If you extrapolate what is being reported in the
Guardian (thanks Mitch2k2) and
This Is Rumor Control, Iran is engaging U.S. forces in a premeditated way.
The Guardian says that 30 Iranians were recently captured in combat operations by Iraqi forces.
This Is Rumor Control reports:
Senior intelligence sources in the U.S., as well as officials in the Middle East, claim that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has made a strategic decision to confront American forces in Iraq's Shi'a heartland. Those senior intelligence sources (a total of five separate individuals who either now serve or have served in key intelligence positions) base their belief on evidence showing that Iran has armed Shi'a groups in southern Iraq with sophisticated weaponry, has provided political and military guidance to Shi'a groups, has made and maintained contacts with Sunni resistance leaders in "the Sunni triangle" in central Iraq, and is pursuing a program of escalating confrontations between Shia militias and American troops.
Did the Bush Administration forsee this dangerous threat? The Iranians are capitalizing on a win-win opportunity for them. Iran gets to invigorate their militant base while engaging U.S. forces on Iraqi land. What if Iran plays coy and does not quickly and publically denounce these actions?