U.S.: Militant Cleric Fled Iraq For Iran
Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate, is surrounded by reporters in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, May 26, 2012. Results from the first round of voting have shown that the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi and Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq will face each other in a June 16-17 runoff.(AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa) / Ahmed Gomaa
A radical anti-American cleric fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and President George W. Bush's influx of 21,500 U.S. troops, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.
Muqtada al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago, the official said. Al-Sadr is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure. The move probably is not permanent, the official said.
Word of al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement that Iraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.
Meanwhile, 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.
The comments by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called into question assertions by three senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad on Sunday who said the highest levels of Iranian government were responsible for arming Shiite militants in Iraq with the bombs, blamed for the deaths of more than 170 troops in the U.S.-led coalition.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday he was confident the weaponry was coming with the approval of the Iranian government.
Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, that U.S. forces hunting militant networks in Iraq that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and some of the materials used in the devices were made in Iran.
"That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this," Pace said. "What it does say is that things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers."
In other developments:
The House of Representatives began an emotional debate Tuesday on whether President Bush's decision to add more U.S. troops to the nearly four-year-old war in Iraq is a mistake that has to be reversed.
A suicide truck bomber blew himself up near a college and a ration office in a mainly Shiite area of the capital Tuesday, killing at least 15 people, officials said, a day after car bombs devastated a Baghdad marketplace. Tuesday's attack, which also wounded 27 people, was the latest in a series of bombings that came despite a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown aimed at stopping the sectarian violence that has killed hundreds since the start of the year.
Iraq will close its borders with Syria and Iran for 72 hours as part of the drive to secure and pacify Baghdad, the Iraqi commander of the crackdown said Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Abboud Gambar, addressing the nation on behalf of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, did not say when the borders would be closed. A government official said it was expected within two days.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Iraqi state television that the security operation would begin in the next day or two. The U.S. military announced last week that the sweep was already in progress. But an al-Maliki aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the operation had not yet begun, as far as the Iraqi government was concerned.
The U.S. military said a soldier was killed Sunday in fighting in volatile Anbar province, west of Baghdad, raising to 42 the number of American deaths this month.
On Monday, Gen. Pace said he had no firm knowledge that the Iranian government had sanctioned the arming of the Iraqi insurgents.
"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.
Iran denied it gave sophisticated weapons to militants to attack U.S. forces.
"Such accusations cannot be relied upon or be presented as evidence. The United States has a long history in fabricating evidence. Such charges are unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran.
The Joint Chiefs chairman is the senior military adviser to the president, but he commands no troops and is not in the chain of command that runs from the president to the secretary of defense to commanders in the field.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Muqtada al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago, the official said. Al-Sadr is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure. The move probably is not permanent, the official said.
Word of al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement that Iraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.
Meanwhile, 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.
The comments by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called into question assertions by three senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad on Sunday who said the highest levels of Iranian government were responsible for arming Shiite militants in Iraq with the bombs, blamed for the deaths of more than 170 troops in the U.S.-led coalition.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday he was confident the weaponry was coming with the approval of the Iranian government.
Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, that U.S. forces hunting militant networks in Iraq that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and some of the materials used in the devices were made in Iran.
"That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this," Pace said. "What it does say is that things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers."
In other developments:
On Monday, Gen. Pace said he had no firm knowledge that the Iranian government had sanctioned the arming of the Iraqi insurgents.
"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.
Iran denied it gave sophisticated weapons to militants to attack U.S. forces.
"Such accusations cannot be relied upon or be presented as evidence. The United States has a long history in fabricating evidence. Such charges are unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran.
The Joint Chiefs chairman is the senior military adviser to the president, but he commands no troops and is not in the chain of command that runs from the president to the secretary of defense to commanders in the field.
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Dispatches: Undercover Mosque
This is part one of the much-anticipated UK Channel 4 documentary Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, exposing evidence of Islamic supremacism, shocking misogyny, and support for violence at a number of Britain%u2019s leading mosques and Muslim institutions. (Thanks again to LGF operative kasper.)
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24018_Dispatches-_Undercover_Mosque&only
Dispatches - Undercover Mosque (1 to 6)
UK Channel 4, aired 15th January 2007.
Radicalisation of UK mosques by Saudi Wahabbism
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dispatches+- Undercover Mosque
http://youtube.com/watch?v=peFQWuk4nuo
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"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
--John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961 "
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." --John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961 "
December 8, 1941/September 12, 2001
The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.
Now you've rooted out Al-Sadr and he's off to Tehran - good job. Now he'll stay there for awhile, getting all the help he needs - only to return to Bagdad to cause death and destruction.
Bush has literally opened pandoras box. Can anyone imagine announcing publically your "crackdown" on Bagdad permitting all the bag guys to run off and wait till things quiet down. SMART MOVE KING GEORGE!
realize the stakes and use overwhelming force.
Soon our enemy may have weapons equal to our own.
Remember how fast Germany rose from the ashes of WW1. It was fast, less than 20 years. Will Rome again burn while Nero fiddles?
And the biggest question I have...
... Do these people get bonus miles from our government?