The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington.("REUTERS" ran the NYTIMES story.) The only REAL news in this item is that the capture provides physical PROOF of what we have long known, because: THIS ISN'T THE FIRST REPORT OF IRANIAN MEDDLING IN IRAQ:
The Bush administration made no public announcement of the politically delicate seizure of the Iranians, though in response to specific questions the White House confirmed Sunday that the Iranians were in custody.
Gordon D. Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. The two had papers showing that they were accredited to work in Iraq, and he said they were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued, and he said, “We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees.”
It was unclear what kind of evidence American officials possessed that the Iranians were planning attacks, and the officials would not identify those being held. One official said that “a lot of material” was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included arms or documents that pointed to planning for attacks. Much of the material was still being examined, the official said.
... A senior Western official in Baghdad said the raids were conducted after American officials received information that the people detained had been involved in attacks on official security forces in Iraq. “We conduct operations against those who threaten Iraqi and coalition forces,” the official said. “This was based on information.”
GUARDIAN - 8/10/05:Britain yesterday described as "unacceptable" the smuggling of weapons from Iran into Iraq after revealing that a consignment was intercepted at the border between the two countries. While complaints have been made in the past, it is relatively rare to have concrete evidence of such smuggling.ABC NEWS - 3/06/06:
The British embassy in Tehran raised the issue at a meeting with the Iranian foreign ministry. Officials relayed the government's concern and pressed Iran to acknowledge that there was a problem that should be dealt with.... Donald Rumsfeld, the US secretary of defence, warned Iran this week about the extent of smuggling. The US has been protesting for the past two years over alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq. Mr Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing that the smuggling was "a problem" for the Iraqi government. "It's a problem for the coalition forces. It's a problem for the international community, and ultimately, it's a problem for Iran," he said.
Disclosure of the smuggling came hours after four American soldiers were killed and six were wounded as a patrol was attacked near Baiji, 112 miles north of Baghdad, late on Tuesday. A bomb wrecked two Humvees and a bigger armoured vehicle.
Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in the insurgency or party politics in Iraq.U.S. military and intelligence officials tell ABC News that they have caught shipments of deadly new bombs at the Iran-Iraq border.
They are a very nasty piece of business, capable of penetrating U.S. troops' strongest armor. What the United States says links them to Iran are tell-tale manufacturing signatures — certain types of machine-shop welds and material indicating they are built by the same bomb factory.
"The signature is the same because they are exactly the same in production," says explosives expert Kevin Barry. "So it's the same make and model."
WASH POST - 3/24/06:(More on the Iranian stealth war HERE. And HERE and HERE.)Envoy Accuses Iran Of Duplicity on Iraq
Fighters Receive Support, Khalilzad Says
Iran is publicly professing its support for Iraq's stalemated political process while its military and intelligence services back outlawed militias and insurgent groups, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Thursday. Iranian agents train and arm Shiite Muslim militias such as the Mahdi Army, linked to one of Iraq's most powerful clerics, Khalilzad said, and also work closely with Sunni Arab-led insurgent forces including Ansar al-Sunna, blamed for dozens of deadly attacks on Iraqi and American soldiers and Shiite civilians.
"Our judgment is that training and supplying, direct or indirect, takes place, and that there is also provision of financial resources to people, to militias, and that there is presence of people associated with Revolutionary Guard and with MOIS," the Afghan-born Khalilzad said, referring to Iran's main military force and its Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
IT'S LONG PASSED TIME WE DID SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. AND I MEAN MORE THAN COMPLAIN OR SEND A HARSHLY WORDED LETTER - OR SANCTIONS. I MEAN SOMETHING KINETIC.
LOOKIT FOLKS: THE FACT THAT THESE RAIDS OCCURRED FIVE DAYS AGO - (THURSDAY) - AND IRAN HAS SAID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT, PROVES THAT THESE IRANIANS WERE UP TO NO GOOD.
THIS PROVES WE HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK BY IRAN, PROBABLY FOR SOME TIME. WE MUST RESPOND FORCEFULLY.
Not only has Iran been fomenting murder and war and genocide in Iraq, but also in Lebanon and Israel through their stooges in Damascus (Assad) and south Beirut (Hizballah).
If we take down the mullah tyrants we liberate not only Iran, but Syria and Lebanon, too. And release Iraq and Israel from their clutches, too.It's time to act. We must act before the Iranians get nukes.
UPDATE: President Talabani PROTESTS the seizure of these Iranians. Weird... Stay tuned...
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