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The hours of congressional testimony, the speeches and the press conferences this week were all, nominally, about Iraq. But another, equally explosive question - what to do about Iran - loomed over the presentations by Army Gen. David Petraeus, the American military commander in Iraq, over U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and over U.S. strategy for the Middle East. Petraeus and Crocker, arguing that there has been progress in stabilizing Iraq since President Bush ordered a troop build-up there last year, fingered Iran's support for Shiite militias in Iraq, which they called "special groups," as the No. 1 threat...

Petraeus Patience By the Editors If Gen. David Petraeus wasn’t denounced as a traitor upon his arrival on Capitol Hill Tuesday, his testimony was the occasion for the same dreary willful obtuseness on the part of congressional Democrats as in September. Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker again were cautious and understated, perhaps to a fault. Without over-promising, they explained how we have built on the tentative security gains that Democrats were so skeptical of six months ago, and that there has begun to be political movement. The progress we have won is “fragile and reversible” as they repeatedly said, dependent...

SNIPPET: "Iraqi officials in Al Kut are seeking four suspected Iranian Qods Force operatives behind attacks on security forces. Members of the Iraqi security forces put up wanted posters with photos of the Iranian operates on the streets in an effort to detain the men. The Qods Force agents are wanted for "armed operations against Iraqi security personnel and civilians," an Iraqi security official told Voices of Iraq. "The security authorities in Kut appealed to local residents to report these dangerous persons who are wanted on charges of involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq." The campaign was announced the same...

Iraqi security forces detained an Iranian operative in southern Iraq in the latest operation designed to curb Iran's influence in the war-torn country. Iraqi security forces have detained four Iranian operatives since the beginning of October. On Oct. 1, the US military announced that Iraqi paramilitary police from the National Emergency Response Brigade arrested Khalid Masur Isma’il during a raid in the Shia slum of Sadr City. Isma’il served as "financier and recruiter" for the Hezbollah Brigades... Two other Hezbollah Brigades operatives have been captured in Baghdad this month. On Oct. 3, Iraqi troops arrested a man thought to be...

The US military broke up an Iranian-backed terror cell associated with Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army during a raid in Al Kut in central Iraq. Iraqi officials are claiming the US military conducted the raid without approval. Coalition forces killed one Iranian-backed terrorist and captured six others during a raid that targeted a financier that supports both the Mahdi Army Special Groups and the Brigade of the Promised Day. One woman was also killed during a gunfight that broke out during the raid; the woman was caught in the crossfire. The Brigade of the Promised Day was created by Sadr...

NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Groups of Shiite extremists trained in Iran are returning to Iraq with plans to bomb high-profile targets, the chief of Dhi Qar province's police said Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT Brigadier General Sabah al-Fatlawi told AFP "Special Groups" (Shiite extremists) of around 10 fighters each are returning by crossing the border from Amara, the capital of Shiite Maysan province in the south. "The Special Groups are returning from Iran after receiving training in using new tactics. We have seized 20 motorcycle bombs in Nasiriyah. Some groups have arrived in Nasiriyah," Fatlawi said, referring to the capital of Dhi Qar,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained three suspected Iranian-backed “special groups criminals” and discovered weapons during recent operations throughout Baghdad, military officials said. In operations yesterday, local police found more than 1,700 small-arms rounds, 18 grenades, 10 AK-47 assault rifles with magazines and eight munitions vests in Baghdad’s New Baghdad district. Also, a local citizen turned in a 60 mm mortar round and a rocket-propelled grenade round to U.S. troops patrolling the area, officials said. In operations Sept. 12, a U.S.-Iraqi-joint patrol captured an alleged Iranian-backed “special groups leader” in Baghdad’s Jihad community. The suspect is...

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces captured five suspected Special Groups outlaws during operations in Baghdad and near Hillah Friday and Saturday. Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces conducted a raid on the suspected residence of a Special Groups leader and recruiter east of Hillah, about 180 km south of Baghdad. The man was wanted for running Special Groups recruiting efforts, as well as ordering assassinations and directing the specialized training of Special Groups criminals. Coalition also captured an associate of the targeted individual. During a separate operation in northeast Baghdad, Coalition forces conducted a raid on the residence of a suspected...

Sadr's Special Groups By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Bill Roggio June 13, 2008 This article was originally published in the Weekly Standard.   In the past month, Iraqi and coalition forces have succeeded in their fight against the Mahdi Army's "special groups." On May 3, the U.S. military destroyed a special groups’ command center in Sadr City, killing a wanted leader in the attack. On May 25, Iraqi special operations forces captured a mid-level special groups leader in the al-Shuala area of Baghdad. And on May 31, Iraqi special operations forces captured another special groups "criminal" in Baghdad who was suspected of...

Car Bomb Blamed on Iranian Backed Shias June 19, 2008 The US military has accused Iranian-backed Shia groups of setting off a car bomb that killed more than 60 people in a mainly Shia area of Baghdad, hinting at yet another new twist in the complex web of violence gripping the capital. “We believe the attack was not conducted by AQI [Al-Qaeda in Iraq],” said Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover, a US army spokesman, said. “Though vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices are a trademark of AQI, our intelligence, corroborated through multiple sources, is this atrocity was committed by a Special Groups cell led...

AMARAH, Iraq, June 18 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials say radical Shiite militias have agreed to let the government retake control of provincial capital without a fight. Forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr have told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki they won't offer resistance when an expected offensive to take control of Amarah, capital of Maysan province, begins this week, USA Today reported Wednesday. In a change of strategy, the Iraqi government gave ample warning to Sadr's militia forces they were coming to retake the city, which until recently had been in control of the militants. An Iraqi military official...

US soldiers in Baghdad captured an Iraqi arms dealer and "assassination squad" leader responsible for trafficking Shi'ite extremists in and out of neighboring Iran for training, the military said Sunday. The arrest reinforced long-standing US allegations that Iran arms, trains and funds Shi'ite Muslim militiamen inside Iraq - charges that Teheran denies. It also coincided with a two-day visit to Iran by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his second such trip in a year. The Iraqi prime minister, himself a Shi'ite, is struggling to keep Washington happy while reassuring Iran, the largest Shi'ite nation, that a proposed US-Iraqi security agreement...

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces captured a suspected Basrah-based Special Groups criminal and his associate late Saturday night during operations in the Rusafa district of Baghdad. Acting on intelligence from captured Special Groups members, Coalition forces raided the hideout of the suspected Special Groups criminal, where he and his associate were captured without incident. The wanted man is alleged to be a commander of an assassination squad in Basrah, an arms dealer with connections to Iran, and a document counterfeiter. This last offense was reportedly done in his role as one of a handful of Special Groups criminals who arranges transportation...

Iraqi PM begins talks in Tehran The Mehdi Army has fought bitter battles in recent months Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is in Iran for talks aimed at improving relations between the two neighbours. He is expected to raise allegations of Iranian support for Shia militants in Iraq when he meets with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Shia militiamen fought bitter battles with US and Iraqi government forces between March and May. Also on the agenda are the ongoing US-Iraqi talks over the two countries' future, long-term relationship. Mr Maliki is on his third visit to Iran since taking office in...

Coalition special operations forces have captured four Iranian-backed Special Groups leaders and operatives south of Baghdad over the past two days. Three of the Shia extremists were captured in Wasit province, the gateway for weapons smuggled into Baghdad from Iran. Two of the Special Groups operatives were captured during separate operations on June 6 in the town of Al Hayy, a region about 30 miles south of Al Kut in Wasit province. The first raid netted an "Iranian-trained Special Groups leader suspected of directing and ordering attacks against Coalition forces in Wasit Province, as well as attacks and kidnappings against...

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military in Iraq has captured the deputy military chief of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah, coalition officials said. Iraqi sources said the U.S. Army has arrested the No. 2 figure in Hizbullah's military wing. The sources said the unidentified Hizbullah commander was responsible for training the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army in the Baghdad area. "The arrest is a major achievement and could provide an intelligence bonanza," an Iraqi source said. The U.S.-led coalition has reported the capture of a senior Iranian operative south of Baghdad. In a coalition statement, the operative was described as a "primary weapons smuggler and...

Qayis and Layith Qazali. Click to view. The kidnapping of five British contractors - four security guards and a financial consultant - has long been suspected of being an Iranian-backed job. A recent report in the Times Online confirmed an Iranian extremist group has demanded the release of Qais Qazali, the leader of the Iranian-backed Qazali network, in exchange for the five Britons. "Senior Iraqi government sources say their captors have promised they will not be harmed but any rescue attempt would endanger them," the Times Online reported. "They claimed the hostages will remain prisoners 'for as long as...