In yet another move designed to open the rules of engagement, US forces in Iraq have to go ahead to kill and capture Iranian operatives working in Iraq.
The move, approved last fall, is aimed at weakening Iran's influence in the region and forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear program that the West believes is for nuclear weapons and not energy, the newspaper said, citing the unidentified officials.
For more than a year, U.S. forces have held dozens of Iranians for a few days, taking DNA samples from some as well as photographs and fingerprints from all those captured, the report said.
That's all done. In the past month, Iranian operatives have been rousted in places where previously they had been safe: like consolates and diplomatic missions.
He said they were "going after networks" of security agents, which he said were a mainstay of Iran's involvement in Iraq. The United States has accused Iran of helping arm, train and fund Iraqi militants, notably fellow Shi'ite Muslims....
The new policy applies to Iranian intelligence operatives and members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard thought to be working with Iraqi militias, but not civilians or diplomats, the newspaper said.
There is even a Task Force comprised of Special Operators and CIA whose sole mission is to hunt down Iranians operating in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iran's proxy in Iraq, Muqtada Sadr's Madhi Army has been under increasing pressure from coalition forces. The first result of this was al Sadr's political party announcing they had rejoined the Iraqi government. And now
Muqtada Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, has backed away from confrontation with U.S. and Iraqi forces in recent weeks, a move that has surprised U.S. officials who long have characterized his followers as among the greatest threats to Iraq's security.
Thursday, a leader of the Sadr movement in one of its Baghdad strongholds publicly endorsed President Bush's new Iraq security plan, which at least some U.S. officials have touted as a way to combat Sadr's group.
"We will fully cooperate with the government to make the plan successful," said Abdul-Hussein Kaabai, head of the local council in the Shiite Muslim-dominated Sadr City neighborhood. "If it is an Iraqi plan done by the government, we will cooperate."
Generally speaking, the man can not be believed. There is an Iraqi arrest warrant for the man and it should be prosecuted ruthlessly.
But it is more objective evidence of the early successes of the new, more muscular, strategy for Baghdad and Iraq.
