Washington DC – NIAC held a briefing yesterday on Capitol Hill to shed light on 
the risk of a possible proxy war between the USA and Iran through various sectarian and political groups in Iran and Iraq, including the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The event featured Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.), an expert on strategy and military organizations.
Gardiner spoke of the clandestine support offered by Iran for groups in Iraq and by the USA for entities using violence against Iran.
He argued that the proxy war is already well under way, even though it contradicts the diplomatic approach currently propagated by the US military and state department, and even though some of the possible groups supported are designated by the US State Department as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The proxy war has created an atmosphere, in Gardiner’s view, in which incidents that otherwise could be handled could now ignite a much larger conflict.
Gardiner’s presentation took place against the backdrop of recent media reports pointing towards a US-Iran proxy war with clandestine US support for militant groups fighting Tehran and vice versa. The briefing provided lawmakers and staff in Congress an opportunity to look more deeply into this issue.
The event is part of NIAC’s US-Iran Policy Program, which is funded by the Ploughshares Fund, the Kenbe Foundation, the Pluralism Fund, the Colombe Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Julia Murray, NIAC, Jul 31, 2008
http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1187&Itemid=2