Iranians Targeting US in Iraq Again?

The US wouldn't be publicly acting on threats of attacks by Iranian-backed militants if they didn't have good indicators of them.

The U.S. military has beefed up security at some of its bases after a threat that an Iranian-backed militant group was planning attacks, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Tuesday.

Men from Kataib Hezbollah, a Shiite group that U.S. officials say is trained and funded by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, crossed into Iran for training and returned to conduct attacks as U.S. troop levels drop over the summer, Gen. Ray Odierno said in a briefing. By September, 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq.

"This is another attempt by Iran and others to influence the U.S. role here," Odierno said.

The general said Iranian-backed militant groups seem focused mainly on attacking U.S. troops and do not pose a long-term threat to the Iraqi government. He also reaffirmed that the U.S. troop withdrawal remains on track, adding that Iraq needs mostly political and economic support.

By: Brant