Posted on 12/27/2006 7:06:03 PM PST by jmc1969
The US military said on Tuesday that it had credible evidence linking Iranians and Iraqi militiamen, detained here in raids last week, to criminal activities, including attacks against US forces. Evidence also emerged that some of the detainees were involved in shipments of weapons to illegal armed groups in Iraq.
Major General William Caldwell, the chief spokesman for the US command, said that the military, in the raid, had "gathered specific intelligence from highly credible sources that linked individuals and locations with criminal activities against Iraqi civilians, security forces and coalition force personnel."
Caldwell made his remarks by e-mail in response to a query about the raids, first reported on Monday in the New York Times.
"Some of that specific intelligence dealt explicitly with force-protection issues, including attacks on MNF-I [Multinational Force-Iraq] forces," he said via e-mail.
US officials have long said that the Iranian government interferes in Iraq, but the arrests, in the compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite political leaders, were the first in which officials were offering evidence of the link.
The raids threaten to upset the delicate balance of the three-way relationship between the US, Iran and Iraq. The Iraqi government has made extensive efforts to engage Iran in security matters in recent months and the arrests of the Iranians could scuttle those efforts.
The Iraqi government has kept silent on the arrests, but on Tuesday night officials spoke of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations by Iraq's government and its fractured political elite over how to handle the situation.
(Excerpt) Read more at taipeitimes.com ...
I like your thinking..
It is true. And it's neither surprising, nor necessairily bad.
Iraq has diplomatic ties with Iran and Syria. Their president and prime minister both visited Iran. They previously hosted Iranians, whithout us interferring. Note that two Iranian diplomats who were invited, were released by us. The Iranians we still have detained are 4 "Senior Military Officials". It's not clear whether THEY were invited, too.
One very close to me has told me that the convoys she is accompanying on med coverage have been seeing anti tank weapons used against them for the first time in her area-- wanna bet where they are coming from?
If we plan on stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon then we are going to have to use military force against them. It's up to us and Israel because no one else is going to support anything that's effective. We aren't going to get any support for meaningful sanctions and we won't get any support to stop them with military force. We have to decide what's better, a nuclear Iran or war with Iran. I'm getting sick of all the useless talk and threats. I'm not saying war with Iran would be a walk in the park but it's the only alternative to a nuclear Iran so we need to decide which is better.
A president with a big enough pair to do it would help.
Sign me up as a member of your fan club. Either turn the bombers lose are bring the men home.
linked individuals and locations with criminal activities against Iraqi civilians, security forces and coalition force personnel."
You may be right about that.
that eliminates the "Hildabeast"
It doesn't matter what the attributes of the president are if he's leading a country of wimps. We've proven that by the people we have chosen to represent us in congress, so "Big brass ones" just become another burden to bear.
When the F*CK are we going to level their karma - and their cities?
Bingo!
No one I know is laughing. Nor is the Administration jumping to conclusions faster than hot jumping beans.
Fortunately formulating strategy is also not in the hands of the armchair generals.
Why does the NYTimes print stories? To educate? LoL.
How about a president which has the nation behind him rather than one ridiculed and excoriated for doing right and hysterically criticized by the Know Nothings in his party for insufficient ideological purity wrt tangential issues?
"I'm getting sick of all the useless talk and threats." Waaa are we there yet Daddy? Geez.
You speak the truth.
I also think the Iraqis could be more easily unified by pointing to Iran as an external threat. Despite the shiite sunni divid there is a common historical rivalry with Iran that could better united the divided parties than any jobs program.
I still think we can go to war with Iran without going to war with Iran-- let the Iraqis do it with our military support. They still remember the deadly war with Iran during the 90s. Old time baathists would love to join such a cause.
Let's get busy against Iran.
the nyt simply loves a civilian defering military general's report... it only means the clueless civilians are in control and the military deresponsibilized like the French army...
We are just wasting our time with sanctions. We can't get anything passed that will be effective and no matter how hard we try and work out a diplomatic solution with other nations they still won't support force against Iran no matter what.
It doesn't take a damn genius to know that force is the only thing at this point that will stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon if they want one. No one is saying using force would be easy but that doesn't mean it's not the only alternative to a nuclear Iran.
We need to shut up about Iran getting a nuclear weapon if we can't or aren't willing to actually stop them. In the coming years we will have allowed Iran to get a nuclear weapon or we(or Israel) will have stopped them from getting one with force. We have to decide which option is better. And we aren't getting any help from Iran in Iraq unless we allow them a nuclear bomb.
You sure that you are on the correct web site? The topic is is about Iran and Iraq, not the meditation network.
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