Iran, Iran, Iran... Iraq
Just days ago, The New York Times Headline read:
While its Editorial said:
Before things get any more out of hand, President Bush needs to make his intentions toward Iran clear. And Congress needs to make it clear that this time it will be neither tricked nor bullied into supporting another disastrous war.
How little this administration has learned from its failures is a constant source of amazement. It seems the bigger the failure, the less it learns.
But also added this for good measure:
We have no doubt about Iran’s malign intent. Iran is defying the Security Council’s order to halt its nuclear activities, and it is certainly meddling inside Iraq. But we are also certain that the Iraq war has so strained the American military and so shattered this president’s credibility that shrill accusations and saber rattling are far more likely to frighten the allies America needs to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions than to change Tehran’s behavior.
However, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said:
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday the discovery that roadside bombs in Iraq contained material made in Iran does not necessarily mean the Iranian government was involved in supplying insurgents.
But let's be clear:
''It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit,'' Pace told the Voice of America.
Meanwhile, the U.S. offensive continues:
And the plot thickens:
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The Steyr HS50 is a long range, high precision rifle. More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids. The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
Surely can't be a coincidence. Yet, somehow The New York Times reported today:
The response from Congressional and other critics speaks volumes about the current state of American credibility, four years after the intelligence controversy leading up to the Iraq war. To pre-empt accusations that the charges against Iran were politically motivated, the administration rejected the idea of a high-level presentation, relying instead on military and intelligence officers to make its case in a background briefing in Baghdad.
To boot, the New York Times article that first read 'U.S. Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites' transformed into today's headline:
TEHRAN, Feb. 12 — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday dismissed American accusations that Iran was arming Shiite militants in Iraq, saying Iran was opposed to “any kind of conflict” in Iraq.
but...
Mr. Ahmadinejad refused to address the accusation directly in the interview, but he rejected the charges by saying the Americans were trying to find a scapegoat for their problems in Iraq.
Did Ahmadinejad disspute it or not? Either he disputed it, or he refused to address it.
Finally:
The EU officially capitulates to Iran the same day the U.S. struck a deal with North Korea by playing it tough and playing it cool.
1 comment:
President Ahmadinejad's views are summarized on this website: ahmadinejadquotes.blogspot.com
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