Oh goody.
American forces raided the Iranian consulate in the mainly Kurdish city of Erbil in northern Iraq before dawn today, detaining at least five Iranian employees in the building and seizing some property, according to Iraqi and Iranian officials and witnesses…. A statement from the United States military today did not mention the Iranian consulate specifically, saying only that American forces had conducted “routine security operations” in the Erbil area and took six people into custody…. Statements by the Iranian government were more explicit. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said that United States forces arrested five Iranian staff members at the consulate early this morning, and confiscated computers and documents. The Iranian embassy in Baghdad has sent a letter of protest to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Mr. Hosseini told the IRNA news agency.
My understanding is that the Iranian consulate is sovereign Iranian territory. So, have we technically invaded Iran?
UPDATE: More fun with Iran:
Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.
The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country….
But what is disconcerting is that some are speculating that Bush has decided to heat up military engagement with Iran and Syria — taking possible action within their borders, not just within Iraq.
Some are suggesting that the Consulate raid may have been designed to try and prompt a military response from Iran — to generate a casus belli for further American action.
Speculation. Still, Clemons is usually pretty well-informed.
I think it’s called “poking a stick hard and hoping Iran reacts and takes the next step so as we can invade them.”
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This is going to go very, very badly. VERY badly.
That we are putting an extra aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf (right smack underneath the middle of Iran). I was thinking there was only one reason that he would do that. Might not be an invasion, but were going to be bombing Iranian targets. Let’s see where that takes us…
that John at AMERICAblog posted has been changed, now everyone’s backing down from saying it was by force. WTF is going on?? “No shots were fired. No altercation ensued,” the U.S. official. “It was a knock on the door and ‘Please come out.'”
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Why do I somehow NOT believe them?
Didn’t Iran define the rules of engagement when it comes to respecting the sovereignity of embassies and consulates? http://en.wikipedia….
The Neener-Neener Theory of Foreign Policy?
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We Liberals judge things by their results not by playground rules. Yes, seizing the American Consulate in Iran was wrong, but fomenting a war with Iran right now is lunacy.
Is the key to international relations. Each country, even in time of war, is supposed to engage the other in ways the other is expected to engage them. The genesis of our country, 1776, featured Revolutionary guerillas shooting from behind stone walls as the Redcoats marched in sporting military formation. Had the Brits reciprocated and met guerilla tactics in kind, we’d probably all be speaking with British, or maybe German, accents right now. We’re in it, not just in Iraq but globally. Maybe the fight of our lives, though it sure isn’t “conventional” warfare. So we can play the role of the sporting Superpower, much like the Brits did in 1776, or we can adapt our tactics to match those of our enemies. The choice of whether and how we adapt to the changing face of war is important, but it is a choice. See, for example: http://www.cnn.com/2…
http://en.wikipedia…._(representative)
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…gives an idea of the rights of a consulate. Mostly in this country they are just a citizen of the host country that has a background in the foreign country. The big benefit in this country is that you get a diplomatic plate that lets you park with impunity. Otherwise, it is just someone doing a favor (visa, business ties, etc.) for the foreign country.
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I won’t rush to judgment on this.
Breitbart/AP quotes a US military spokesman that the building was not a consulate and did not have any diplomatic status.
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Who do we believe? The Pentagon or the Iranian Foreign Minister?