Around 30,000 Iraqi troops, Shiites and Sunnis, began an attack Wednesday on the suburbs of Tikrit, the second-largest city in Iraq, situated on the road between Baghdad and Mosul, which like Mosul fell to the Islamic State group in June. You don't need a great strategic mind to understand that to retake Mosul, you must first capture Tikrit. This story has been widely covered by the international media. The big story, however, is not the large military offensive against Islamic State. The big story is the man behind the attack force: Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, who since 1988 has commanded the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. How ironic that the same Suleimani, who amassed the bulk of his military experience during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), now enjoys the support of the Iraqi government. How ironic that the U.S. Army chief, Gen. Martin Dempsey, has welcomed Iranian involvement in Iraq, essentially granting the Revolutionary Guard carte blanche there. Did someone say an Iranian takeover of Iraq wouldn't happen? It is happening, and with American sponsorship. Is anyone still surprised that Israeli officials are worried? Jerusalem isn't just worried about the emerging bad nuclear deal, but about Washington's expectation that Iran will do its dirty work for it against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and in Yemen as well. The new government in Sana'a, the Houthi tribe, dispatched a delegation to Tehran over the weekend to request aid. In essence, what is actually materializing before us is not a nuclear deal but a comprehensive agreement. At this rate a nuclear Iran will control Yemen, Iraq and Syria, with a foothold in Lebanon and Gaza. Meanwhile, back home, we're still discussing how wrong it is to offend U.S. President Barack Obama. It needs to be understood that Iran's presence in Iraq is nothing new. Initial reports began appearing in August, when Iran helped the Kurds ward off the Sunni terrorist group Islamic State, which sought to overrun the Kurdish capital Irbil. In the east, too, in Diyala province, the Iranians were also present. Suleimani was involved in both campaigns. In Iran he maintains a modicum of discretion. In Iraq he is an Internet star. Someone called him the "Iranian poster boy in Iraq." In Iraq, Iran is behaving like a regional power, seeking to increase its influence in the country until it finally topples into its hands. The wars on terror and Islamic State have presented Iran with a wonderful opportunity, which it has not failed to embrace. Saddam Hussein is rolling in his grave. Washington is engaged in a very cynical foreign policy on Iran: Obama prefers giving Iran the keys to Iraq instead of doing the dirty work against Islamic State on his own. He prefers Iranian handiwork. That's the truth. And Iran receives the bonus of a very amenable nuclear deal, from its point of view. "The enemy of your enemy is your enemy," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to remind the Americans in his speech to Congress. Obama apparently believes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." And this is precisely the root of the disagreement.
