USA AND IRAN ARE ALREADY AT WAR

NYTIMES:

Iran is engaging in a proxy war with the United States in Iraq, adopting tactics similar to those it has used to back fighters in Lebanon, the United States ambassador to Iraq said Friday.

The remarks by the ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker, reflected the sharper criticism of Iran by President Bush and his top deputies over the past week, as administration officials have sought to trace many of their troubles in Iraq to Iran.

Mr. Crocker said in an interview that there had been no substantive change in Iranian behavior in Iraq, despite more than a year of talks between the Bush administration and Iran over how to calm Shiite-Sunni tensions in Iraq. He said that the paramilitary branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps was continuing to direct attacks by Shiite militias against American and Iraqi targets, although he offered no direct evidence.

Asked if the United States and Iran were engaged in a proxy war in Iraq, Mr. Crocker said, “I don’t think a proxy war is being waged from an American point of view.” But, he added, “When you look at what the Iranians are doing and how they’re doing it, it could well be that.”

• MORE ON IRAN'S INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ - AND THE BUSH ADMISTRATION'S SLOW "REAWAKENING" - HERE.
• BOTTOM-LINE: WE SHOULD BE FIGHTING THE IRANIANS BACK MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY.
• FDR AND TRUMAN KNEW HOW TO WAGE WAR, AND WOULDN'T HAVE LET IRAN INFLICT SO MUCH DAMAGE ON IRAQ OR ON OUR FORCES.
  
• EXCEPT FOR TARDY THE SURGE, ALL BUSH HAS PROVEN THE LAST FEW YEARS IS THAT DUBYA STANDS FOR WIMP.
• IF BUSH LEAVES OFFICE HAVING ALLOWED IRAN TO GO UNPUNISHED AND THEIR NUKE PROGRAM TO GO UNTOUCHED -- AND IF A DEM DOVE APPEASER FOLLOWS HIM IN OFFICE-- THEN BUSH WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE WORST PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME.
• A LOUSY, APPEASING, BIG GOVERNMENT LIBERAL.
• HE ONLY HAS A FEW MONTHS MORE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.