[Marxism] U.S. praises Iran curbs on Sadr militia in Iraq

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

U.S. praises Iran curbs on Sadr militia in Iraq
Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:21pm EST

By Peter Graff

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq praised Iran on Sunday 
for helping to curb Shi'ite militia violence in Iraq on Sunday, using 
some of the warmest language Washington has employed toward its arch foe 
over Iraq.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Washington believed Iran may be behind a 
ceasefire announced by Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and that it 
had helped to ensure the ceasefire stuck in areas where it wielded 
influence.

But he also indicated that U.S. authorities still see Iran's role as 
unpredictable and its motives opaque.

"I'm very cautious about predicting or analyzing what the Iranians are 
doing, because we're not there," Crocker told journalists in Baghdad.

"But we have seen a reduction in violent action on the part of extremist 
militias -- not an elimination, but a reduction.

"We have seen Moqtada al-Sadr's call for a freeze, and then his call for 
a renewal of that freeze. The Iranians have indicated -- not to us but 
to others -- that they have had a role in all of this. If that's the 
case, then it's good.

SPECIAL GROUPS

Asked who had provided the information that Iran was behind Sadr's 
freeze, he said it had come from Iraqi authorities.

The United States has blamed Iran for providing training and weapons -- 
especially missiles and sophisticated roadside bombs known as 
explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- to Iraqi Shi'ite militia. It 
uses the term "special groups" to refer to militia units it says use 
such Iranian weapons.

Crocker said such attacks had become less frequent, although he said an 
EFP was used earlier this month to kill the police chief of Babil 
province, a mainly Shi'ite area south of Baghdad where security forces 
have clashed with Sadr's militia.

"If Sadr has started the policy and the Iranians have used their 
influence to make it stick in areas where there are 'special groups' and 
they've got far more influence then he does -- then that's a positive 
development," he said.

Earlier this year, the United States and Iran set up a committee to 
discuss security in Iraq, a development seen as a diplomatic 
breakthrough for two countries that have had only limited contacts for 
30 years.

The committee last met in August at a time when Washington was loudly 
accusing Iran of fomenting violence and helping Shi'ite militia kill 
U.S. troops. But Sadr declared a six-month ceasefire by his Mehdi Army 
militia later that month, and U.S. forces say Shi'ite militia attacks 
quickly declined.

Sadr's spokesman said last week that he was considering extending the 
ceasefire when it expired in February.

The next meeting of the Iran-U.S. security committee was due to take 
place on December 18 but was postponed because of a visit by U.S. 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Crocker said U.S. and Iranian 
officials were still negotiating a new date, but he expected the meeting 
to take place within the next few weeks.

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