"This is a VERY carefully-schooled officer. There's no slip of the tongue here. No phrase "out of turn". Note the details as described by the general. A nice synopsis and refresher of the issue surrounding Iranian 'interference'".
My comments to Buu a few days ago while referencing this same article. Petraeus mentions meeting twice with the Iranians about this issue. I also recall Crocker mentioning meetings together with the Iranians and Iraqis that were quite acrimonious.
I guess I see these actions as acts of war against Iraq- though little that they can do by themselves. So too America. Our troops are targeted daily by the Iranians while performing their U.N- mandated duties. It's conceivable, though politically unlikely, that Iranian perfidy in Iraq might justify an overt and visible American response (have to work on shoe-horning those nuke targets under that agenda, hmmm...
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One thing about "show me"-it's a line in the sand. Credibility is at stake if crossed. What that entails from Petraeus' perspective nobody knows, but I'd have to believe that he's something meaningful in mind should it continue, seemingly the case.