Are Obama and Khamenei Best Friends Forever?

Reuters reported this week that three US citizens of Iraqi origin who vanished last week in Baghdad were kidnapped and are now held by an Iranian-backed shiite militia. Reuters' information came from Iraqi intelligence and US government sources. Iraqi officials said gunmen seized the three Friday from an apartment in Baghdad's Dora district. A police colonel told the Washington Post the Dora area is controlled by shiite militias, including Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq - League of the Righteous. The colonel said the three had been invited to their Iraqi interpreter's home. But a resident of the apartment building where they were seized said they were taken from an apartment he described as a well-known brothel. The police agreed. The resident said the apartment is frequently raided by Asaib Ahl ­al-Haq, although usually the men found inside are simply told to leave. Baghdad Operations Command described the apartment as “suspicious.” An Iraqi lawmaker told the Post : “They went to an inappropriate place. Iraqi security forces are working very hard now to locate them.” ~~~~~ US sources told Reuters that America has no reason to believe Iran was involved in the kidnapping and does not believe the trio are being held in Iran, which borders Iraq. Reuters says the Iraqi government is trying to control shiite militias that fought the US military during the Iraq War and have been accused of killing and abducting US nationals. Baghdad-based analyst Hisham al-Hashemi told Reuters : "The militias are resentful of the success of the army in Ramadi which was achieved with the support of the US-led coalition and without their involvement." Asked about the kidnapping at a State Department news briefing on Tuesday, spokesman John Kirby declined to say whether Secretary of State John Kerry had contacted Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif about the three. ~~~~~ It may only be a coincidence that on Saturday, the US lifted sanctions on Iran after the UN's IAEA certified Iran had fulfilled its end of the nuclear deal. That same day, five Americans were released from Iranian custody in a prisoner swap. Then, on Sunday, the US paid $1.7 billion to Iran to settle an old claim -- the return of Iran’s $400 million military equipment trust fund frozen in 1979, plus what President Obama called “appropriate interest” of $1.3 billion. Tuesday, the White House rejected claims the payment and swap were tied. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said critics are wrong to call it a "ransom" for the American prisoners. ~~~~~ It may also be coincidental that Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Wednesday thanked the Revolutionary Guards for "arresting" US sailors last week : "I didn't have the opportunity to thank the young soldiers in the Revolutionary Guards. What they did in the Persian Gulf was right. The politicians should do the same and stop the enemies with full power if they cross the line anywhere." On Tuesday, Khamenei welcomed the implementation of the nuclear deal and lifting of sanctions, but warned that Teheran should remain wary of its old enemy the United States and its "deceit and treachery." ~~~~~ Dear readers, Patrick Buchanan wrote a piece for the American Conservative this week that slams those who think Iran is lying about its nuclear intentions, arguing that Iran is only seeking economic development : "Iran’s regime seems to have concluded that the path to power and permanence of the regime lies not in conflict with the United States, but in avoiding conflict and taking the China road." But there's a flaw in Buchanan's argument. China's move to a more open economy hasn't made it stop aggressively infringing on its Asian neighbors, harassing Hong Kong, terrorizing domestic dissenters, or using profits to agitate world trouble spots. Nor will an open-market Iran stop its use of Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi to terrrorize the Middle East, make nuclear bombs, or try to destroy Israel. We know, and Obama knows, it won't keep Iran from taking more US hostages to use in manipulating America, "the Great Satan." Ransom or payment ??