Joint Chiefs concerned over Iran’s influence in Iraq.
By on Apr 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Joint Chiefs concerned over Iran’s influence in Iraq.
A “stark new assessment” by Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen reports that “the government of Iran continues to supply weapons and other support to extremists in Iraq, despite repeated promises to the contrary, and is increasingly complicit in the death of American soldiers.” The report highlights the discovery of weapons in Iraq that bear stamps indicating they were manufactured recently in Iran. “I have no expectations that we are going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future,” he said, adding, “I am concerned about where that goes in the long term.”
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Are these the same weapons Reagan sold to Iran?
April 25th, 2008 at 2:53 pmThe rumblings of “attack Iran” ~ this administration is attempting to
April 25th, 2008 at 3:01 pmrationalize war, again.
#1 octamethyl: oh you invoked the sacred name of the arms dealer,
I mean, president, who did sell arms to Iran. What goes around does
come around (to bite you in the neck).
“Joint Chiefs concerned over Iran’s influence in Iraq.”
Kinda like Saddam was.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:06 pmNow that Adm Fallon is gone we are looking for the beachhead to make George’s legecy ring true to himself.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:08 pmnonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense!
April 25th, 2008 at 3:14 pmWaaaaaaall, sheeyit, boys – y’all shoulda thought of that BEFORE you took out Saddam.
Morons.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:33 pmI am sure Iran has so many weapons, it only sends the newest, bestest to their brethren in Iraq to fight the GREAT SATAN. God Bushco must really think we are so easily duped! What; we are? Why didn’t I get that memo?
April 25th, 2008 at 3:33 pmAnybody who didn’t see the near certainty of (Shiite) Iran exerting influence over (majority Shiite) Iraq following the removal of (Sunni) Saddam couldn’t have known much about the ethnic breakdown of the region and may have even been the dumbest @#%&ing guys on the . . . hey, isn’t it time for another Douglas Feith story?
April 25th, 2008 at 3:37 pmHey, they find weapons all the time in Palestine stamped with “made in USA,” does that make us the bad guys too? Oh, wait, never mind…
April 25th, 2008 at 3:40 pmRWeSafer Says:
Hey, they find weapons all the time in Palestine stamped with “made in USA,” does that make us the bad guys too? Oh, wait, never mind…
April 25th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
You touch on an unanswered question which is always on my mind.
“What percentage of casualties in Iraq, Iraqi and foreign, are attributable to weapons provided by the good ol’ U.S.A?
I guarantee we will never get an accurate answer.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:44 pmand this is different from the U.S. supporting, funding, and arming right-wing Central American death squads how???
I suppose Nicaragua, El Salvador, et al, should have raised the same accusations as our gov’t. is currently making against Iran.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:47 pmpete Says:
I guarantee we will never get an accurate answer.
Good point.
I agree, but this is a case where perceptions are more important than reality. We are engaged in a giant negative PR blitz around the world (in addition to the actual negative consequences of unthought through interventions around the world
April 25th, 2008 at 3:48 pmArrogance! The Bush Admin’s problems can be boiled down to that. Plain and simple. There arrogance made them think of the Middle East as being inhabited by a bunch of illiterate “rag head” savages. I bet they believed that because these were Muslims and Arabs that they couldn’t put two cohesive thoughts together.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:50 pmAnd what happened…The Iranians have been one step ahead of these yahoos since the beginning. They’ve won every propaganda battle, won over the hearts and minds of most of their Shite breathrens in Iraq and have more influence there with a few hundred (my guess) operatives than the US has with over 150K troops.
It’s sad, but as someone who’s seen the surprised look on many a white faces at work when I solve some difficult problem they couldn’t, I can see how it happened.
I’ve seen several reports indicating that some advanced weapons in Iraq which are killing Iraqi civilians on a daily basis is manufactured in other foreign countries like the United States. Most experts agree these hightech weapons are being used by American fighters trained, funded and equipped in the United States and sent into Iraq by the government of the United States.
There are also reports of other US activity inside the country like the construction of huge townsized military bases which many analysts say is proof of US plans to control the Middle East through intimidation and threats of force. This situation is particularly worrisome for the people in the region since the US has the largest amount of nuclear weapons in the World. And while several US warships equipped with nuclear warheads are reported stationed in the Gulf, the American president as well as two of his possible successors continue to threaten Iran with military intervention and even nuclear strikes, if Iran dont comply with the will of the United States.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:03 pmThe first link in the thread can’t be accessed unless you have an account with NYT. I’m reposting it, in the hopes you can all access it. Couple paragraphs…and indeed, the war drums are beating and certainly explains Adm. Fallon’s departure.
“The discovery of weapons caches in Iraq, with devices bearing stamps that indicate they were manufactured quite recently, run contrary to the Iranian promises not to interfere in Iraq, the admiral said. He conceded that he had “no smoking gun” to prove direct involvement by the very highest echelons in Tehran, but he said he found it hard to believe that all the top leaders were ignorant of recent developments.”
“Admiral Mullen acknowledged that the American military was being stretched thin by the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, he said, “it would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/world/middleeast/25cnd-military.html?_r=1&hp&oref=login
April 25th, 2008 at 4:06 pmANd the saber rattle just grew a little louder.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:08 pm#8 Paleolib — man, does that nail it!
Was this the “analysis” that the Serious People concocted?
Let’s see: Shi’a majority; years of repression by Sunni elite; Shi’a country next door; cross-border migration between Iraq and Iran; we called Iran part of the “Axis of Evil;” historical rivalry for regional hegemony.
Nah, I don’t think Iran is a factor….
Whotta buncha maroons.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:34 pmThis story is highlighted in the WSJ (front page in the print edition), NYTimes, MSNBC.com and so on. This is the first rim shot in the drum beat for an Iran war.
The arms are supposed to be from Iran. Since Iran is right next door it is logical arms would be smuggled from there. This in no way implies Iranian government involvement as is being asserted in these stories as is pointed out in other posts above.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pmA civilian ship contracted by the U.S. military fired warning shots at two small boats approaching it in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy said Friday, describing the latest of a string of similar incidents that have triggered concern in Washington.
Concern in Washington indeed, they are concerned that it wasn’t enough to justify Five Deferments Dick bloodlust for attacking Iran.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:05 pmI am so sick and tired of hearing this line of propaganda about how Iran is an influence on Iraq. Apparently these idiots are forgetting that the Iraqi government and the Iranian government signed a “mutual cooperation” agreement — and that was AFTER we invaded Iraq. If anything, Bush has managed to unite Iraq and Iran with each other after they spent 8 years locked in a fierce war with each other.
Not only that, but did these idiots ever stop to consider that since Iraq now has a Shia government and Iran also has a Shia government, and since Bushie’s hand-picked puppet Maliki, was in collusion with Iran, that, of course, Iran would be an influence on Iraq?
My god, these idiots have no concept of common sense.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:45 pmAnd this from a country who armed and trained death squads at the school of the Ameica’s in Virginia which killed 100’s of 1000’s in Central and South America for decades .
April 25th, 2008 at 6:47 pmDouble standards ?
200 000 indigenous peoples in Guatamala alone !
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
April 25th, 2008 at 6:52 pmM.L.K.
John stockwell ,Station cheif for the CIA under Bush sr. in Angola and 13 year intelligence veteran estimates 6 million casualties as a result of covert actions by the agency !
April 25th, 2008 at 6:57 pmThe school of the America’s is in Fort Benning Georgia not virginia ….sorry.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:59 pm“The greatest purveyor of violence on the earth is my own government.” MLK
April 25th, 2008 at 7:03 pmAnd how is it that teyh know these weapons were “recently manufactured in Iran”? Does Iran publicly disclose the serial numbers of every piece of weaponry they make immediately after manufacturing it?
April 27th, 2008 at 8:11 pm