Strange Allies: Iran May Send Tanks to Fight IS, Pope Francis Calls Upon World to "Stop" IS

A sufficiently barbaric evil can manage to actually unite natural antagonists in the same cause against it.

Iran may "partially invade" Iraq, Noah Rothman writes, in order to (they say) fight IS.

From Noah's post:

According to an informed source, tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are mobilizing to enter the Khanaqin district with the aim of the concentration in areas with Shiite majority north of the capital Baghdad and hit the insurgent of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Unlike American forces, Iran's forces might not be so eager to depart once they've done fighting IS (should that war ever actually be won). But that's a problem for another day.

Popes generally call for peace -- no matter what the outrage. And Pope Francis, widely thought to be fairly left-leaning, seems to be even more committed to the "peace" imperative than most popes.

But even peaceable popes have a line, and the barbaric evil that is the "Islamic State" has crossed it.

This AP story from Ed Morrissey's post:

Pope Francis on Monday endorsed the use of force to stop Islamic militants from attacking religious minorities in Iraq but said the international community -- and not just one country -- should decide how to intervene.

Francis also said he and his advisers were considering whether he might go to northern Iraq himself to show solidarity with persecuted Christians. But he said he was holding off for now on a decision.

I think that would be far too dangerous, at the moment. Heroic, but dangerous. I can't imagine what IS would do if they knew they were just ten or fifteen miles away from capturing and beheading a Pope.

...

On Iraq, Francis was asked if he approved of the unilateral U.S. airstrikes on militants of the Islamic State...

"In these cases, where there is an unjust aggression, I can only say that it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor," Francis said. "I underscore the verb 'stop.' I'm not saying 'bomb' or 'make war,' just 'stop.' And the means that can be used to stop them must be evaluated."

He didn't say he was against airstrikes, though. Just that he wasn't necessarily calling for airstrikes.

It's heartening to see such unanimity on IS. Maybe the world isn't completely insane.

posted by Ace at 03:34 PM

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