Huh?

I have had trouble understanding why the war in Iraq has not expanded to other oil-producing countries like Iran and the Sudan. I assumed that the WMD rhetoric that was used so successfully in Iraq would carry much more weight in Iran, as they obviously are much nearer to nuclear power than Iraq was. The atrocity and human rights violations in Sudan, coupled with the Darfur exposure, would also give ample ammunition for occupation there as well. Since my underlying assumption is that the true goal is control of the oil reserves, these arguments seem much more concrete and credible than the ones used to invade Iraq. I therefore fully expected to see an expansion in the US aggression and occupation in the Middle East. What I didn't know, though, is that the aid that we are receiving from these countries outweighs other ulterior motivations. Read here about the use of Sudanese and Iranian intelligence in gathering information for the "war on terror". The first article Cole references, here, details the relationship between the US government and a government currently involved in genocide. It appears that using the assets available in these "evil" regimes allows us to overlook their more egregious humanitarian and national security deficiencies. It makes it very easy for the US to claim that they are not "torturing" or engaging in any human rights violations if they allow countries that are officially condemmed to do the dirty work - I would suspect that intelligence is not the only commodity that is for sale. The enemy of my enemy is my friend... even if he's my enemy.