do I really have to say it???
I'll be surprised if the president goes through with what I think the commission will suggest.
Needless to say...what they're asking for is contrary to national interests. We won't negotiate with terrorists -- but we will negotiate with the people that arm them?
Tehran, Nov 29, IRNA
Iran-Iraq-Regional Peace
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday that a powerful Iraq and Iran would serve regional peace and security.
Addressing the Iraqi nation in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani, he said the Iranian government, as before, strongly stands by Iraqi nation and intends to put all its experiences and knowledge at the disposal of Iraqi nation.
Describing Iraq as a nation with deep-rooted civilization, he said the enemies of Iraq are determined to weaken the country and prevent formation of a powerful Iraq and seek to sow the seeds of discord and enmity.
"We all should strive to forge unity among Iraqi nation," he said.
Addressing the Iraqi nation, he said that the country's hardliners intentionally or unintentionally take actions which would harm the unity of the country. He called on the people to advise them first and if they refuse, to agree to oust them.
Talabani was earlier in Iran after the downfall of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the establishment of a new government in the country.
As head of the Iraqi transitional government, Talabani paid his second visit to Iran on November 21, 2005 at the head of a politico-economic delegation.
Iran and Iraq have expanded ties and cooperation in various fields in recent years.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on promoting political and economic ties and the reconstruction of Iraq during a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Tehran in September.
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0611291883194711.htm
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the insurgency has many different faces, Lou. And what we're talking about here is the Shia insurgency. Essentially, the Shia militias and paramilitary forces, an alignment of which essentially make up the government.
Now, according to U.S. and British military intelligence, most of these groups, political factions and military factions, receive financial aid, military aid, weapons training, and liaison from Iran, particularly from Iran's Iranian revolutionary guard Quds force. So it's equivalent to the Green Berets.
Now, we've heard about them supplying the key components for the most devastating roadside bombs here in Iraq. I've spoken to British troops in the south who say their bases have been mortared by bombs that carry Iranian markings.
We have the chief of U.S. military intelligence talking about C-4 explosives that can be traced back to Iranian batches. And now we have what U.S. intelligence says is Iranian backing of Shia death squads.
Here, for example, Lou is the tail fin of an .81 millimeter mortar round. This landed just days ago in a Sunni neighborhood here in Baghdad. It was fired from a Shia area.
What's most interesting about this is that we don't know exactly where it came from, but what we can tell you is that it's date-stamped this year, 2006. It clearly, from its condition, has not been buried in the desert.
So at some point this has crossed Iraq's border. They're not making them here. So it's crossed the border and come into the hands of a Shia militia -- Lou.
DOBBS: Let me ask you, Michael, among the field commanders there with whom you've talked, how much frustration is there that the United States has not been able to first successfully interdict those kinds of shipments of material in support of the insurgency, as well as the personnel who are also being used, according to many reports? And to what degree is the fact that the militias remain armed -- is that within the control of the forces should the Iraqi government and the United States decide to disarm the militias?
WARE: Well, the United States and the Iraqi government, for what it is, and beyond the prime minister's office and the office of the national security adviser, one wonders what there is of this government. Because beyond that, it's essentially this alliance of militias.
As we said, intelligence claiming that many of them are backed by Iran anyway. The U.S. and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as has been said many times in the past, have not only called upon the militias to disband and disarm, but are now insisting upon it. Yet, we've seen no movement.
DOBBS: Right.
WARE: There is no incentive, Lou, for the militias to disarm and there's nothing to force them. Not even 140,000-plus American troops.
DOBBS: And the frustration among the field commanders, has there been any expressed by those field commanders about the inability to control either the borders or to interdict those supplies?
WARE: Absolutely. I mean, Iraq's borders on both the eastern and western fronts remain porous. Fighters and material keep pouring in from the west to support al Qaeda and the Sunni insurgents. The exact same can be said of the eastern border with Iran.
I've spent a lot of time on both borders. With the troop numbers here in the country now, it's simply impossible to seal these borders off.
I've had British intelligence officers tell me that when it comes to combating Iran, it's as though we are sleepwalking, one of them said. And essentially, the Sunnis claim that the Brits maintain an appearance of stability in the south by trading off, accommodating with these Iranian-backed militias so that attacks are few, yet the influence of Iran and its surrogates is great.
DOBBS: Michael, thank you very much. Very revealing, as always. Thank you.
Michael Ware from Baghdad.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745432/posts?page=49#49
While Americans look for a way out of Iraq, Iran has its foot firmly in the door. It is muscling its way more into the picture. Now Iran has invited the leader of Iraq to a weekend meeting. Correspondent Michael Ware joins us now from Baghdad.
Michael, Iraq's president, Mr. Talabani is going to Tehran. Do you expect any significant, tangible results from that, especially when it comes to improving the security situation?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, THE SITUATION ROOM: Well, there's no specific agenda we have been told of. No one has an expectation of the -- delivery of any immediate prize by President Talabani.
However, from an American perspective, key among the list of things to discuss will be security. Indeed, U.S. intelligence and the American ambassador here, and the American commander on the ground here, have all repeatedly accused Iran of sending money, fighters, training, and weapons across the border.
We are seeing essentially Iran, through its surrogates, killing American and British troops. They are also supporting the major militias, which are the fundamental building blocks of the government that President Talabani represents.
These countries share a land border. They fought a long and bitter war. There is much for them to discuss. Foremost, will be security. Now, Iran has also offered to help with the rebuilding of the Iraqi army and the Iraqi intelligence service. America does not want that to happen. We will see if that comes up in President Talabani's discussions.
KING: Mike, I want to bring your attention to policy debate here in the United States. A number of competing proposals being kicked around as to what the United States should do to change its strategy. Almost every one of them say they have to do a better job after three and half, plus, years in Iraq of finding a way to improve the training of Iraqi security forces. Is any progress being made while the politicians and others back here in Washington debate what to do next?
WARE: No, not really, John. I mean, you only have so much to work with here in Iraq. As we know, most of the security forces, particularly the police and national police, former commando paramilitary units, are heavily infiltrated by the Shia militias. That's why we are seeing in Sunni areas to the west, police being recruited locally because Sunnis simply cannot trust their own men in uniform, if they come from the central government.
There's really very little here for the Americans to work with. We have seen an entire brigade of Iraqi national police taken off-line because of its complicity in death squad activity. That unit is now undergoing further training.
But overall, essentially, America needs to accept it has not been winning this war so far. In fact, its enemies, Al Qaeda and Iran, have been emboldened by this war. America needs to make a reassessment.
Firstly, of what is it trying to achieve. Any concept of establishing a bristling, shiny new democracy for the Middle East has to be cast aside. America needs to downscale its goals and that will help reshape what strategy applies and how many forces that's going to need and for how long. Essentially, America needs to accept it is not going get what it set out to do -- John.
KING: Correspondent Michael Ware for us in Baghdad. Michael, thank you very much.
WARE: Thank you, John.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/20/sitroom.02.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1742248/posts?page=15#15
Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime. - President George W. Bush - 9/20/2001
I guess it was all just a bunch of talk. I actually believed him. Iran is blatantly sponsoring the insurgency in Iraq and terrorism elsewhere and is gearing up to become a significant threat to the entire world. Are we going to wipe out the "hostile regime" in Iran? Not according to the Baker report that is about to come out which calls for us to sit down and talk to Adolph Ahmadinejad. And I think that Bush is going to do just that. Neville Chamberlain would approve.
Bump.
Iraqi leader faces boycott by allies, says security forces ready by June
November 30, 2006 - 3:11 pm
By: HAMZA HENDAWI
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, facing a boycott by key political backers who run the country's most violent militia group, boldly claimed Thursday his security forces will be ready to take over from the U.S. military by next summer.
The boycott by 30 legislators and five cabinet ministers loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was in protest against al-Maliki's meeting with President George W. Bush in Amman, in neighbouring Jordan, which they said amounted to an affront to the Iraqi people.
Addressing a news conference on his return to Baghdad on Thursday, al-Maliki appealed supporters of militant Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end their boycott but also admonished them for an action he said violated the commitment expected from partners in his six-month-old coalition government.
"I hope they reconsider their decision because it doesn't constitute a positive development in the political process," al-Maliki said.
"Political partnership means commitment."
But the Sadrists, whose support was crucial to al-Maliki's election to his job, are not the only partners criticizing him at a time when the country is inching ever closer to a civil war pitting its majority Shiites against the once-dominant Sunni Muslim minority.
In violence in Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military reported the deaths of two soldiers and Iraqi officials said 47 people were killed, 37 of that number were bodies found dumped in various regions of the country.
Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, said in an interview he wants to see al-Maliki's government gone and another "understanding" for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision-making.
"There is a clear deterioration in security and everything is moving in the wrong direction," he said.
"This situation must be redressed as soon as possible. If they continue, the country will plunge into civil war."
Al-Maliki's number two, deputy prime minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, joined in the chorus critical of the prime minister, arguing his government failed to curb the spread of sectarian politics.
But al-Maliki appeared to be unperturbed by the criticism and his own failure to make any headway on either reducing the level of violence gripping the country or in talking his allies into disbanding their militias as repeatedly demanded by his U.S. backers.
In an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson in Amman, al-Maliki confidently claimed his forces would be ready to take over responsibility for security in Iraq by June, a timeline that's about 12 months shorter than what has been floated by top U.S. military commanders.
"We and the president (Bush) agreed to keep the same (U.S.) forces on the ground but to train more Iraqi forces," he said in excerpts from the interview to be aired later Thursday.
"We did not talk about any timetables and agenda for the withdrawal but now we are focusing on training Iraqi forces and then we will talk about reducing the number of multinationals," he said, alluding to the U.S.-led, 150,000-strong multinational force in Iraq.
He said he had no objection to any timetable for a U.S. troop-withdrawal but cautioned such action should be put off until Iraqi forces are ready to stand on their own.
Later in Baghdad, al-Maliki said he is determined to enhance the battlefield capabilities of Iraq's security forces, including the acquisition of modern weapons suitable for counterinsurgency operations, including helicopters and armoured vehicles.
He was equally upbeat on the question of the Shiite militias blamed for much of the sectarian violence in Iraq and which are known to have infiltrated the national police force.
"I reject any militia within the state," he said.
"We will not negotiate with any militia. Our policy is clear, it is to eradicate all militias from the country or to have them included in the political process."
"Or we will face them even if we have to by force."
Such strong rhetoric from al-Maliki is not new but it is yet to be matched by action.
"The government cannot disband the militias because it does not have the tools to do so. Militias should not be asked to disband but ordered by strong, non-sectarin security agencies," al-Zubaie, the deputy prime minister, said in a television interview.
It's not a question of military muscle alone.
Al-Maliki is beholden to al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose Mahdi Army militia is blamed for much of the sectarian violence and fought U.S. troops for much of 2004.
He has frequently vetoed U.S. military operations against its leaders or against suspected death squad members in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold Sadr City. On at least one occasion, he ordered the Americans to release from custody top al-Sadr aides known to be involved in sectarian violence against Sunnis.
A senior Sadrist legislator, Baha al-Aaraji, said the group would end its boycott when there is an increase in what he termed well-trained Iraqi security forces and the government ends the chronic shortages of basic services like electricity and fuel.
Training enough Iraqi soldiers and police to take over from U.S. troops is one of Washington's main goals in Iraq and represents the only hope out of the Iraqi quagmire. On Thursday, Bush said he would speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces and assured al-Maliki that Washington is not looking for a "graceful exit" from a war well into its fourth year.
"So, we'll be in Iraq until the job is complete," Bush said.
However, another Sadrist legislator, Saleh al-Ojeili, said only a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq would persuade him and fellow Sadrists to resume participation in the legislature and government.
Bush has steadfastly refused to announce a timeline for a troop-pullout, saying such a move would play into the hands of insurgents.
"It is the minimum we can ask for," said al-Ojeili.
http://www.news1130.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w113077A
Like we didn't know this... Obvious enough for the "captain" to come to the rescue.
Bomb the Holy Shiite out of them!!
They're eager to wipe entire countries off the map in support of the Sunnis in Palestine, but they supply terrorists with weapons to obliterate Sunnis in Iraq.
Imagine that, but the left says Iran is a peaceful nation. Make 'em glow!
I wonder why the factory that produced these weapons still stands? My expectations are for a 3 or 4 second video taken by a predator drone - or some other high tech gadget - showing the site being struck hard followed by a fire and dust cloud. I expect to see the video of the factory being destroyed and at the same time I expect to see the weapons that that burning factory produced. At the same time I want to see the dead bodies of the terrorists who were using the weapons produced at the burning factory. I'd expect that all of these events unfolded within a reasonable amount of time.
Justice in war must be delivered quickly or the enemy takes the advantage. How selfish of me. What about all of the other factors making my countrymen indecisive?!?!?
If they haven't known this stuff for a long time, you wonder if military intelligence people are really that much more competent than the CIA people.
how is this an exclusive?? we have been saying Iran has been pushing the terrorism in Iraq for years now... oh I see, because now dems are in control, its time to stop the propaganda spin on the war.