The Iraqi government is now in possession of firm evidence that Iran is arming its Shiite proxies in Iraq. And Iraq is not soft-peddling the evidence, either. To the contrary, it has confronted Tehran with the evidence. As an article in PajamasMedia.com puts it, Iraq is conveying the following message to officials in Tehran:

"We know and you know that you’re providing these weapons and we can’t remain silent anymore. At the same time neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon, so we must learn to coexist. You don’t want us to be your enemies and we can’t afford to make you ours at the moment, so knock it off and let’s not show the world the dirty laundry."

It will be most instructive to see how Iran reacts.

Here is the complete article: Pajamas Media Iranian-Made Rocket Discovered Near Basra Alarms Iraqis

Lovely. Anyone recall the Iraq/Iran war of the 80s?

Are you suggesting that Iraq (or, for that matter, the US) should adopt a head-in-the-sand approach?

Surely, no rational person could relish the prospect of conflict. But conflict avoidance should not be any nation's highest priority either. And it appears to me that the mullahs in Tehran are simply itching for a conflict. I can see no good reason why they should be issued a pass.

Besides, the Iraqi leaders' message to iran, as paraphrased by the author of the article I quoted--"[W]e must learn to coexist. You don’t want us to be your enemies and we can’t afford to make you ours at the moment"--hardly sounds like sabre-rattling.

So let me get this straight. America, who's invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq is illegal - complains that Iran wants to interveine in their dirty laundry. The Iraqi government is more worried about Blackwater than it is about Iran.

Your gratuitous observation that America's "invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq is illegal" is predicated upon a hugely faulty assumption: i.e. that we all agree to genuflect to some transnational body (such as the UN), and refrain from whatever conflict it does not place its imprimatur upon. But many of us believe instead in the concept of national sovereignty--precisely as it was understood by Americans in 1908, or even 1808--which should never be compromised by some transnational body.

In short, there is nothing "illegal" about the Iraq War under American law--which is all that really counts with me.