Iran's "Mixed Messages" In Iraq

U.S. Sees Drop In Iranian-Made Armor-Piercing Weapons, But No Let Up In Shiite Militia Funding

(AP)  The U.S. military worried Sunday about "mixed messages" from Iran, listing a dramatic drop in Iranian-made weapons reaching Iraq but no reduction in the training and financing of Shiite militants.

The report card further muddles U.S.-Iranian relations as Washington ratchets up its anti-Tehran rhetoric in the shadow of a recent intelligence report that the Islamic Republic halted a nuclear weapons program four years ago.

A second suicide bombing in two days, meanwhile, killed six people in Anbar province, birthplace of the Sunni movement against al Qaeda in Iraq that has been a major factor in a recent downturn in nationwide violence.

The apparent target near Fallujah was a U.S.-backed Sunni tribal sheik who escaped harm, but the bombing reflected the difficulty in routing insurgents led by al Qaeda in Iraq even in areas where the military has made major gains.

Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said attacks using powerful Iranian-made bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, have fallen off in recent days after a sharp but brief increase in the first half of the month.

Late last year, the military said the flow of EFPs into Iraq had slowed, but Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, said last week that attacks with the weapons had risen by a factor of two or three in the first half of this month.

Smith said the increase fell off again last week.

"The number of signature weapons that had come from Iran and had been used against coalition and Iraqi forces are down dramatically except for this short uptick in the EFPs in the early part of January," Smith said at a news conference.

"There was an increase, we don't know why precisely," he added. "There was an increase clearly of that weapon and now they've returned to normal levels."

Smith said the U.S. is trying to understand the various ways in which Iran exerts influence inside Iraq, including training of and financial support to militias as well as the smuggling of weapons.

"We don't think that the level of training has been reduced at all. We don't believe that the level of financing has been reduced. It's uncertain again what is happening in Iran that's leading to that occurrence."

The remarks were the latest in the verbal sparring between the two rival countries as Washington accuses Iran of fueling the violence in Iraq by funding and arming Shiite militias. Tehran denies the charges and says it wants only to stabilize its fellow predominantly Shiite neighbor.

The push to contain Iran has been given new urgency by a Jan. 6 incident in the Persian Gulf in which U.S. warships were harassed by the Iranian naval speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Bush also has been trying to maintain pressure against Iran despite a U.S. intelligence finding that Iran had stopped a secret nuclear weapons program in 2003 - contradicting White House claims that Tehran was still pursuing such arms.

During a Middle East tour, he told Sunni Arab leaders worried about Iran's ambitions for regional power that "all options are on the table" for dealing with the continuing threat from Tehran but that "I'd like to solve this diplomatically."

The bomber in Anbar province detonated his explosive belt after four guards stopped him at the checkpoint leading to the sheik's farm near Fallujah. The attack killed the four guards and two civilians and wounded four others, according to a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

The sheik, Aeifan al-Issawi, is a leading member of the Anbar Awakening Council.

The attack came one day after three suicide bombers targeted a police station in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar and a former Sunni insurgent stronghold. Guards killed one attacker, but two others detonated their explosives at the entrance, killing at least five officers, authorities said.

Smith said the military had al Qaeda on the run with recent operations. But he warned the group remains a force in eastern Anbar, northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province, in areas surrounding the northern city of Kirkuk, "in small numbers to the south of Baghdad" and in the northern city of Mosul.

"Mosul will continue to be a center of influence for, a center of gravity for al Qaeda because of its key network of facilitation - both financing and foreign fighters," he said. "The flow to Mosul is critical for al Qaeda in Iraq."

He said 121 militants had been killed, including 92 so-called "high-value targets" and 1,023 detained since the most recent operation against them began on Jan. 8.

[slpdisk]

Now is this story for real or just more war propaganda.With all the lying that started the Iraq war we are now suppose to believe this cr@p.

[samsel3]

The Bush administration is trying to stop a new Natural gas deal between Iran and Italy. Next to Russia Iran has the second largest supply of natural gas. The new pipeline will move several billion cubic feet per day across Turkey and then either Greece or Albania. The gas export to Europe is being strongly opposed by Bush & Cheney as it does''nt fit in with their master energy plans.
China Daily December 25, 2007
Moscow -- Armed forces will be used if necessary, including preventively and with the use of nuclear weapons, for protection of Russia and its allies, the Russian Armed Forces'' Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky said on Saturday.

"We do not intend to attack anybody. But all our partners must realize that for protection of Russia and its allies if necessary armed forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
Baluyevsky reportedly made the statement at a scientific conference of the Academy of Military Sciences.
From the China daily January 21, 2008

[samsel3]

In the Daily telegraph, July 22, 2007 Condoleeza Rice stated her main objective in the middle east " was not to push a ceasefire in Lebanon, but to cause an isolation of Syria and Iran" . The strategic objective is all tied to oil and oil pipelines.

January 9, 2008 Bush met with the president of Turkey on the 10th he was in Israel. The connection are the Turkey Israeli pipelines, the real purpose of the recent middle east peace summit . The actual story are the proposed oil pipelines that will be built down the coast from Turkey to Israel. Condi Rice is trying to broker this deal. BP oil, US oil interests and the Saudis all have a stake in that pipeline. Domonique Strauss- Khan managing director of the International Monetary Fund and Robert Zoellick president of the World Bank were in attendance. Big money won%u201Dt finance the venture without stability in the region.

[samsel3]

Russia is the second largest supplier of oil on the planet, the Saudis are number one. After Saddam was removed they lost one of there sources and moved to Iran to fill the void. In exchange they also negotiated contracts to build multiple nuclear power plants in Iran. Russia is well aware of the Cheney plan for the Casapian Sea pipeline which will be cheaper to build if the US goes through Iran. Iran does not want to negotiate with the US on this pipeline. Cheney wants regime change, but Russia does not because it''s not in there economic interest. Thats the real deal !
Russia reneged on contracts with BP oil UK for new Siberian wells and also renegotiated contracts for existing BP production wells in Russia for less money. BP was not happy and teamed up with US oil interests for the Caspian Pipeline deal now under construction.
Reuters uk-business: January 14, 2008 reported that US/Iran tensions over it''s nuclear programs may cause Iran to retaliate by cutting oil production. This will cause the price of oil to go even higher. More profits for BIG OIL. Part of Cheney''s energy policy is to build multiple pipelines from many areas of the region so that the US & British oil interests can control global markets and weaken Russia''s and Irans positions.

[samsel3]

February 12, 1998 John J. Maresca vp of UNOCAL oil appeared before a House sub committee. The purpose of the meeting was to gain support for exploitation of oil & natural gas resources in the Caspian Sea area. In his testimony he stated, "The key question is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets ". The exploitation option stated : "One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed by American companies because of U.S. sanctions (with Iran ) . The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which of course has it''s own unique challenges. " He continued saying, " the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments,lenders (world monitary fund & world bank ) ,and our company "......" UNOCAL and other American companies are prepared to undertake the job ".

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:55 PM : Jan 21, 2008



I agree with a lot of what you say, except where you throw cr@p at the troops for not winning. you are saying so far as America being able to fight that "resisance is futile" "Prepare to be assimilated" that China or anyone else that wants to take us on will win everytime. Is this correct?

[Con Mohrat]

I see some remarks about France on this page. The President, Nicholas Sarkozy, a Hungarian immigrant to France, visited Bush and promised cooperation, probably alluding to invasions and occupations.

This fellow better pay attention to his own country, or rather, the country he migrated to--France.

France wanted to be the great colonial, and occupied Ottoman lands now known as Syria & Lebanon. They had a hand in the mess in Algeria.

Sometimes reckoning takes time. The UK (Eurabia West) got their subway bombing and other attempts. Spain (Eurabia South) caught it in Madrid with 190 dead and hundreds injured.

Now, it is France''s turn for retribution. See below:

http://tinyurl.com/39f2h5

[toolmangler-2009]

They won. We lost. We had no business being there.
Sound familiar?
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 03:07 PM : Jan 21, 2008



Like you said, we shouldn''t have been there, but putting that aside, do you really believe that The US could not have won that war if we had really wanted to? had our fighting force been unleashed to defeat the North? had our troops ''not'' been fettered with PC no-kill zones? Is there any belief that we didn''t because we were NOT strong enough?

[tbweb]

The lack of urgency on the part of the Iraqis and almost snail like pace of progress is amazing all by itself! The absurd 5 week vacation in the middle of the mayhem when 1000''s of its citizens were being killed highlights this! Even thousands of Turkish troops on the Iraqi border attacking the Kurds have not sped up a much needed reconciliation and national unity. Blaming Americans, Iranians and Turks and insurgents has its place but it also has its limits too, at the end of the day the Iraqis have only themselves to blame for their lackluster efforts!

[samsel3]

On January 26, 1998 in an letter to the President the PNAC asked Clinton to invade Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein.
We can all talk about the past, but what about now and the future ? Presently the CNP Council for National Policy is planning your future. This secretive organisation of several hundred of the richest men in the USA put Bush & Cheney in office to accomplish their global agenda. In September 2007 they met again in Salt Lake City. Cheney & Mitt Romney were keynote speakers. Romney wants their backing. The CNP wants to continue their agenda in global market control for BIG OIL & allied industry in the next election. National media outlets are owned by their members. Who will expose them? Who will stop their insanity and destruction of constitutional freedom ? Who will stop their misuse of the military to promote their global agenda? Paul Wolfowitz,Don Rumsfeld, Scooter Libby, George Bush, Richard Cheney, Eliot Cohen. Zalmay Khalilzad, Steve Forbes, Donald Kagan, Pete Rodman, Henry S Rowen, Dan Quale, William J.Bennett, Jeb Bush, they are all members of the PNAC Project for a New American Century.

[samsel3]

The Times of India August 2007 reported : " Iran, Iraq signed an agreement to build pipelines for the transfer of Iraqi crude oil and oil products." Under the deal crude will be refined and sent back to Iraq. Bush opposes this agreement and wants the Iraqi Parliment to accept and sign a U.S. designed oil law that would result in huge profits for BIG OIL. Iraqi oil workers and 63% of Iraqis polled are opposed to the Bush law and prefer a hands off Iraq oil policy.

[samsel3]

Nothing has changed on Iran. The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan, to the gulf of Oman and on to India & Nepal.It will be cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was also the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil now with sales of oil to China''s Sinopec Oil,deal signed Dec.10,2007. Months ago China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''t care they are in control ! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolio

[ayatoldyaso]

There''''s a thing about this eagle though, its Master, the American People, won''''t let it off its tether again....give up your dream of an invasion, tain''''t gonna happen never. :^)

Posted by FloydZepp

Possibly true because the desire for middle east peace is strong. But should Iran bully enough, the US won''t lift a finger, Europe will.

[ayatoldyaso]

Do you know why that was? C-H-I-N-A. - Nancy_Naive

The cool thing about global economics is when a war is started all debts are off. China has more to loose.

Now back to Iran, The crow ends up as supper when his crowing becomes too loud.

[rafterman1]

===why all of you America-Hooyahs like bashing the French),...we lead them 4 to 3 in retreating since WWII.===
posted by Nancy_Naive

Actually, it''s just a horrendous ignorance by certain people of what exactly happened to the French in 1940. Their defeat by the Nazis was because of bad French military tactics and indecisive leadership - not cowardice or simple retreating as we Americans like to think it was. And after the surrender, French resistance groups kept several German divisions tied up there for the length of the war. There was certainly no cowardice by the French.

Plus, let us not forget that French assistance, especially naval assistance, during the Revolutionary War was vital to America gaining her independence.

[spareme66]

Not sure which is funnier, your statements about me re-writing history or that you believe that. It has been well documented that a majority of the key strategic targets were off-limits during the Vietnam war. You are the one who brought up Vietnam by the way, not me. I had no intention of talking about a past war, so you can keep your "losers cry foul" comment.

[feelfree1]

Here is the "mixed message" that I hear coming from the people of Iraq and Afghanistan:

1. Get the *** out of our country!

...mixed with...

2. Get the *** out of our country, or we will kick you out.

[spareme66]

Nancy- Please don''t suggest that I said something I didn''t or simplify it to meet your arguments. I didn''t say anything about the nuke issue. ANY country with a nuke could be considered a threat. I will grant that they seem to be making some technological strides, but is it them or the French and Russians who designed the weapons systems?

Also, the Vietnamese did not defeat us, the press and our own government did. Had our politicians not tied the hands of our generals, we would have won that war. We fought with a fear of how we would be portrayed in the press and the "no target" list was huge!

Let me sum this up by saying that it is easy in hindsight to make decisions on the actions of history. While many of us may not agree with having troops in Iraq, the bottom line is that we made the choice to go in and now we must finish what we have started. It would be a grave error to leave Iraq at this point. There would be a power void that Iraq''s neighbors would jump on.

I''d be surprised if we didn''t have a military base in Iraq for years to come. Think about it, we are still in Germany, Italy, Japan, and Korea.

[ayatoldyaso]

FloydZepp - That''s the neat thing about eagles, is they can shoot their wad about 30 times a minute. The war against iraq was over in weeks. The war against its insurgents if anything, has battle hardened US troops, but it has hardly even made the eagle flex its wings. China and Russia''s stake at mideast oil in Iran is shakey at best because the Iranian people are close to revolting against the Islamic fascist extremists that have held them byu their throats for too long. Iran has over extended itself financially in its proxy wars in Africa, Malaysia, Iraq, Russia and Pakistan to be any more than a water pistol trying to put out a fire.

[ayatoldyaso]

Nancy_Naive - Your Iranian army is a joke. All it''s technological advancements is basically reinventing the batteries that power the brains of weapons it has bought or been given. Iran bought it nuclear technology from Pakistan and stole hardware from Iraq at the their fall. Iran has nothing, absolutely NOTHING that would make a modern army hesitate to attack it should it wish to do so. Right now the Iranian Army is a Rooster surrounded by eagles and wolves and bears. Iran knows how to crow, fer sure.