IRAN AND PAKISTAN GETTING VERY NERVOUS

While the situation inside Iran is ripe for a pro-US revolution, their government looks to the east and west and sees nothing but US troops setting up shop. They've decided it's best to take some steps before the war starts to protect their interests (and maybe the Kurds) inside Iraq. This obviously complicates the political situation for the US and our potential partner Turkey in northern Iraq:

[Kurdish] leaders are mindful of the strained U.S.-Iran relations and think that the presence of "Iranian proxies" could further encourage a military intervention by Turkey, a development that is believed to be imminent.

The Turkish Army has announced plans to impose a "security belt" within Northern Iraq. On their part, the Kurds have threatened to oppose any Turkish incursion. "Turkey knows that it cannot go against international law and the will of the Kurds," said a security officer at the Zimnako camp. According to Murtaza Musawi of the [Iranian] Badr Brigade, "If our Supreme Council authorizes it, we will support them [the Kurds] against the Turks."

In his statement last month, Boucher said the involvement of the Badr Brigade in Northern Iraq "would be a very serious and destabilizing development."

Meanwhile, on their eastern border, Iran decided that Pakistan is a wildcard, especially if Musharraf is toppled. So they turned away from Islamabad and formed a partnership with India. This complicates the already unstable situation in Pakistan and now makes them feel just as surrounded by hostile forces as Iran. Arnaud de Borchgrave details the political climate in Pakistan a few weeks before the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

What comes next for them is anybody's guess, but now is the time for Musharraf to forget about Iran and solidify his partnership with the U.S. and not China. We'll help as a buffer with India and a check on Iran, while he builds on the recent momentum and gets serious with the Islamist terrorists. Mansoor Ijaz has some thoughts on this, and the inside scoop on the capture of KSM.