- AP

TEHRAN, Iran - The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: Train for suicide attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, for suicide attacks against Israelis or to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie.

It looked at first glance like a gathering on the fringes of a society divided between moderates who want better relations with the world and hard-line Muslim militants hostile toward the United States and Israel.

But the presence of two key figures — a prominent Iranian lawmaker and a member of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards — lent the meeting more legitimacy and was a clear indication of at least tacit support from some within Iran’s government.

Since that inaugural June meeting in a room decorated with photos of Israeli soldiers’ funerals, the registration forms for volunteer suicide commandos have appeared on Tehran’s streets and university campuses, with no sign Iran’s government is trying to stop the shadowy movement.

I wish I could say this shocks me, but it doesn’t. Iran has a long history of signing up suicide bombers and supporting Hezbollah, which targets Israel. Iran also allowed 9/11 hijackers to cross through the country without interference and it is rumored that Usama Bin Laden is hiding out in Iran.

We do know for a fact that there are Al Qaeda terrorists inside of Iran being housed by the government of Iran and many terrorists cross the Iran-Iraq border to fight against the United States military in Iraq. We also know for a fact that Iran supplied Muqtada al Sadr and his militia with weapons and financing.

Iran has been a spur in our sides inside of Iraq and nothing has been done in regards to this. The United States has let Iran continue to undermine Democracy in the Middle East without even as much as stern words. The Mullahs of Iran have a legitimate right to fear Democracy in the Middle East which is the main reason they have supported terrorism and people like al Sadr because they fear Democracy in Iraq will cross the border to Iran.

In recent days, the government of Iraq has met with leaders of Iran in hopes of closing the border between the two countries. While this is a start, the government of Iran supports terrorist acts that are killing innocent Iraqis and Iraqi police/soldiers. Even if Iran attempts to close the border between the two nations, their government will probably allow terrorists to cross the border.

The international community is more concerned with Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and rightly so, however they cannot continue to look the other way while Iran is waging war against any hope of a peace inside of Iraq. An unstable Iraq equals an unstable Middle East and an unstable Middle East causes the entire world to be unstable in the very least economically.

The MUSC Tiger linked with Iran Funding Suicide Bombers
Backcountry Conservative linked with Iran Funding Suicide Bombers in Iraq