Philip Giraldi, former DIA and CIA officer and columnist for Antiwar.com, discusses the administration’s renewed line that Iranian-controlled ‘special groups’ of the Mahdi Army are at war with the U.S. in Iraq, Sadr and Badr’s relative ties to Iran, Iranian objectives in Iraq, indications that Cheney ordered Maliki to attack Sadr’s forces last week and his again waxing influence in the administration, the continuing influence of the neconservatives at AEI on Iran policy and danger that they may still start a war before the current presidential term is up, former CentCom commander Fallon’s thwarted attempt to set up a ‘red phone’-type hotline with the Iranians to diffuse any tensions, the danger to U.S. troops in Iraq in the event of war with Iran and Ayman al-Zawahiri’s stated goal of provoking such a war and the case for immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
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