds like a job for DEMOCRACY NOW... wait, they're too busy criticizing the Bush administration to fight for democracy now. Maybe, democracy later...