Iran demands US free arrested "diplomats" in Iraq

Reuters (excerpt) ^ | January 14, 2007

[timer]

Ummm, that speech is about in a week, yes? That gives GWB 7 days to make up his mind : more threats and bluster or ACTION. I can see it now between the US and Israel : you do iran...no, YOU do iran...no, YOU DO iran....no, YOU DO IRAN....on and on....

[TYVets]

Why don't we just behead them and mail them back to Tehran?

Wrapped in pigskins?

Great Minds Think Alike.

[Slings and Arrows]

It's hard to predict what the Mullahs will do, given that they're about as sane as a methhead who hasn't slept in a week.

Hmmm...given that the US and Iraq about start ops against the Mookie Mob, I wonder if we're about to see a general Shi'ite-shoveling?

[4woodenboats]

No papers?

Obviously, these are hard working non documented Iranian citizens that just want some respect, a cot, pillow, a job working in the safety of the green zone, a diesel powered Ford F350 van with overload springs, 200 gallons auxilliary fuel tanks, a couple yards of ammonium nitrate, and a cell phone.......

[wildcatf4f3]

get what info they have...fill'em with lsd and send em back

[mkmensinger]

Didn't the Iraq Surrender Group recommend that we talk to the Iranians? Well, I suspect we're doing just that with these Iranians. So where's the problem? :^)

[SolidWood]

In a logical and rational world, the USA would take on Iran, while Israel takes care of Syria.

[NavVet]

No, I say we mail them home as soon as possible.

[Beckwith]

One piece at a time.

[paratrooper82]

Never once did the so called news article use the term "terrorist" when describing the numerous murders, mayhem and torture in Iraq.

No one should ever get the idea that insurgents, and gunmen are controlling Iraq with this kind of reporting.

sarcasm off

[roaddog727]

You want 'em?

Come and get 'em.

[seemoAR]

Iran Demands. I wonder when the temper tantrum starts.

[Earthdweller]

Funny.....even Al-reuters has "diplomats" in scare quotes.

[corlorde]

I think the raid and the very public display as such, was a precursor of the things to come RE cracking down on the flow of intel and supplies from Iran. It has put the foreign fighters on notice, that we will not hesitate to detain and interdict while implementing the new counter insurgency plan over the next few months, when the five maneuver brigades in tandem with the Iraq Security forces, attempt to clear and hold towns and the city of Baghdad. What remains to be seen is, the willingness of the Iraqi government to hold their end of the bargain, and how dedicated to the mission the Iraqi Army is. Past events point to mixed results.

[edpc]

Americans should immediately release the five Iranians and pay compensation for the damages they caused to our office in Arbil

Ten thousand rials sounds fair. That's a little more than a buck.

[CPOSharky]

...pay compensation for the damages they caused to our office in Arbil...

Lets see, subtract $12.99 for your mud hut in Iraq from the bill for the US embassy in Iran. OK, (ciphering) you still owe us $120 million. Now, about comphensation for the US hostages...

[Allegra]

...We now have indisputable evidence that the Iranian regime is sponsoring terrorism in Iraq. Accordingly I have ordered strikes on Iranian military bases. These strikes will stop when no stone stands upon another."

Works for me! :-)

[TexKat]

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini

Iran demands US released of "diplomats" in Iraq

Iran is demanding the immediate release of five Iranians held by U.S. forces in Iraq, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday, adding that the five are diplomats.

"Americans should immediately release the five Iranians and pay compensation for the damages they caused to our office in Arbil," Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a weekly news conference, adding the five were "involved in consulate affairs".

"Their activities were legal and in the framework of law," Hosseini said when asked whether the five Iranians were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

"Americans want to radicalise the atmosphere in Iraq to justify their occupation, but we will act wisely," Hosseini said.

The U.S. military said that the five Iranians held by its troops in Iraq are linked to Revolutionary Guards who are arming and funding Iraqi militants but Tehran called them diplomats and demanded they be released.

The raid underlined the challenges Baghdad faces in striking a balance with Washington while building relations with neighbours the Bush administration accuses of fueling violence in Iraq.

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, was due to travel on Sunday to Syria, which the Bush administration says allows weapons and fighters to cross its border into Iraq in support of the anti-U.S. resistance there.

Talabani's visit to Damascus is the first by a senior Iraqi official since the two countries resumed diplomatic ties last month after more than two decades of boycott after Syria sided with Iran during the Iraq-Iran war in 1980s.

Aides said Talabani will discuss security and ask Damascus to control its borders and stop insurgents moving into Iraq.

Both Syria and Iran deny that they provide support to militants operating in Iraq.

The Arbil raid was the second such operation in a month and came as U.S. President George W. Bush issued a blunt warning to Iran over its activities in Iraq.

It sparked concerns that the conflict may widen as Washington prepares to send additional troops to Iraq to quell soaring sectarian violence there.

The operation was denounced by the regional Kurdish government as a violation of its sovereignty.

A day after the Arbil raid, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari expressed his government's concerns that Iraq may become a "battleground for settling scores with other countries".

US says detainees linked to Iranian Revolutionary Guard

The U.S. military said the five detainees were connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

The organisation was "known for providing funds, weapons, improvised explosive device technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilise the government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces," it said in a statement.

Iraqi political sources have said they believe the five will be released soon and that the Americans had failed to find their main targets.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in the Middle East on a tour to drum up support for Bush's plan to send an extra 21,500 troops to quell violence in Iraq, repeated Washington's accusations that Iran is providing training and weapons to militias fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

"I think there is plenty of evidence that there is Iranian involvement with these networks that are making high-explosive IEDs (bombs) and that are endangering our troops, and that's going to be dealt with," she told reporters on her trip.

But Rice said Bush's order to target Iranians operating in Iraq as tensions between the two counties have mounted over Tehran's nuclear ambitions was not a broadening of the dispute.

Maliki under pressure

Rice also said on Saturday Washington would hold Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to his promises to reduce sectarian violence and that it was now time to see results.

A day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Maliki could lose his job if he failed to stop communal bloodshed, Rice echoed previous remarks that Maliki's government was living on "borrowed time" and that America's patience was running out.

"To say that your patience isn't limited is simply to say that the Iraqi government needs to start to show results," Rice told reporters before arriving in Israel on Saturday, according to a State Department transcript of her remarks.

With Bush's critics saying his new strategy depends too heavily on Maliki keeping promises he failed to keep before, administration officials are piling pressure on Iraqi politicians to solve their differences and avert civil war.

Bush on Saturday accused opponents of failing to propose alternative strategies and urged support for troops on a mission "that will in large part determine the outcome in Iraq".

Maliki has vowed to lead a Baghdad push he says will hit militants from the Sunni minority and militias loyal to fellow Shi'ites, a key demand of Washington and Sunnis.

[timer]

As the president said, this is a WAR between good and evil. And yet that seems to be a sort of cosmic chess game in which we don't know all the rules. Obviously armageddon is in the works in the middle east. 200 million chinese + russians + anti-christ somehow all attack Israel, then US(?)cobalt bombs consume their eyes out of their sockets. Then our lord JESUS whacks everyone who is not "saved to disc".

And yet satan HAS to be paroled after the 1000 year millenium. Why? Thus there's a tit for tat GAME going on in which we don't know all the rules.

One thing is certain : Israel has always been the lightning rod for evil/persecution. The devil has always tried to destroy them with the czar/hitler/arabs/europeans/others but then none of THEM ever read in the torah : I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.

As Israel's one true ally in the world, are we not blessed as a strong and dynamic country? Yes, the evil waves came on 11/7/6 and 9/11/1, but if GOD/ISRAEL is on our side, who can be against us?

[Natural Law]

There is plenty of sand there. We should just tell them to pound it.