Our Schizophrenic Policy Towards Iran Confuses Mid-East

U.S. State Department sources have told WMR that the neocon strategy to force a U.S. military attack on Iran runs counter to efforts of U.S. diplomats in the region to deal with Iran on some pressing issues of mutual interest.

Although the United States military command in Iraq recently announced that nine Iranians arrested in Iraq by U.S. forces will soon be released, neocons in the Bush administration are delaying the release. The arrested Iranians, including five diplomats seized at an Iranian diplomatic office in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, have never had any charges brought against them and the Iranian and Iraqi governments have protested their detention and America's violation of international law in storming the diplomatic compound, which recently reopened as a full consulate.

Iran is also concerned about Israeli military and intelligence personnel in Iraqi Kurdistan who are providing logistics and training support to terrorist organizations, including PEJAK, an off-shoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that is active against both Iran and Turkey, and the People's Mohajedin Organization (MKO), that is using bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to launch attacks against Iran. The MKO is also supported by leading neocons in the United States.

A State Department diplomat who recently returned from Iraqi Kurdistan revealed that "Israelis are everywhere in Kurdistan." Some are there for business reasons but a number are engaged in support for the PKK, PEJAK, and the MKO. This Israeli support, carried out with a wink and a nod from the neocon cabal in Washington, has strained Turkey's relations with both Jerusalem and Washington.

The United States officially designates the PKK and MKO as terrorist organizations, which is causing Ankara and Tehran to question America's so-called "war against terrorism."

The Bush administration's schizophrenic policy toward Iran has also complicated efforts to locate and free retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared on Iran's Kish Island while investigating the counterfeiting of American brand cigarettes by Iranian and Russian-Israeli organized crime syndicates. Although neocon elements in Washington have suggested Levinson was arrested by Iranian police and is being held at a prison in Iran, State Department sources claim that Iranian law enforcement, also concerned about the cigarette smuggling syndicates operating in Iran and Dubai, has tried to cooperate with American authorities in locating Levinson but have been rebuffed by administration officials who want no government-to-government contacts with Tehran.

WMR has also learned that a charitable organization called the Mosaic Foundation (named for the Jewish prophet Moses) and which is largely funded by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, works closely with Israeli Lobby interests in Washington to discourage any U.S rapprochement with Iran or a rapid military withdrawal from Iraq. The Mosaic Foundation proclaims that it serves as a bridge between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism and emphasizes that all three religions are from the same Abrahamic and Mosaic roots. The group also reportedly attempted to make a large donation to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.