There has been much talk of how Hillary Clinton's recent support of the Webb amendment somehow shows that she has not given the Bush administration a way to attack Iran with her senate vote declaring the Qods force a terrorist organization. A careful understanding of both of these pieces of legislation is key to understanding the practical effects both have on the President and his ability to execute tactical strikes against the Iranian military.

First and Foremost, it must be made clear that the Qods force is not a terrorist organization, and more importantly classifying them as one is not strategic for US interests.

The stated purpose of the Qods Force is to help Islamic revolutions in foreign nations. It began during the Iran-Iraq war as a kind of black ops force that only answered to the Supreme Leader of Iran (a basic understanding of the complicated power divisions within the Iranian Democracy is helpful here). Anyhow it is clear that Iran has an interest in taking charge in the inevitable power vacuum which will arise in Iraq. If anything they are a military organization which is fighting a foreign invading power. Of course the US government will liken the Qods force to Hezbollah, an organization which can be considered terrorists in some respects and legitimate government in others. The reality is that Hezbollah started as a guerrilla force fighting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. This is slightly tangential, but the point is that many of those who are classified as terrorist organizations are done so only because they fight the US government or US military (a fact which in fact proves them NOT to be terrorists, but moving on.)