Posted on 02/19/2007 6:10:52 AM PST by mighty_righty
Following intelligence disclosures about Iranian-supplied weapons...we predicted that "a large part of Washington will pretend the evidence doesn't exist, or suggest the intelligence isn't proven, or claim that it's all the Bush Administration's fault for 'bullying' Iran." Sure enough, President Bush faced a barrage of questions Wednesday wondering whether senior Iranian leaders were aware of the weapons transfers, whether he was using "faulty intelligence," and whether the disclosures were designed to "provoke Iran."
< snip >
Well, here's an item that doesn't seem to have been manufactured by Dick Cheney. According to a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph, U.S. forces in Baghdad recently discovered 100 high-powered sniper rifles made by Austria's Steyr-Mannlicher. The .50-caliber Steyr can accurately fire an armor-piercing round at a range of 1,500 meters. The weapon is good against Humvees, helicopters and body armor.
In 2004, Iran purchased some 800 Steyrs, allegedly for use against drug traffickers. At the time, U.S. and British officials urged Vienna to bar the $15 million sale, fearing the weapons would fall into enemy hands. But the former Austrian Chancellor let the deal go forward. To better grease the skids, then-Steyr-Mannlicher CEO said the weapons were basically harmless and that Tehran had signed "end-user certificates" guaranteeing they would not be resold...
Today, the Austrian government pleads that the sale had been "checked very thoroughly," and that "what happened to the weapons . . . is the responsibility of the Iranians" -- which prompts the question of why the Austrians would have bothered with the end-user certificates. The Bush Administration took a less cavalier view and in 2005 banned Steyr-Mannlicher from bidding for U.S. government contracts.
...Meantime, is it too much to expect U.S. journalists and Congress to devote as much skepticism to Iran's motives and behavior as they do to Mr. Bush's?
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Can you post more, I can't get the rest
Wonder how the gun lobby around here will reply to this. Isn't the US government doing the same thing here by asking companies not to sell certain types of guns and munitions out of fear that they will fall into the wrong hands and used by criminals here in the US?
Aren't they in reality?
Doesn't matter in Iraq, the Iranians just do the firing themselves. Problem solved.
"..we predicted that "a large part of Washington will pretend the evidence doesn't exist, or suggest the intelligence isn't proven"
Hell...........the criminals and clowns in Washington couldn't find semen stains on a blue dress, how would you expect them to do any better on this.
I don't blame Steyr Mannlicher for making a legitimate international sale. I blame the Iranians for lying about the purpose of the weapons and for shipping them into Iraq for use against us. If we start blaming everyone who sold weapons to some country, there is plenty of blame to go around.
"...allegedly for use against drug traffickers..."
We could use these on our southern border. Along with the WILL to defend the nation's borders.
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