[M. Dodge Thomas]

That very night, U.S. forces raided an Iranian intelligence headquarters in the Kurdish town of Irbil, capturing six Iranians... the other five turned out to be Revolutionary Guards officers. My sources identified three of them by name, and told me they were providing a treasure trove of intelligence to their U.S. interrogators..."

Let's hope so, because we really pissed off the Kurds to do this - there was a four hour armed stand-off between US and Kurdish forces.

This is the problem with Iraq - nothing is simple there - as for example "our friends the Kurds" find it in their interest to have increasingly close relations with Iran.

As for "squeezing Iran", unfortunately it's a lot easier for Iran to make life difficult of us in Iraq than it is for us to make life difficult for Iran. And that includes just about any form of practical military action; we can mount an air campaign against Iran, but unless we are prepared to invade and occupy the county (a much bigger project than Iraq) they can leak increasing quantities of increasing lethal weapons into Iraq for a lot longer than we are likely willing to stay there.

[flynmudd]

A just fight is worth it all. I believe in this fight with all my heart and mind. If I didn't, I wouldn't brag about my son's service, I would just be another Cindy Sheman.

[JasonC]

We don't have to stay there. "Butcher and bolt", the British called it on the northwest frontier of India. Sink or seize the Iranian merchant marine, smash a dozen oil terminals, and they are out $50 billion a year. That will smart for a long, long time.