One interesting question about our war in Iraq has been the extent of Iranian involvement. Left blogistan tends to scoff at the idea, since the Bush administration has used the threat from Iran to argue for more war, but less partial observers note that Iran naturally has interests in what happens to its large neighbor.

An article out the other day from McClatchy, co-authored by Warren Strobel who has done some of the most accurate reporting out of Iraq, covers a particular aspect of Iran's involvement through one man, Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani (aka George Clooney). Suleimani is the commander of Iran's Quds force, which among other things is Iran's covert paramilitary force, and he has reportedly used his own skills and the assets of Quds to exercise considerable control over Iraqi politics and the Iraqi resistance:

Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani commands the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, an elite paramilitary and espionage organization whose mission is to expand Iran's influence in the Middle East.

As Tehran's point man on Iraq, he funnels military and financial support to various Iraqi factions, frustrating U.S. attempts to build a pro-Western democracy on the rubble of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

According to Iraqi and American officials, Suleimani has ensured the elections of pro-Iranian politicians, met frequently with senior Iraqi leaders and backed Shiite elements in the Iraqi security forces that are accused of torturing and killing minority Sunni Muslims.

"Whether we like him (Suleimani) or not, whether Americans like him or not, whether Iraqis like him or not, he is the focal point of Iranian policy in Iraq," said a senior Iraqi official who asked not to be identified so he could speak freely. "The Quds Force have played it all, political, military, intelligence, economic. They are Iranian foreign policy in Iraq."