Iran-Britain conflict shows the dangers of our ongoing presence in Iraq

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(Updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)

The ongoing presence of 150,000 troops in the middle of Iraq, under the direction of this administration, entails grave risk of escalation beyond Iraq, whether deliberately or unintentionally -- a fact that is almost completely ignored in our "debate" over whether to withdraw troops. The seizure this week of 15 British sailors by Iran illustrates how grave those risks are.

As expected, the British immediately claimed that its ship was in Iraqi waters, while the Iranians claimed it had entered Iranian waters. One of the great tragedies of the last several years is how little credibility the U.S. and its most loyal foreign government have in light of their conduct concerning Iraq. While no rational person would believe Iranian claims without corroborating evidence, no rational person would simply assume the British were telling the truth either. Both sides are still insisting on their original stories:

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As usual, our national media runs to the government -- in this case the British government -- hears its version, and then prints it as fact. Of course, it might be the case that the Iranians are at fault here and the seized ship was in Iraqi waters, but it seems at least plausible, if not more likely at this point, that the provocative party was Britain. Obviously, every country has a right -- an obligation -- to defend its territory from invasion, which is what an unauthorized incursion into a country's maritime territory is.

(snip)
Beyond the issue of credibility, this incident potently illustrates the very serious dangers of our ongoing occupation of Iraq. With Western troops in Afghanistan, a huge American military presence in Iraq, and escalating rhetoric from this administration about Iran, the Iranians feel besieged and encircled.

Glenn Greenwald
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/