So When Do The Gloves Finally Come Off?

According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Peter Pace, Iran is providing arms and EFP's not only to the Shia militants, but also to Sunni militants in Iraq, as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"We surmise from that, one of two things: Either the leadership of the country knows what their armed forces are doing, or they don't know. In either case, that's a problem," Gen. Pace said.

There are also reports Iran is stepping up support for Iraqi insurgents. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters Friday there are new signs that Iran is "not only providing support to Shia groups, but also Sunni insurgent groups."

"We don't have any specific proof of that yet, but there's been some indications that that could in fact be the case," he said.

Asked why the Iranians would be supporting Sunnis, when in the past their support was primarily for Shi'ites, Gen. Odierno said: "I think it's mainly because they want to continue to create chaos in Iraq. They do not want this government potentially to succeed."

Iran also is trying to "try to tie down coalition forces here," Gen. Odierno said.

Read the entire article here. General Pace, when asked how the U.S. military will "respond to the Iranian backing for insurgents," stated "We will continue to be very aggressive . . . inside of Iraq and inside of Afghanistan against any elements that are posing a threat to our own forces." At this point, that is not sufficient.

One, the question of whether the "leadership" of Iran knows what its military is doing is a canard. This is a deliberate act for which the mullah's are responsible. Moreover, given the command structure of Iran - the IRGC reports directely to the Supreme Guide - it cannot be assumed that the ongoing provision of weapons and, in fact, the training of militants, are simply rogue acts. Two, while we are taking aggressive actions against the Iranians inside Iraq - at this point we hold some 300 Iranians and are targeting any in Iraq we deem connected to terrorism - such actions are obviously not yet sufficient to deter Iran from involving themselves to an even greater extent in a proxy war against us in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The most appropriate response would be, if we can identify and verify the Iranian base at which the IRGC are training the Iraqi militants, then destroy it. Is that an act of war? Of course. But so is what the Iranians are doing. Ahmedinejad will rant and rave - but in the lexicon of the military, he has an alligator mouth and a tweety bird ass. It will give the mad mullahs a dose of reality and a very stark choice - particularly with two aircraft carriers in the gulf and a third enroute.

The mullahs must be made to grasp the seriousness of the game they are playing -- a game in which they seem to think that they hold the upper hand. Indeed, for thirty years Iran has not paid any price for the murder and mayhem of this ilk that they have caused, arming and acting through proxies, causing untold slaughter. They must be disabused of the belief that the U.S. will continue to tolerate it, and a line in the sand must be drawn. Allowing this to continue is ridiculous, and it is our soldiers and Britain's soldiers on the ground who are paying the price. The gloves must come off.