Is Iran Reaching Too Far in Iraq?

By Douglas Farah

Two new publications show that Iran may have tried to reach too far in extending its influence through Iraq and into the rest of the Arab world. The result could be increasing clashes and all-out war between the Salafist project and the Shi'ia projects, with each side giving a higher priority to killing each other than attacking the West.

The first is a translation by PRISM of a new _jihadi_ document written by Kuwaiti Heikh Hamed bin Abdullah al-Ali, which has been widely circulated. Called the "Covenant of fht Supreme Council of Jihad Groups," it appears to have received enthusiastic support in the virtual _jihadi_ community.

One of the striking things about the document is the emphasis on the Iran-Shi'ia threat as the greatest to the _salafist_ and _jihadi_ movement, ahead, for the first time in a major document, of the "Jews and Crusaders." The document accuses the Shi'ia of searching "for the destruction of the Islamic civilization and slaughtering Muslims under false religious banners." My full blog is here.

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