From: Gene McAloon 

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 09:04:03 -0500, "Robert G Lewis"
 wrote:

>Actually I WOULD expect the Iranians to have increased troops along the
>border. One reason would be to keep the border secure from US and from any
>refugees. Another would be to help supply the Shia in Iran.
>
>I doubt they would plan to fight the US but things do have a tendency of
>escalating.

I would not and there is not evidence that they have. There is not refugee
problem the Iranians have to deal with, so that is out as a reason. There
is no threat from the US in Iraq invading Iran. The boobs cannot even
control Iraq. Nor does giving support to Iraqi Shiites require massing
troops on the border.

On the other hand, massing troops on the border is provocative under the present
circumstance at a time when Iran is already under considerable
international pressure concerning its alleged nuclear weapons development.
The last thing it needs is taking an aggressive stance by massing troops
along its border with another country. That is the kind of thing that
initially got Saddam in trouble,
especially when he used those troops to invade a neighbor. You can be
certain Iran is not going to make those obvious mistakes.

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