30.6.08

We’ll create generations of jihadists


Late in 2007, in an off-the-record lunch meeting, Secretary of Defense Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America.” (A spokesman for Gates confirmed that he discussed the consequences of a strike.)

Jundullah: Providing support for opponents of the Tehran government - armed or otherwise - appears both problematic and a losing bet. The Kurdish Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) is believed to have close ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and there is little evidence that Ahwazi Arab separatist movements in the southwestern Khuzestan province - mentioned as a potential funding recipient in Hersh's article - are capable of providing a significant challenge to the Tehran authorities.

Some analysts have criticized alleged US support for the Iranian Baluchi Jundallah militant movement as a proxy force as shocking given the group's rumored ties to al-Qaida.
Zurich, Counterpunch, Hersh, WP