Strategic confusion

Misunderstanding Iran's role works to increase its influence in Iraq

The Quds Force, a special branch of the ayatollah's Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, created and trained the supreme council's armed wing, the Badr Corps, for the express purpose of eventually serving as an arm of the Quds Force in Iraq. The supreme council was among the Iraqi exile parties with which the U.S. worked in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, even though it maintained close ties to Iran. And the Iraqi Shiite faction continues to receive Iranian funds.

Thousands of these Iranian-trained and indoctrinated militiamen have been incorporated into the Iraqi police and army, the security forces that U.S. taxpayers have supported at the cost of more than $21 billion. So one consequence of the long-standing U.S. policy in Iraq has been to boost the power of Iran's best allies there - by directly funding and arming Iraqi security forces.

Over the past five years, Iran has hedged its bets, maintaining ties and offering support to all of the major Shiite factions in Iraq, including Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army, which fought pitched battles with the Iraqi army and the Badr Corps last month. But Americans should be clear about where Iran's closest allies are in Iraq. They are at the highest levels of the Iraqi government.

With the Iraq war in its sixth year, the United States needs to step back from its current approach in Iraq, which at best could be described as strategic confusion. The United States is working to isolate the Iranian regime internationally through sanctions and threats, yet in Iraq our current policy is working to consolidate the historic expansion of Iran's influence that came as a consequence of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

It is time for the United States to remove itself from the quagmire in Iraq and begin a phased redeployment of troops. Staying on the current path will only continue to strengthen Iran's position in Iraq and the region, a result that undermines America's national security interests.

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow and national security expert at the Center for American Progress in Washington. His e-mail is [e-mail]. Matthew Duss is a research associate at the center. His e-mail is [e-mail].