Naming the Foe: Reality vs. the Liberal Complaint

Major General Rick Lynch gave the AP a few comments on the nature of his enemy in the region south of Baghdad:

Lynch also noted a "marked and increasing Iranian influence" in weapons and the training of Shiite extremists in restive areas south of Baghdad.

"There's three pots of bad guys in my battle space. One's the Sunni extremists, one's the Shia extremists and the other is marked and increasing Iranian influence," he said. "They're all anti-Iraq, they're all against the government of Iraq, they're all against the Iraqi people."

I'm confused - Glenn Greenwald, parroting Joshua Micah Marshall and Andrew Sullivan, told me:

That the Bush administration, and specifically its military commanders, decided to begin using the term "Al Qaeda" to designate "anyone and everyeone we fight against or kill in Iraq" is obvious. All of a sudden, every time one of the top military commanders describes our latest operations or quantifies how many we killed, the enemy is referred to, almost exclusively now, as "Al Qaeda."

Didn't General Lynch get the memo?

And as far as Iran's involvement in Iraq - it's all about China.

China has become one of Iran's most important trade partners. Bilateral trade has increased rapidly in recent years, with trade volume reaching some $3.3 billion last year, several times higher than some ten years ago. Chinese firms are active in Iran in the field of electricity, dam building, cement plants, steel mills, railways, shipbuilding, transport, oil, gas and refineries. Chinese auto manufacturer Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. opened its first overseas production plant in Iran in February 2003. China is also cooperating with Iran to develop ports, jetties, airport and infrastructure, including motorways and metros in six Iranian cities.

China has been blocking diplomatic efforts to increase sanctions against Iran. China has been selling arms and nuclear technology to Iran. China holds the $100 billion contract with Iran which will likely double in value over its 25 year term. And most importantly, China holds the keys to the gates of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - a group that Iran desperately wants to join.

Lean on China, and a lot of our problems with Iran would disappear.