BBC: US warns Iran on Iraq insurgents ~ another warning....

BBC ^ | Thursday, 1 February 2007, 07:09 GMT | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

US warns Iran on Iraq insurgents

The US says Iran is providing more lethal bombs to insurgents

The US has issued the latest in a series of warnings to Iran, telling Tehran to stop helping Iraqi militants make lethal bombs to attack US troops.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said US forces had detained several Iranians suspected of providing weapons technology to Shia insurgents.

He said Iranian help for insurgents had spread from Basra north to Baghdad, leading to higher UK and US casualties.

Tehran has repeatedly denied that it is fuelling the violence in Iraq.

Mr Burns told the BBC that some of the five Iranians detained on 11 January by US troops were members of the al-Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and not diplomats as Tehran says.

"These are not Iranian business people in Iraq that we've detained," said Mr Burns, the third most senior US diplomat.

"These are operatives of the Quds force, paramilitary officials of the Iranian government and their intelligence officials... They're people who are engaged in sectarian warfare".

British allegations

In another interview with American radio, he said Iranian agents were transferring "sophisticated explosive technology to Shia insurgent groups who then use that technology to target and kill American soldiers".

To hide a crisis, the Republicans usually try to create bigger crises Iran's Hamshahri newspaper Press highlights tensions

Washington has said that Iran is providing high-grade "shaped" explosives that can tear through the thick armour on many military vehicles.

It is a repeat of British allegations made last year about attacks against UK troops in their zone around Basra in southern Iraq.

Mr Burns said the US had been following Iranian involvement in Iraq for about two years and found increasing evidence that Iran has been assisting Shia militant groups.

The Bush administration has been taking an uncompromising tone on Iran lately.

In his state of the union speech, President Bush accused Iran of arming "terrorists like Hezbollah" and said, "the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons."

The US is sending more troops to Baghdad to try to quell the worsening sectarian violence there and is building up its military presence in the Persian Gulf, deploying a second aircraft carrier to the region.

[pissant]

Even Maliki had to fess up that Iran was doing this.

Alright, men, let the hunt commence.

[snarks_when_bored]

Looks like we're going to have to put Iran on double secret probation...

[sono]

Go Ahead ... Make My Day.

[wastedyears]

LOLOL!

[wastedyears]

Change the flight times of our planes, find out which routes they use, then attack-attack-attack. It's the only way to stop those mongrels from smuggling IEDs and similar bad stuff into Iraq.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

NBC Nightly News ran a piece last night saying there was very little proof Iran was involved.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Got to include this:

Comment on US-Iran tensions

************************************************************

Last Updated: Thursday, 1 February 2007, 13:04 GMT

Comment on US-Iran tensions

More US troops and another aircraft carrier are going to the region

As Washington issues a strong new warning to Iran to stop helping insurgents in Iraq, Iranian papers continue to voice defiance against mounting US "threats".

In the wider Middle East, there is concern that tensions are building and the stage is being set for a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

IRAN'S HAMSHAHRI

Military threats against Iran have a long history and are not something new. We believe that America, currently involved in hefty problems in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan, is not in a position to attack Iran. However, we have to notice that to hide a crisis, the Republicans usually try to create bigger crises.

IRAN'S KEYHAN

As far as internal stability is concerned, Iran is so powerful that it can respond to any foreign threats and defend itself. Iran is so powerful now that it has made all American rulers confused.

IRAN'S RESALAT

America's failure in realising its pre-planned projects in the Middle East has made the White House start a series of radical actions in the region that can lead to drastic changes in the Middle East... Undoubtedly the Middle East is pregnant with critical events and any tiny accident can endanger the benefits to all regional players and the occurrence of regional or world war is not so far-fetched, although regional countries don't welcome it.

EGYPT'S AL-JUMHURIYAH

To avoid admitting defeat [in Iraq], Bush has decided to set the stage for a new adventure by heading to Iran after he had discovered that his destruction of Iraq has made US interests in the [Persian] Gulf vulnerable.

MAZIN HAMMAD IN QATAR'S AL-WATAN

In spite of the demand of George Bush for additional forces to send to Iraq, the political line weaved by Washington between Baghdad and Tehran frightens many sides, which believe that Bush's only escape from the Iraqi dilemma is to create an Iranian dilemma and tying the two dilemmas with this line.

ABD-AL-BARI ATWAN IN LONDON-BASED AL-QUDS AL-ARABI

The US administration wants to wipe out two Arab resistance organisations, that is Hamas and Hezbollah, before starting an all-out war against Iran. It wants to do this under the cover of moderate Arab states and with Israel's full participation.

JAWAD AL-BASHITI IN PALESTINIAN AL-AYYAM

The new US forces sent to Baghdad might be helpful in giving a pretext for attacking Iran. Prior to this blow and as a justification for it, the US needs scattered and small-size military actions against Iranians in the Iraqi capital and in the rest of Iraq. For the Bush administration, this will be the best excuse to hit Iran.

LONDON-BASED AL-ARAB AL-ALAMIYAH

It is clear that the Bush administration is preventing attempts for a settlement in the region, and is using all its energy and cards to support its ally Israel.

ABD AL-MAJID SWAYLIM IN PALESTINIAN AL-AYYAM

The US is preparing to hit all the religious sects, symbols and forces capable of resisting its project. The Shia are also part of this.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

[stm]

Warnings are just words. Now is the time to back them up with high explosives.

[stm]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Meanwhile Chirac is making some surrender statements:

Chirac Strays From Assailing a Nuclear Iran

******************************EXCERPT *************************

PARIS, Jan. 31 — President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nice!....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I would guess France is going to give us trouble with a UN resolution on Iran....and the Nukes.....Chirac up to his old game again....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

FR thread on the latest from France:

Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks

[SunkenCiv]

Chirac won't be around forever. IMV, it doesn't matter who wins the French election, there will be a change (of some sort) in French policy, and Chirac may wind up indicted, tried, convicted, and rotting in prison somewhere.

[Grampa Dave]

US Naval/Marine additions to the Persian Gulf at the end of this Naval Battle Order collage.

If Tehran Knew!:

"In America, they lie for tactical reasons, stating over and over that military action against Iran is unlikely. However in Iran, out of ignorance, they reiterate that American military action against their country is impossible because the US is "unable" to do so!

We say and hope our analysis is wrong. A possible military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is in the final stages. Unless a political miracle occurs that revives the halted dialog between Iran and the international community, Iran and its neighboring countries should not be surprised by a scenario that includes American military action. "

Just maybe, President Bush is purposely allowing the media and the left to spout their garbage in order to create the illusion that we are completely incapable of taking any action against Iran. It would come as a complete surprise if we did take action.

Iranian Map: Before our upcoming Victory:

Iranian Map: After our upcoming Victory:

Over the past week, the U.S. Navy has given orders to the U.S.S. John Stennis carrier battle group, based in Bremerton, WA, to steam toward the Persian Gulf, where it will join the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Navy sources say the Pentagon is getting ready to announce the dispatch of a third carrier battle group – the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan – from San Diego. That will make three carrier battle groups in the region starting at around the end of January.

Oh, and along with them is the amphibious assault group led by the U.S.S. Boxer, which can land several thousand U.S. Marines to seize and destroy strategic sites near the coast at a moment’s notice. (Busheir? Bandar Abbas? Jask? The three Persian Gulf islands Iran seized from the UAE in the 1990s and has since fortified to harass Gulf shipping? Your pick).

A Quote from: The Dogs of War - Lessons of the 20th Century. By Victor Davis Hanson, (author most recently of Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power):

“"I would not wish to fight the United States - either militarily, politically, or culturally. For every threat, our history teaches us that Americans offer not just a rejoinder, but the specter of a devastating answer of a magnitude almost inconceivable to those now chanting and threatening in the streets of the Middle East.

Do they have any idea of what sort of dangerous people we really are? Do they understand the history of the names of those ships now off their coasts, like the USS Peleliu or Enterprise, or the pedigree of the 82nd or 101st Airborne?"

Recent US Naval and Marine Corp additions to handle/control/kill the Iranian Serial Killers:

Bataan Transits Suez Canal, Enters U.S. 5th Fleet Story Number: NNS070130-14 Release Date: 1/30/2007 7:00:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Joanne De Vera, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/ Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs

USS BATAAN, At Sea (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and the Sailors and Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) successfully transited the Suez Canal on Jan. 30 and entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

While in the region, the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) will conduct maritime security operations (MSO).

MSO help set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment, as well as complement the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional nations. These operations deny international terrorists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.

U.S. 5th Fleet’s area of operations encompasses 2.5 million square miles of water and includes the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.

“We’ll continue our role as the surface warfare commander and the air defense commander for the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group,” said Cmdr. Jon Carriglitto, Bataan’s operations officer. “Together with the MEU, we bring the ability to insert a quick, capable amphibious force where it’s needed.”

While in theater, approximately 6,000 U.S. Sailors and Marines assigned to the ESG and the 26th MEU provide the combatant commander a versatile sea-based force that can be tailored to a variety of missions. The Bataan ESG has the capabilities to support MSO, combat operations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.

“Bataan ESG’s presence in the U.S. 5th Fleet will require the crew to conduct what it does best: well deck and flight deck operations,” said Carriglitto. “We’ll be conducting varsity-level operations, but much of it falls right in line with our ongoing training, so I know we’re ready to meet those challenges.”

Bataan, commanded by Capt. David Hulse, left its homeport of Norfolk on Jan. 4 for a regularly-scheduled deployment as the flagship of the Bataan ESG. The ESG is comprised of the Bataan Strike Group, commanded by Commodore Donna Looney, commander, Bataan Strike Group/Amphibious Squadron 2, and the 26th MEU based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., commanded by Col. Gregg Sturdevant.

In addition to Bataan, the strike group consists of USS Shreveport (LPD 12), USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), USS Nitze (DDG 94), USS Underwood (FFG 36), and USS Scranton (SSN 756).

For related news, visit the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cusnc/.

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[RightWhale]

Little proof? Yet they not only accept global warming as undeniable truth but demand you accept it as well.

[Ancesthntr]

I'm tired of us warning, and warning, and warning, and then basically not following through. Teddy Roosevelt said "Speak softly and carry a big stick." We're talking loudly and not even carrying a stick, let alone using it.

I'd like the next communication to Iran from this country to be delivered via airmail, directly to Iran's intelligence HQ, and maybe to a few of its gasoline refineries. I'm sure that the Air Force knows where to deliver the messages.

[TexKat]

Even Maliki had to fess up that Iran was doing this.

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES transcript - Iraqi Prime Minister Speaks Out

AL-MALIKI (through translator): We say that a big part in the existence of the terrorist organizations are the mistakes that have been committed in the process of building the Iraqi security forces.

WARE: Mistakes, he insists, have also compromised attempts to dismantle Iraq's powerful militias.

(on camera): Your own security forces are heavily penetrated by the very militias that you are going after. Do you have their loyalty?

AL-MALIKI (through translator): They exist. And I pointed to that, because we, unfortunately, inherited this from the wrong process of building the troops that started after the fall of the regime. Nevertheless, we have taken a number of measures and operations to cleanse these forces.

WARE (voice-over): As for the White House plan to send 21,000 additional troops to Iraq, Maliki believes the new strategy will work, but says that's not his only option.

AL-MALIKI (through translator): If there seems to be more need, we will ask for more troops, because the success of the Baghdad security plan for us and for the U.S. administration is an important and sensitive job.

(excerpt)

[pissant]

Saw that. Iran is in deep shiite.!