This story from Family Security Matters follows on to the report out last week in which I blogged about the seizure of Iranian rockets inside of Afghanistan headed to the Taliban - the article goes further though, by detailing in just how many instances the mullahs in Tehran are meddling throughout the world trying to create a sort of chaos never before seen.
From the article:
With the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East obsessing world leaders and the public, Iran has used the distraction to up its involvement in Afghanistan a notch.
News broke this week that NATO forces last month seized some 50 Iranian rockets concealed in a truck convoy. The weapons were on their way to the Talibanin support of its expected spring offensive.
The Taliban also reportedly visited Tehran recently to ask for even more lethal weapons, including portable surface-to-air missiles for use against aircraft, including more vulnerable helicopters.
But Iranian involvement in Afghanistan and support for the Taliban -- a one-time enemy of Tehran -- is not new. Iran has been working to bloody our nose there for years.
Jordan, another country at peace with Israel, has been shaken with political protests. And Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been rattled with Shia unrest -- most likely backed by Iran. In Iraq, Iran is gaining influence as America's appears to be waning.
Tehran has also made solid gains in Lebanon, where a Hezbollah-backed candidate for prime minister has been named. An Iranian ally, Syria, is moving back into Beirut after a hiatus, while yet another, Hamas, controls Gaza.
Plus, the meaning of Iran's warships plying the Mediterranean Sea recently for the first time since the 1979 revolution hasn't been lost on any of the states that line the coast, especially Israel. Training cruise? Sure, it was.
Each and every day that we see the chaos successfully perpetrated by the Iranians is another day where they are not held to account for the illegal development of nuclear weapons. At the same time, the incredible strides of influence in all parts of the world by the Iranians shows just how dangerous they will become once those nuclear weapons are operational.
We have seen it clearly by now that President Barack Obama has all he can do to simply react to everything that is happening in the Middle East, Asia and Africa - Obama's foreign policy is non-existent and thus we have seen the world's leading country now become just like the rest of the world....knee jerking to every latest development while a country of madmen like Iran sets the agenda for the world.
Let me ask you this question - when is the last time you saw a headline in the news about a new tough stance that America and the West is going to take against the Iranian nuke development? Or would it be more appropriate to ask if the topic has been pretty much forgotten?
While Egypt burns and Libya smolders, do you think the Iranians have put a freeze on their nuke development? Do you think the Ayatollah and mullahs have stopped their plans to aid the Taliban with weaponry?
Tehran Takes the Chance to Sow Chaos
With the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East obsessing world leaders and the public, Iran has used the distraction to up its involvement in Afghanistan a notch.
News broke this week that NATO forces last month seized some 50 Iranian rockets concealed in a truck convoy. The weapons were on their way to the Talibanin support of its expected spring offensive.
The 122mm rockets are significant in that they are the most powerful, and have the greatest range, of any weapons that Iran has passed to the Taliban so far -- as best we know, of course.
The rockets, while not known for their accuracy, allow the Taliban to target US and Coalition forces over the horizon from some 15 miles away. They could also be used as terror weapons against population centers.
The Taliban also reportedly visited Tehran recently to ask for even more lethal weapons, including portable surface-to-air missiles for use against aircraft, including more vulnerable helicopters.
But Iranian involvement in Afghanistan and support for the Taliban -- a one-time enemy of Tehran -- is not new. Iran has been working to bloody our nose there for years.
Publicly, Tehran plays nice with the Afghan government, including the passing of vast amounts of cash to buy influence, while hedging against a number of possible outcomes in Afghanistan.
But Afghanistan is just one of the pieces that Iran is playing on the chessboard in its shadowy game to dominate the region. Unfortunately, the game seems to be going the mullahs' way at the moment.
They've seen Arab adversaries in places like Egypt fall. And, depending on how things play out in Cairo, the Camp David Accords -- which have kept the peace between Israel and Egypt for decades -- could be broken.
Jordan, another country at peace with Israel, has been shaken with political protests. And Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been rattled with Shia unrest -- most likely backed by Iran. In Iraq, Iran is gaining influence as America's appears to be waning.
Tehran has also made solid gains in Lebanon, where a Hezbollah-backed candidate for prime minister has been named. An Iranian ally, Syria, is moving back into Beirut after a hiatus, while yet another, Hamas, controls Gaza.
Plus, the meaning of Iran's warships plying the Mediterranean Sea recently for the first time since the 1979 revolution hasn't been lost on any of the states that line the coast, especially Israel. Training cruise? Sure, it was.
Of course, in addition to all this sobering info, Iran's nuclear-weapons program, a real game-changer for the region, still remains essentially unbridled -- and moving in the direction of a breakout.
With US, Coalition and Afghan lives on the line, the most recent Taliban arms transfer is disturbing indeed, but it's only part of the increasingly bad news that is an ascendant Iran.
No matter how diverted by events elsewhere, world leaders had better pay attention.
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