Qods skimming Millions...

Quds Force - a primer
Posted by: McQ on Sunday, August 19, 2007

Interesting article on the al Quds (Jeruselem) Force, a "small cadre of senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard leaders who can call on special Guard units if it needs boots on the ground activities". And, of course, we're seeing those "activities" from this force in Iraq. This is one of the reasons the US is considering naming the IRG a terrorist organization:

According to U.S. and European intelligence friends, the Quds Force is the group that made the decision to allow senior al Qaeda operatives into Iran, as well as Osama bin Laden’s son, Sa’ad. The group also allowed many family members of al Qaeda to exit Afghanistan through Iran in 2001, including at least one of bin Laden’s wives.

The al Quds Force does not always operate with the full knowledge and consent of the central government; nor do its leaders appear to be accountable to either the central command of the Revolutionary Guard or the civilian government. The Force seems to be the interlocutor between the Iranian military apparatus and al Qaeda, a relationship that has waxed and waned over time, and despite the strong hatred that often exists between Shi’ite and Sunni groups, they can, on occasion, work together.

[...Danger is if Qods gets caught keeping the kickbacks and bribes, potentially hundreds of millions of $ USD]

It is also the Quds Force, which controls Iran’s military acquisitions and determines what military hardware goes to both the Shi’ite militias in Iraq as well as what goes to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This role as the gatekeeper makes targeting the multiple front groups operated by the Force potentially important, depending on the level of intelligence that exists on its financial structure.