Consulate Raid: Beyond Stupid or What?

Let's see now. Kurdistan is the one region of Iraq that is stable, where the locals more or less get along with each other, where there is a modest economic boom, where there basic services like electricity and public safety, and where the U.S. has a substantial measure of support.

So what does the U.S. do? Send troops, backed by attack helicopters and armored vehicles, to raid an Iranian consulate in the dead of night and detain the Iranians working there, who apparently have been shipped off to Baghdad for questioning.

Later in the day, the troops got into an armed stand-off with Kurdish troops over the raid.

Is this beyond stupid or what?

Or what, says Captain Ed over at Captain's Quarters:

"Let's get the negative issues on the table first. If this was a true consular office, then the US just committed an act of war against the Iranians. The Iranian flag flew over the building, and apparently they conducted some consular services for people wanting to travel to Iran for medical purposes. If the Iranians use it for intelligence work, then that would mean they operate their consulates in the same manner as every other country.

"Nor is it particularly smart to alienate the Kurds, who obviously objected to this operation, since they're the best friends we have in Iraq and perhaps increasingly the only ones on whom we can rely. The Kurds have no reasons to love the Iranians. The Kurds are Sunni, not Shi'ite, and the Iranians oppress the minority Kurds in Iran. However, they do not want to have the Americans dictate the terms of their engagement with their neighbor, and understandably so.

"Having said all of that, Iranian proclamations of outrage should be met with as much laughter as possible. After all, this is the same regime that sacked our embassy in 1979 and held dozens of Americans hostage for 444 days. Their president is rumored to have been one of the organizers of the seizure. The Iranians have never paid for that affront, and they have not stopped from sending weapons and experts into Iraq to kill American soldiers. They have conducted a low-level war against America for 30 years, and they should expect that we will fight back on the same terms.

"Next time, however, let's coordinate better with our true friends in Iraq. We will need them in the months ahead."

More here.

Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque is not so sanguine:

"The mindset of the Bush-Cheney faction in this regard is precisely that of a deranged rapist who insists that his victim is actually in love with him and would gladly marry him if only her friends would stop talking him down and telling her that he's no good.

"There have been many criminal episodes in the history of the United States government; but I am hard-pressed to think of one that has been so egregiously stupid and self-destructive, and so riddled with pathological aberrations."

More here.