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There's a story that the new CIA director, David Petraeus, likes to tell which harks back to his days as a four-star general in Iraq.

Early
in 2008, during a series of battles between the US and Iraqi army on
one side and the Shia militias on the other, Petraeus was handed a phone
with a text message from the Iranian general who had by then become his
nemesis.

The message came from the head of Iran's
elite al-Quds Force, Qassem Suleimani, and was conveyed by a senior
Iraqi leader. It read: "General Petraeus, you should know that I, Qassem
Suleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon,
Gaza, and Afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds
Force member. The individual who's going to replace him is a Quds Force
member."

Petraeus hardly needed to be told. Much of the US military's
work with Iraq's Shia Muslims had been undermined by Suleimani and the
client militias of the Iranian general'... >>>