Breaking News, Some in the Middle East Don't Like the US

and may be offering aid the Iraqi Resistance.

Isikoff and Hosenball look into the forces that may have been involved in helping the local forces to develop more effective bombs for IEDs. It could be Iran, or maybe Hizbullah, maybe both. It could be a sing of an alliance with greater goals, or just a quick handoff of aid against a common enemy. Heck, it could be nothing at all.

According to a counter-terrorism official, two different types of instructional Hizbullah-made videos have been recovered by U.S. forces from Iraqi insurgents. One explains in great detail how to manufacture home-made explosives that can be used in EFPs. Another explains how to shape the home-made explosive (or for that matter a factory-made or black-market explosive) into an EFP charge, and then how to build an improvised EFP launcher using a length of pipe and a metal projectile.

The Arabic-language videos are slickly produced and of 'studio quality,' complete with dramatic music and subtitles, said a U.S. official who has reviewed the material. The high-quality production values have led some analysts to speculate that they may well have been produced by an element of the Iranian government with access to professional television equipment. Other analysts note, however, that Hizbullah has its own television station and therefore access to high-quality video equipment and personnel.

My bet is it is just about having the opportunity to strike back at a foe they couldn't otherwise hit.

It is in Iran's interest to keep Iraq unstable and the US tied up in this mess for years. So there is some motivation on the part of Iran to stir the pot. The only sticking point is Iran is naturally aligned with the Shia who are working for stability. The forces trying to encourage instability are sunni, who are ,in normal circumstances, traditional foes of Iran.

Again, this is just another indicator of how our very presence feeds the instability of the region.