I did Satan.
The United States is upset with Iran because it has thwarted the U.S. covert action in Syria. It was the United States, along with the U.K., Saudi Arabia and Turkey, that helped ignite and escalate the civil war in Syria. Why? The Saudis and the Israelis were growing increasingly concerned in 2011 about Iran's spreading influence in the region.
And what enabled Iran to do that? We did. When the United States removed Saddam Hussein and destroyed the Baathist movement in Iraq, the Bush Administration thought it was a dandy idea to install Iraqi Shia in positions of leadership. Not one of the key policymakers on the U.S. side of the equation expressed any qualms about the fact that these Iraqi politicians and military personnel had longstanding relationships with Iran, which included financial support.
Iran also had a longstanding relationship with Syria. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton decided that if we could eliminate Bashir Assad, the Syrian leader, then we would weaken Iran. This was a policy that many Republicans, most notably John McCain and Lindsey Graham, supported. But the scheme to weaken Iran backfired. Iran, along with Russia, came to the aid of the Government of Syria in full blown counter-insurgency campaign. Iran, the Russians and the Syrian Government were fighting radical Sunni islamists, many of whom were funded by the Western alliance.
Iran's military support for the Government of Syria clearly rankles U.S. policymakers, but it is not “terrorism.” It is pure counter insurgency.
I particularly enjoyed this one as well.
https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2018
You notice what is absent? A list of specific attacks that caused actual casualties. Plans and plots are not the same as actions. If Iran's malevolent influence was so powerful, we should be able to point to specific attacks and specific casualties. But you will not find those facts in the U.S. State Department report because they do not exist.
In 2016 there were seven terrorist attacks that caused at least 100 casualties.
All were attributed to ISIL aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Not one was linked to Iran or any group receiving financial support from Iran. There were a total of 1753 terrorist attacks and at least 15,993 deaths during 2016.
Here is the monthly breakdown for 2016:
January—105 terrorist attacks that caused the deaths of at least 1,351 people. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah. The seven attacks in Israel that left 7 dead were ascribed to a “Palestinian” lone-wolf.
February—72 attacks that left 1075 dead. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah. There were seven attacks and 3 dead attributed to “lone-wolf” Palestinians.
March—112 attacks leaving at least 778 dead. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah. There were 13 attacks in Israel identified as “lone-wolf” Palestinian. No significant Israeli casualties.
April—152 attacks that caused at least 1012 fatalities. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
May—202 attacks leaving at least 1600 dead. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
June—187 attacks and at least 1693 fatalities. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
July—187 attacks with at least 1684 deaths. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
August—139 terrorist attacks resulting in 1224 dead. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
September—128 terrorist attacks, which caused at least 849 fatalities. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
October—166 terrorist attacks and at least 2139 deaths. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
November—153 terrorist attacks that killed at least 1446. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
December—147 terrorist attacks, which resulted in at least 930 deaths. There were no attacks linked to Kata’ib Hizballah, Hamas or Hezbollah.
The U.S. State Department continues to insist that Iran is providing indirect support to Al Qaeda. That is pure nonsense. Iran is fighting and killing Al Qaeda forces inside Syria. They have no ideological affinity with Al Qaeda.
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic...an-and-terrorism-by-larry-c-johnson.html#more