The Iraqi people are getting seriously pissed off with Sunni (al Qaeda) suicide bombers attacking Shiite civilian targets. Demagogues with militias like Muqtada al-Sadr are talking about intervening against Sunni supporters of al Qaeda suicide attacks. Muqtada al-Sadr is widely believed to be an agent for the Iranian mullahs. It is also believed that many of al Qaeda's top leaders are operating within Iran. There has been some speculation by Dan Darling that Osama bin Laden himself maybe hiding in Iran. The Iranian mullahs have no love for the Sunnis and a history of bitter warfare against the Iraqis under Saddam Hussein.

Wouldn't it be cute of Iran's mullahs if they were funding al Qaeda's Sunni fanatics to create problems for Iraq's Shiite population that could then be conveniently cured with militias controlled by the mullahs?

It gets better: Supposably some of the prime petroleum real estate in Saudi Arabia is on land dominated by Shiites. The Shiites are a persecuted minority in Saudi Arabia. Supposably Saddam was going to play that card after he swallowed Kuwait in the Persian Gulf war. If Iran's mullahs gained control of Iraq followed by control of Kuwait and that Shiite slice of Saudi Arabia, then the mullahs would effectively control most of the world's energy supply. Once in that position, an Iranian/Shiite caliphate could be within reach if the Iranians played the Americans off the Chinese in a clever way.

Supposably chess was invented in Persia. I hope we are better at this game than the Persians.

Gary