Iran's Shadow War in Iraq -- Paul D. Shinkman, US News and World Report

The U.S.-backed fight against Sunni extremists is doing the work of Iran in Baghdad.

When Army Gen. Lloyd Austin left Iraq in 2011, as the last U.S. combat troops withdrew themselves from almost a decade of war, he offered a somber warning to the local forces who would stay behind.

Iraq was then under the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim. Austin observed that the country’s leaders "don't see an enormous threat from Iran at this point,” despite what he considered a "stream of lethal accelerants" flowing across the border from Iran into Iraq.

Along with the continued threat posed by al-Qaida, Austin warned about three “Iran-backed” Shiite extremist groups that had sought out American targets during the Iraq War. Kataib Hezbollah – believed to be linked to militant Lebanese political party Hezbollah – Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Promised Day Brigades would create problems in Iraq if left unchecked and continually allowed to receive “a sharp increase” in arms coming from Iran.

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WNU Editor: This Israeli post is in agreement with the above analysis .... Reports Show Iran Reasserting Its Influence in Iraq (The Tower)