From Secretary of State John Kerry, during a meeting in Brussels of the nearly 60 nations that are fighting the Islamic State, referring to Iranian bombing of the Islamic State in Iraq.
I think it is self-evident that if Iran is taking on ISIL in some particular place, and it’s confined to taking on ISIL, and it has an impact, the net effect is positive.
The Wall Street Journal, “Iran Jets Bomb Militants In Iraq,” 12/4/14
In other words , we’ll deal with the supposed devil, Iran, if it will just play by our rules. A senior Department of Defense official said as much.
The message to Iran hasn’t changed: If you’re going to play in all this, then you need to do it in a way that doesn’t further inflame sectarian tensions.
The Wall Street Journal, “Iran Jets Bomb Militants In Iraq,” 12/4/14
So how will the US get the Sunni Islamic State not to notice that they are being bombed by Iran, the foremost Shiite state in the Middle East? Is Iran supposed to drop propaganda leaflets on the Islamic State: We are not bombing you because you are Sunni, we are bombing you in an officially approved-by-America non-sectarian manner. You may be pissed off at us because we are bombing you, but please do not get more angry because we are Shiite.
You only get these convoluted absurdities when you’re fighting on both sides of a war. See: “A Clear and Concise Guide to U.S. Policy in the Middle East.”
