Free Iran:  Another example why the US needs a holistic approach to the Middle East and why it can’t resolve the problems in the region individually.  So long as Iran is not democratic, the regime will undermine virtually all US interests in the region.

The top US general in Iraq has identified the three main Shia terror groups in Iraq that are backed by Iran.

General Ray Odierno said Iran continues to back the League of the Righteous (or Asaib al Haq), the Mahdi Army spin-off Promised Day Brigade, and the Hezbollah Brigades (or Kataib Hezbollah).

“The Iranians… continue to fund, train and provide weapons and ammunition to Shiite extremist groups,” Odierno told reporters in Baghdad according to AFP. Qods Force, the special operations branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has “gone to a more sophisticated program with a smaller set of extremists” by narrowing down the number of Shia terror groups it supports.

Odierno acknowledged the debate over whether Iranian support for the three main Shia terror groups in Iraq includes backing by the highest levels of Iran’s government.

“It’s very difficult to say if the extremist groups are directly connected to the Iranian government,” Odierno said. “But we do know that many of them live in Iran, many of them get trained in Iran, and many of them get weapons from Iran.”