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This didn't get much play in the media because this is one "outreach" item to Iran Obama would just as soon not be widely circulated; his release of 5 Revolutionary Guard commanders belonging to the elite Quds Force who planned dozens of attacks on Americans in Iraq and who George Bush refused to release. Andrew McCarthy in NRO has the sickening details: There are a few things you need to know about President Obama's shameful release on Thursday of the "Irbil Five" - Quds Force commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who were coordinating terrorist attacks in Iraq...

July 11, 2009 Obama Frees Iranian Terror Masters The release of the Irbil Five is a continuation of a shameful policy. By Andrew C. McCarthy There are a few things you need to know about President Obama’s shameful release on Thursday of the “Irbil Five” — Quds Force commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who were coordinating terrorist attacks in Iraq that have killed hundreds — yes, hundreds — of American soldiers and Marines. First, of the 4,322 Americans killed in combat in Iraq since 2003, 10 percent of them (i.e., more than 400) have been murdered by...

The growth of Lebanon's Hezbollah (Party of God) has gained considerable impetus through its patron Iran's own desire to dominate strategically the entire Middle East region. Hezbollah fits in neatly with Tehran's effort to reinstate the Persian preeminence in the ancient world reaching back centuries.Ironically this is the same vision held by the late Shah Reza Pahlevi. His imperial objective was clear and for that reason feared by the kingdoms of the Gulf. With more than a little American encouragement, the deeply egocentric Shah more than once indicated he viewed himself as directly descended from the ancient kings of Persia.Today's...

Americans were stunned on October 11 when the Justice Department unsealed its complaint against Mansour Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old used-car dealer from Corpus Christi now in federal custody, and Ali Gholam Shakuri, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. Shakuri remains inside Iran. The pair have been charged with conspiring to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir. As disclosed by the Treasury Department, the plot was coordinated by Arbabsiar’s cousin, Abdul Reza Shahlai, a top Quds Force functionary whom the Treasury designated in 2008 as one of several “individuals and entities fueling violence in Iraq.” Shahlai was...