Andy, this whole issue of whether the Iranian regime is directly responsible for attacks against Americans in Iraq, or whether it’s rogue elements is such a Porche-red herring.

Under international law Iran is responsible for the conduct of its forces. We are entitled to hold the regime accountable for acts of war being committed daily against the U.S. by elements of the regime. So what if they are rogue elements? That’s entirely Tehran’s problem.

The only reason the administration pulled out this “we don’t know if it’s rogue elements” argument in previous years is that it’s better not to complain about getting hit if you’re not going to hit back. It was never anything more than an evasion — to avoid having to explain why we weren’t retaliating.

The fact that the administration is suddenly willing to complain about Iran’s actions and the point the finger directly at Tehran suggests not that we know something we didn’t know before, nor much less that Iran is doing something it wasn’t doing before. It suggests that the administration has taken a decision to do something about it — finally.