Halpern: Taste of their own medicine

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is the most feared of all the authoritative arms within the Iranian regime; it is Iran’s elite fighting force. So when a suicide bomber successfully targets and kills six guard members gathered together in an automobile, you know there will be significant ramifications.

The death toll has reached 35; the number of wounded tops sixty. The dead and wounded are from provinces far beyond the southeast Iranian town in which the bombing took place. The Iranian leadership is angry. And they are embarrassed.

According to IRNA, the official Iranian News Agency, two of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard members killed in the bombing were very high-level officers. General Noor Ali Shooshtari was the deputy commander of the Guard’s ground force and Rajabali Mohammadzadeh was the Guard’s chief provincial commander. With them in the car were other senior commanders.

This attack sent a dagger deep into the very heart of the Iranian leadership. It was daring and it was successful.  It has had much more of an impact than any other act heretofore perpetrated against the established leadership.  Iranian President Ahmadinejad responded to the news by saying, “the criminals who committed these crimes against humanity will be seriously dealt with.” Crimes against humanity, those were the words chosen by the president of one of the most oppressive, dictatorial regimes in the world today.

The Iranian National Guard, at a lost to explain how an act of this type was not only planned but successfully perpetrated, laid the blame at the feet of the United States. “Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved in this attack,” they said. The term “global arrogance” is Iranian-speak for the United States. According to another Iranians news agency, FARS, the Iranian Defense Ministry came out with an even bolder statement, claiming that the “terrorists” were supported by, “the Great Satan America and its ally Britain.”

That the Iranians responded by blaming the United States and even Great Britain is neither surprising nor unexpected.  What is surprising and totally inappropriate is that the US State Department felt a need to respond. Ian Kelly, State Department spokesperson, said, “We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives. Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false.”

Of course the United States was not involved. Why the disclaimer? Why give credibility to an outlandish, preposterous, accusation? Why allow Iranian leadership to save face in a situation in which no outside force could have possibly been involved?

Iran knows that there is barely a CIA presence in Iran and whatever presence there is could not pull off a mission of this kind. And everyone knows that the United States does not run suicide bombers. Why get into the mud and dignify the accusations with a response?

This mission required excellent intel and excellent planning. The use of a suicide bomber insured that the bomb got as close to the target as possible. This has all the markings of a Sunni attack. It was probably the work of serious anti-Iranian anti-Shiite units with experience in Iraq fighting Shiites. It was probably the work of an al Qaeda affiliate.

That certainly puts a different spin on the event. A spin Iranian leadership does not want to acknowledge but will certainly avenge.

Micah D. Halpern is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Read his latest book THUGS. He maintains The Micah Report at www.micahhalpern.com

By Micah D. Halpern

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is the most feared of all the authoritative arms within the Iranian regime; it is Iran’s elite fighting force. So when a suicide bomber successfully targets and kills six guard members gathered together in an automobile, you know there will be significant ramifications.

The death toll has reached 35; the number of wounded tops sixty. The dead and

wounded are from provinces far beyond the southeast Iranian town in which the bombing took place. The Iranian leadership is angry. And they are embarrassed.

According to IRNA, the official Iranian News Agency, two of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard members killed in the bombing were very high-level officers. General Noor Ali Shooshtari was the deputy commander of the Guard’s ground force and Rajabali Mohammadzadeh was the Guard’s chief provincial commander. With them in the car were other senior commanders.

This attack sent a dagger deep into the very heart of the Iranian leadership. It was daring and it was successful.  It has had much more of an impact than any other act heretofore perpetrated against the established leadership.  Iranian President Ahmadinejad responded to the news by saying, “the criminals who committed these crimes against humanity will be seriously dealt with.” Crimes against humanity, those were the words chosen by the president of one of the most oppressive, dictatorial regimes in the world today.

The Iranian National Guard, at a lost to explain how an act of this type was not only planned but successfully perpetrated, laid the blame at the feet of the United States. “Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved in this attack,” they said. The term “global arrogance” is Iranian-speak for the United States. According to another Iranians news agency, FARS, the Iranian Defense Ministry came out with an even bolder statement, claiming that the “terrorists” were supported by, “the Great Satan America and its ally Britain.”

That the Iranians responded by blaming the United States and even Great Britain is neither surprising nor unexpected.  What is surprising and totally inappropriate is that the US State Department felt a need to respond. Ian Kelly, State Department spokesperson, said, “We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives. Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false.”

Of course the United States was not involved. Why the disclaimer? Why give credibility to an outlandish, preposterous, accusation? Why allow Iranian leadership to save face in a situation in which no outside force could have possibly been involved?

Iran knows that there is barely a CIA presence in Iran and whatever presence there is could not pull off a mission of this kind. And everyone knows that the United States does not run suicide bombers. Why get into the mud and dignify the accusations with a response?

This mission required excellent intel and excellent planning. The use of a suicide bomber insured that the bomb got as close to the target as possible. This has all the markings of a Sunni attack. It was probably the work of serious anti-Iranian anti-Shiite units with experience in Iraq fighting Shiites. It was probably the work of an al Qaeda affiliate.

That certainly puts a different spin on the event. A spin Iranian leadership does not want to acknowledge but will certainly avenge.