"If Iran wanted, it could make Iraq hell for the United States." So said Iraq's deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Al Bayati last February.
Well, Iran not only wants to, it already has. The scenario is well known to the intelligence community on both sides of the Atlantic. Iran began enlarging its already wide footprint in Shi'ite Iraq as the U.S. buildup for the war on Iraq began in Kuwait in 2002.
Now, according to Time magazine's recent exclusive on intelligence reports from Iran, the United States and United Kingdom, the U.S.-Iran geopolitical confrontation runs through Iraq. The Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government and the new Iranian government are moving steadily closer and forging a strategic relationship. Since Ibrahim al-Jaafari took over as Iraq's prime minister, U.S. officials have concluded anything said or shared with the Iraqi government winds up in Tehran.
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