Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
April 29, 2008
Pg. 1
Iranian Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East -- including Iraq.
By Hannah Allam, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy News Service
BAGHDAD -- One of the most powerful men in Iraq isn't an Iraqi government official, a militia leader, a senior cleric or a top U.S. military commander or diplomat,
He's an Iranian general, and at times he's more influential than all of them.
Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East.
As Tehran's point man on Iraq, he funnels military and financial support to various Iraqi factions, frustrating U.S. attempts to build a pro-Western democracy on the rubble of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
According to Iraqi and American officials, Suleimani has ensured the elections of pro-Iranian politicians, met frequently with senior Iraqi leaders and backed Shiite elements in the Iraqi security forces that are accused of torturing and killing minority Sunni Muslims.
''Whether we like [Suleimani] or not, whether Americans like him or not, whether Iraqis like him or not, he is the focal point of Iranian policy in Iraq,'' said a senior Iraqi official who asked not to be identified so he could speak freely. ``The Quds Force have played it all -- political, military, intelligence, economic. They are Iranian foreign policy in Iraq.''
McClatchy reported on March 30 that Suleimani intervened to halt the fighting between mostly Shiite Iraqi security forces and radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Basra. Iraqi officials now confirm that in addition to that meeting, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani personally met Suleimani at a border crossing to make a direct appeal for help.
Iraqi and U.S. officials told McClatchy that Suleimani also has:
• Slipped into Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified seat of the U.S. occupation and the Iraqi government, in April 2006 to try to orchestrate the selection of a new Iraqi prime minister. Iraqi officials said that audacious visit was Suleimani's only foray into the Green Zone. American officials said he may have been there more than once.
• Built powerful networks that gather intelligence on American and Iraqi military operations. Suleimani's network includes every senior staffer in Iran's embassy in Baghdad, beginning with the ambassador, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials.
• Trained and directed Shiite Muslim militias and given them cash and arms, including mortars and rockets fired at the U.S. Embassy and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, the sophisticated roadside bombs that have caused hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi casualties.
''I'm extremely concerned about what I believe to be an increasingly lethal and malign influence by [Iran's] government and the Quds Force, in particular in Iraq and throughout the Middle East,'' Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday.
One of Suleimani's first major victories against the United States in Iraq, however, was the product of political shrewdness, not military force. It came in January 2005, when Iraqis voted for the first time since Saddam's ouster nearly two years earlier.
The Bush administration pulled out all the stops to keep secular, pro-Western interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in office, aiding him with broadcast airtime, slick campaign ads and veteran advisors.
Suleimani countered with a covert PR campaign on behalf of a bloc of conservative pro-Iran Shiites he helped assemble, and he sent printing presses, consultants and broadcasting equipment, said an Iraqi official who's known Suleimani for years.
When the ballots were counted, Bush pointed to the purple-dyed fingers of Iraqi voters as a triumph for democracy -- but Allawi and his bloc were out and Iran's allies were in.
A year later, in April 2006, Iran became deeply concerned about a deadlock in negotiations over the selection of a new Iraqi prime minister after a second round of parliamentary elections.
This time, Suleimani slipped into the Green Zone to negotiate with Shiite politicians and to ensure that Iraq's final choice was acceptable to Tehran.
McClatchy correspondent Leila Fadel contributed to this report.
April 29, 2008
Pg. 1
Iranian Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East -- including Iraq.
By Hannah Allam, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy News Service
BAGHDAD -- One of the most powerful men in Iraq isn't an Iraqi government official, a militia leader, a senior cleric or a top U.S. military commander or diplomat,
He's an Iranian general, and at times he's more influential than all of them.
Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East.
As Tehran's point man on Iraq, he funnels military and financial support to various Iraqi factions, frustrating U.S. attempts to build a pro-Western democracy on the rubble of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
According to Iraqi and American officials, Suleimani has ensured the elections of pro-Iranian politicians, met frequently with senior Iraqi leaders and backed Shiite elements in the Iraqi security forces that are accused of torturing and killing minority Sunni Muslims.
''Whether we like [Suleimani] or not, whether Americans like him or not, whether Iraqis like him or not, he is the focal point of Iranian policy in Iraq,'' said a senior Iraqi official who asked not to be identified so he could speak freely. ``The Quds Force have played it all -- political, military, intelligence, economic. They are Iranian foreign policy in Iraq.''
McClatchy reported on March 30 that Suleimani intervened to halt the fighting between mostly Shiite Iraqi security forces and radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Basra. Iraqi officials now confirm that in addition to that meeting, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani personally met Suleimani at a border crossing to make a direct appeal for help.
Iraqi and U.S. officials told McClatchy that Suleimani also has:
• Slipped into Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified seat of the U.S. occupation and the Iraqi government, in April 2006 to try to orchestrate the selection of a new Iraqi prime minister. Iraqi officials said that audacious visit was Suleimani's only foray into the Green Zone. American officials said he may have been there more than once.
• Built powerful networks that gather intelligence on American and Iraqi military operations. Suleimani's network includes every senior staffer in Iran's embassy in Baghdad, beginning with the ambassador, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials.
• Trained and directed Shiite Muslim militias and given them cash and arms, including mortars and rockets fired at the U.S. Embassy and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, the sophisticated roadside bombs that have caused hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi casualties.
''I'm extremely concerned about what I believe to be an increasingly lethal and malign influence by [Iran's] government and the Quds Force, in particular in Iraq and throughout the Middle East,'' Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday.
One of Suleimani's first major victories against the United States in Iraq, however, was the product of political shrewdness, not military force. It came in January 2005, when Iraqis voted for the first time since Saddam's ouster nearly two years earlier.
The Bush administration pulled out all the stops to keep secular, pro-Western interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in office, aiding him with broadcast airtime, slick campaign ads and veteran advisors.
Suleimani countered with a covert PR campaign on behalf of a bloc of conservative pro-Iran Shiites he helped assemble, and he sent printing presses, consultants and broadcasting equipment, said an Iraqi official who's known Suleimani for years.
When the ballots were counted, Bush pointed to the purple-dyed fingers of Iraqi voters as a triumph for democracy -- but Allawi and his bloc were out and Iran's allies were in.
A year later, in April 2006, Iran became deeply concerned about a deadlock in negotiations over the selection of a new Iraqi prime minister after a second round of parliamentary elections.
This time, Suleimani slipped into the Green Zone to negotiate with Shiite politicians and to ensure that Iraq's final choice was acceptable to Tehran.
McClatchy correspondent Leila Fadel contributed to this report.