THE PERSIANS ARE NO THREAT EITHER:

Iraqi militia commanders harden stance toward U.S.: Elements of the Mahdi Army are accepting help from old foes in Iran. The move is a pragmatic shift by a movement under siege from rival Shiite groups and U.S. troops. (Ned Parker, 5/06/08, Los Angeles Times)

It was sunset, and a pair of Iraqi soldiers were sitting in a roofless house by the Iranian border, awaiting orders. Suddenly, Abu Baqr recalls, his friend let out a gasp and fell silent, a sniper's bullet in his forehead. Abu Baqr couldn't help him, couldn't move for fear of being shot. He lay beside his friend's corpse until morning.

"How would you feel after that?" Abu Baqr asked. "You come out of that, you only come out bad."

Abu Baqr, now a commander in the Mahdi Army militia of cleric Muqtada Sadr, blames Iran for what happened to his friend more than 20 years ago during Iraq's war with Iran, just as he blames Saddam Hussein for that conflict.

He still hates Iran. But now, he said, he accepts its weapons to fight the U.S. military, figuring he can deal with his distaste for the Iranians later. So he takes bombs that can rip a hole in a U.S. tank and rockets that can pound Baghdad's Green Zone without apology or regret.

"I think that the Iranians are more dangerous than the Americans. I hate them and I don't trust them," he said in an interview over soft drinks. But the militia has limited resources, he said, and "therefore, when somebody gives you or offers help, it's hard to say no."

He laughed: "If it came from Israel, we would use it."

Iran would certainly like to meddle in Baghdad's affairs, but simple nationalism makes it impossible for them to do much.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 6, 2008 7:09 AM