Recent U.S. military raids against Iranians in Iraq were authorized by President George W. Bush but do not mark a widening of the conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
She told the New York Times Bush had given an order for a broad offensive against Iranian operatives in Iraq. "That's not escalation, that's just good policy," she said. REUTERS BBC
Iran had set up the embassy at the request of the Kurdish governor-general who was not informed of US intentions to raid the facility and kidnap its employees. The American soldiers confiscated computers and documents just five hours after Bush had threatened Iran in his address to the nation.
Clearly, Bush is looking for a way to provoke a military confrontation with Iran. Now he has five Iranian hostages at his disposal to help him achieve that goal.
Will the mullahs overreact or will they show restraint and try to prevent a larger conflict?
Bush's hostility towards Iran was evident in comments he made in Wednesday night's speech:
"Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."
"Seek and destroy"? Is that the plan? from Infowars.com