U.S. ARRESTS ANOTHER IRANIAN IN IRAQ, CLAIMS HE IS PART OF QUDS FORCES

Here's another dubious story put out by U.S. forces in Iraq. They claim they seized an Iranian member of the Quds force, part of the Revolutionary Guard. The BBC reports:

"US-led forces in Iraq say they have arrested an Iranian officer operating in the north of the country. They say the man was a member of the Quds Force - an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards - and was detained in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya."

I say it is dubious because there is no verifiable proof or evidence that the captured Iranian has anything to do with Iran's military forces or that he was an Iranian officer. Most probably he was just an ordinary Iranian businessman. The BBC reports:

"According to a spokesman for the regional government in semi-autonomous Kurdistan, he was taken away overnight in a raid on a Sulaimaniya hotel. A government official in Baghdad said the arrested man had been part of a commercial delegation, but gave no further details."

There is a 400-mile border between Iraq and Iran, and many Iranians do business in Iraq. Furthermore, many Iranian pilgrims come to the holy Shiite shrines and mosques in Iraq.

It would seem that the U.S. wants to keep all Iranians out of Iraq, no matter what their purpose or intent, no matter how peaceful or legal.

Instead of trying to provoke the government of Iran into some bellicose act, I want American leaders to sit down and begin peaceful discussions with Iran on how the two great countries can work together to bring calm and stability to the region. Barack Obama said if elected he would do just that. I need to hear this from the other Democratic candidates, especially John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.