Posted on 11/30/2006 8:19:10 AM PST by jmc1969
U.S. officials say they have found smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories. According to a senior defense official, coalition forces have recently seized Iranian-made weapons and munitions that bear manufacturing dates in 2006.
This suggests, say the sources, that the material is going directly from Iranian factories to Shia militias, rather than taking a roundabout path through the black market. "There is no way this could be done without (Iranian) government approval," says a senior official.
Iranian-made munitions found in Iraq include advanced IEDs designed to pierce armor and anti-tank weapons. U.S. intelligence believes the weapons have been supplied to Iraq's growing Shia militias from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is also believed to be training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran.
Evidence is mounting, too, that the most powerful militia in Iraq, Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, is receiving training support from the Iranian-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.
Two senior U.S. defense officials confirmed to ABC News earlier reports that fighters from the Mahdi army have traveled to Lebanon to receive training from Hezbollah.
While the New York Times reported that as many as 2,000 Iraqi militia fighters had received training in Lebanon, one of the senior officials said he believed the number was "closer to 1,000." Officials say a much smaller number of Hezbollah fighters have also traveled through Syria and into Iraq to provide training.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Iran and Syria are footing the bill, supplying the weapons and training. If we destroy, completely, these military forces and means of production...and eliminate those regimes...the insurgencies and the Jihad dies with them.
Iraq would be the home of Al Quata, funded freely by Saddam. Saddam would be financially supporting anything they wanted. His goal would be a total destruction of the US before he died of old age. If he didn't do this, the terrorists would have taken over Iraq eventually anyway.
Uh, yeah. Not that they can be expected to enforce it or anything, but the U.N.'s Charter prohibits aiding an armed insurgency against a recognized government. This would doubtless also be illegal with respect to any number of bilateral or regional accords and agreements.
"big question is what will the US do about it, publicly or otherwise?"
Nothing!
Bombing iran will NEVER happen.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1538092/posts?page=1
Any analogy breaks down. The Stern gang didn't worry about civilian casualties when they blew up the King David Hotel. We didn't worry about killing innocent women and children with the fire bombing of Tokyo and Hamburg and Dresden or using the A bomb against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. War is about winning any way you can. The winners apply the rules after the war is over.
We are outdoing our reputation as a paper tiger when it comes to fighting this war.When did America become so predictable? It's like we are following a script that was written by our enemies.The politicians in Washington are being manipulated like puppets and the terrorist are holding the strings.We can't win a war when we are dancing to the beat of the enemy.
Certainly a possibility, especially if we would consider operating across those borders if needed. Bush has lost his perspective if he just views this as a question of Iraq.
Like we did to the Chinese who were supplying the North Koreans? Or the Russians who were supplying the VC?
We don't have a good track record in this regard and I don't see that changing...
Kit.
ABC is just now figuring out that Iran is no saint? Welcome to hte real world ABC- we were waiting for you to catch up- now move to hte back of the line and keep your yap shut please. http://sacredscoop.com
I'm shocked.
Sorry folks, but our government isn't going to a damn thing about Iran sending weapons into Iraq. They've been doing it for well over a year and we've known about it for that long. No matter how many US soldiers are killed with Iranian weapons we won't lift a finger to actually stop it. Oh sure, we'll 'beef up border security', but we won't punish the Iranian gov't in any shape, form or fashion. We have neither the will nor the resolve.
Our government will work triple overtime seeking a politically correct, euro-safe solution that will culminate in people waving pieces of paper around... if they seek a solution at all.
Exactly, the poor track record should not be repeated. Iran is a strategic target in itself, probably more important than Iraq.
Actually they did or they would not have called in a warning before they bombed British Military Headquarters in one wing of the KD Hotel.
If your argument is that even when there is concern for civilians an important war aim must trump that concern regarding civilians you are correct.
In the West today concern for tangential civilians- often terrorist supporters- stops necessary military action in its track.
Our enemy has no such compulsion. They consider us all, civilians and uniformed, as legitimate targets.
Being moral should not mean being suicidal. Losing to barbarism is immoral.
Like Afghanistan before it, we had plenty 100% justifiable reasons to project our power to Iraq. As the world---still to this day---is wringing their hands worrying about the "unwinnable" war in Iraq, the US has been able to realize the ultimate intent of our multitheater strategy--the confrontation of Iranian (and Russian) regional power that has taunted us for almost 30 years.
Despite an colossal barrage of news stating the exact opposite, we are uniquely positioned to counter fascist rhetoric originating from Tehran. A belligerent Iran is proof positive that our pressure is working, not floundering.
The popular (and much derided) notion of the US "reaching out" to our enemies may be an incorrect reading of what's really happening. Instead, we may be setting the agenda Robert Oakley style--(to paraphrase) "America will help you steer events toward a peaceful resolution, but so help us, if you screw up your end, we'll bring this place down."
Like everything else in life there is a simple solution.
At 12:00 tomorrow, the US declares that unless Iran leaves Iraq immediately, at 17:00est tomorrow, just in time for the evening news cycle, Iran will cease to bee an oil producing nation.
Then we remove all troops from the Baghdad area and put them on the Syrian border. Then Israel mobilizes for war.
Oh, then disconnect John Boltons telephone.
Forgot something.
Later in the evening, Quetta in Pakistan is totally leveled by stealth aircraft. Then the US denies having anything to do with the bombing.
Call it the say of settling all debts.
After we leave Iraq, there will be a short war after 2008 engulfing the entire middle east, with Iran/Iraq obtaining the allegiance of neighboring countries (except Israel of course)
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