Petraeus works to halt foreign fighters.
I don't buy it, BA. The greatest threat to Iran is a free, democratic Iraq. Using a Sunni extremist group(who would be an equal threat to Iraq's fragile government) in Iran to kill an anti- Wahhab imman makes no sense, even for a clumsy government that frequently makes mistakes. Kurdish extremists attack Turkish forces as well; certainly that isn't part of a master plan. Is there some instigation of anti- government fervor inside Iran? Hopefully so. Their government is dangerous and a threat and using force to take it out is an option no one seems to want. But active support for groups that could turn in an instant on Iraq or Turkey? I don't think so; I certainly hope not.
We don't have to order it or have command and control. We are connected through finance and information sharing though.
I would imagine the Iranians are walking the same type of tight rope with their own proxies. How much support can they give them and how much can they really control them?
It's a dangerous game we are both playing.
As for the greatest threat to Iran...
Well, a non-democratic Iraq attacked Iran, tried to annex Khuzestan (its oil) and led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranains.
I would say the jury is still out as to whether "democracy" in the Western sense is even appropriate to, or desired by, Iran or Iraq. A natural adaptation of a democratic form of government in either country is likely to look quite different to anything our standards or sensibilities approve of.
Therefore we are likely to keep up the meddling and the social engineering to try to establish an American way of life in Iraq in Iran when at some point you have to let internal forces hold sway.
As for who's supporting whom, we already have behind the scenes problems with the Turks regarding American weapons in Kurdish hands:
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/07/turkish_ambassador_kurdish_gue.html
Are we giving them to Kurdish guerrillas directly? Are they using cash that we give them to buy them on the black market? These are good questions.
The same questions apply to Shiite militias in Iran.
Based on past covert follies I don't understand how anyone expects us to suddenly get competent at these games.