Three Iranian Qods Force Agents Captured in Iraq

Bill Roggio over at The Long War Journal has the story up about how Iraqi forces have captured three Iranian Qods Force jihadists north of Baquaba - this is in the volatile Diyala province. This of course is striking to see that this late in the Iraqi War when pretty much everyone has concluded that the U.S. and Iraqi forces have kicked ass and won this war, the Iranians still have these training elements STILL in Iraq. Here's some of the report:

Iraqi security forces captured three members of Qods Force, Iran's special operations branch, during a raid in Diyala province.
“The three were arrested inside al-Khalis district, north of Baaquba city,” an Iraqi official told Voices of Iraq.
Iraqi and US forces have killed one Qods Force operative and captured 14 since mid-October 2008 during raids throughout southern and central Iraq.
A Dec. 19, 2008 raid in the town of Qastin in Diyala province netted a senior Qods force officer and his associate. The officer was described as a "commander of Iranian special operations in Iraq who is also believed to be involved in facilitating training of Iraqi militants at Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force training camps."

While the Iranian government has denied the charges, Iraqi and US forces have detained dozens of Iranian Qods Force officers and operatives, captured numerous Shia terrorist leaders under Iranian command, and have found ample documentation as well as Iranian-made weapons.

Now, I have not been in favor of the kind of troop withdrawls from Iraq that President Obama is planning on for simple reasons - the Iranians are still going to influence this new government in Iraq and al Qaeda in Iraq is not going to give up. Hell, in the weeks that U.S. troops have pretty much withdrawn from Baghdad, we've had a series of major bombings in the city or the outskirts that have killed close to 100 Iraqis.

And with this capture, we can see that the Iranians are still there - so my point is we need a helluva lot more troops in Iraq than we need in frickin' Kosovo! I'm a firm believe that if Obama pulls pretty much all troops out of Iraq, there is no way he will send 'em back in there and if things go south down the line, he'll have excuse after excuse to let the country battle on, on its own - the fact of the matter is there are many islamist and jihad elements that do not want to see this democracy in Iraq succeed - certainly one of those is Iran. At the same time, Osama bin Laden has always considered Iraq the crown jewel of the muj world and when we are gone, back go in al Qaeda....big time.

Three Iranian Qods Force agents captured in Iraq

Qods Force, the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has supported various Shia militias and terror groups inside Iraq, including the Mahdi Army. Qods Force helped to build the Mahdi Army along the same lines as Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran denies the charges, but captive Shia terrorists admit to being recruited by Iranian agents and then transported into Iran for training.
Iran established the Ramazan Corps immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to direct operations inside Iraq. The US military says Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah have helped establish, fund, train, and arm, and have provided operational support for Shia terror groups such as the Hezbollah Brigades and the League of the Righteous. The US military refers to these groups as well as the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army as the "Special Groups." These groups train in camps inside Iran.
US military officers believe Iran is ramping up its operations inside Iraq after its surrogates suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Iraqi military during the spring and summer of 2008. Iraqi troops went on the offensive against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed terror groups in Baghdad, Basrah, and central and southern Iraq. More than 2,000 Mahdi Army members were killed and thousands more were wounded. The operation forced Muqtada al Sadr to agree to a cease-fire, disband the Mahdi Army, and pull the Sadrist political party out of the provincial elections. Sadr's moves caused shock waves in the Mahdi Army, as some of the militia's leaders wished to continue the fight against US forces in Baghdad and in southern and central Iraq.
The League of the Righteous is a splinter group that broke away from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army after Sadr announced he would disband the Mahdi Army and formed a small, secretive military arm to fight Coalition forces in June. The new group, called the Brigade of the Promised Day, has not been linked to any attacks since its formation last summer.
Sadr loyalist Qais Qazali was commander the League of the Righteous up until his capture in 2007. It is now said to be under the command of Akram al Kabi, a former Sadr loyalist.
The League of the Righteous receives funding, training, weapons, and direction from the Qods Force. The League of the Righteous conducts attacks with the deadly armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles known as EFPs, as well as with the more conventional roadside bombs.