IRAN AIDING TALIBAN - and what must be done about it

LATIMES:

Iran has traditionally had an adversarial relationship with the Taliban, and McChrystal's report says that Tehran has played "an ambiguous role in Afghanistan," providing developmental assistance to the government even as it flirts with insurgent groups that target U.S. troops.

"The Iranian Quds Force is reportedly training fighters for certain Taliban groups and providing other forms of military assistance to insurgents," McChrystal said in the report. The Quds Force is an elite wing of the Revolutionary Guard that carries out operations in other countries.

McChrystal did not elaborate on the nature of the assistance, but Iran has been a transit point for foreign fighters entering Pakistan. Experts also cited evidence that Iran has provided training and technology in the use of roadside bombs.

U.S. intelligence officials said Iran appears to calibrate its involvement to tie down U.S. and coalition troops without provoking direct retaliation.

Iran's aim "is to make sure the U.S. is tied down and preoccupied in yet another theater," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. "From Iran's point of view, it's an historical area of interest and too good an opportunity to pass up."

APPEASEMENT OF THE TALIBAN OR PAKISTAN OR IRAN WON'T STOP THIS OR IMPROVE THINGS IN AFGHANISTAN.

WE SHOULD COUNTER-ATTACK KINETICALLY. MASSIVELY:

1. CUTOFF ALL TRANSPORT BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN, AND ALL THE ROADS BETWEEN THE FATA AND PAKISTAN BY BOMBING THE ROADS INTO SMITHEREENS.
2. BOMBS ALL OF IRAN'S NUCLEAR, AND MILITARY SITES.

(Via Hot Air.)