TROUBLE IN IRAQ – AT 7:33 P.M. ET:  The United States is slowly withdrawing from Iraq.  We now have fewer than 95,000 troops in that country.

Iraq is about to hold an election.  That itself is a success story.  But there are things about the election that are troubling to American commanders.  We should take notice.  The Obama administration just wants out, but it would be a tragedy not to work with the Iraqis to correct mistakes that can reverse the years of progress.  From The Washington Times:

The Iraqi official in charge of a commission that blocked more than 300 politicians from running in next month's elections is working closely with Iran's Quds Force, prompting the top U.S. general in Iraq to voice concerns about Tehran's meddling in Iraq's fragile democracy.

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, in a speech, accused Ali Faisal al-Lami, the executive director of the Accountability and Justice Commission along with Ahmad Chalabi, the panel's chairman, of being "clearly influenced by Iran."

Chalabi used to be an American ally, or at least claimed to be.

Gen. Odierno said both men, according to intelligence reports, were in close contact with Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis, the top Iraqi adviser to Iran's Quds Force commander. The Quds Force comprises Iran's unconventional military units, which have orchestrated anti-U.S. paramilitary and political operations in Iraq.

In July, the Treasury Department issued a notice to designate Mr. al-Muhandisas an insurgent leader, saying he "facilitated the entry of trucks — containing mortars, Katyusha rockets, [explosively formed penetrators] and other explosive devices — from Iran to Iraq that were then delivered to JAM Special Groups in Sadr City, Baghdad."

U.S. officials in the past have quietly criticized the decisions of the Accountability and Justice Commission to disqualify a little more than 350 candidates from the election based on suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party, but Gen. Odierno's remarks represent a rhetorical escalation.

COMMENT:  Speeches like Odierno's aren't normally given without clearance from above.  If Iraq falls into the Iranian orbit after we leave, clearly that would negate most of our effort in freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein. 

We have to watch the Obama administration carefully, in the months ahead, as we draw down our troop level.  Obama opposed the Iraq War, but has a responsibility to protect our gains.  Will he?  Odierno's speech is a warning we have to heed.

February 17, 2010