Over the weekend, military sources gave a briefing to the press in Baghdad, ostensibly presenting their case that Iran is actively involved in Iraq, and supplying weaponry to add fuel to the spiralling violence there.
The reactions spanned everything from hysteria to derision, but the prevailing tone was — and is — a pervading skepticism. Who said this? (They’re anonymous). Who’s supplying these munitions? (The US thinks it’s tied to the government).
Unh hunh. Right. We’ve heard this before, but this time around, people aren’t going to accept maybes and we’re pretty sures. It wasn’t specific enough.
Everybody’s jaded from 2002, and Americans want to see the man (men?) behind the curtain this time. A smoke = fire justification for any type of action by this government isn’t going to be enough, and it’s just too easy to counter. That’s what blown credibility gets you, and it’s hard to imagine anything this administration could say about Iraq or Iran that the public would believe at this point.
But what would the public’s perception of such proof be if it were some other administration presenting it, or it came from another source altogether?
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.
The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops.
According to the article, it was only 45 days from Iran’s receipt of these guns before one was used to kill in Iraq. Pretty danged quick, I’d say, to have hit the Iraqi streets without governmental facilitation.
Is this, as Ed Morrissey calls it this morning, the smoking gun?
It’s fascinating (to me) that this has come out through the UK press. Yes, there’s bias there (as here), but other than Americans being the troops finding (and getting killed by) these weapons, this trail of crumbs was laid by someone else altogether.
I think it’s pretty obvious that the Iranian government is involved in Iraq up to its eyebrows. What’s not clear to me is what could, or should, be done about it. Even if the Iranian officials came out and said, “Yup. We’re supplying arms to our friends in Iraq”, what would that change?
Only public opinion. Hmmmm…..
Funny how we haven’t been able to secure Iraq’s borders with Syria and Iran in the last 4 years.
Once again, I find myself asking the following question: just which rock were the American pee-puhl hiding under these past years? Among the “surprises” that were anything but (at least to me):
* The initial victory will be simple - fighting the ensuing insurgency, not so much.
* The only thing the Iraqi people are likely to agree on is the desire to get US out.
* The Iraqi factions will fight at the drop of a hat (do not, repeat do not, drop your hat.)
* If you look behind the Iraqi insurgency, you are likely to find Iran. They will be fighting US vicariously through the Shiites.
It simply boggles the mind…
~EdT.
Andy - maybe what we need to do is build a fence.
~EdT.
“it came from another source altogether?”
That’s a statement that you don’t prove here. Pls note that the Guradian story only mentions the british foreign office and unnamed US officials as sources. Nowhere in this article is any notice that the main source isn’t US intelligence again. That’s lame.
Lame?
Hmmm . . . The US military is (presumably) the organization that is finding these weapons in Iraq (they said so). The Austrians (presumably) have confirmed that the weapons found by the US military are the same weapons shipped to an Iranian government organization (serial numbers, y’know . . .) The 45 day interval between delivery in Iran and the first one’s appearance (use) in Iraq seems uncontroversial . . . What’s lame?
It’s possible US (or British) Intelligence leaked the info to the Telegraph. Of course the Telegraph might have come across the story by other means and confirmed it with British Intelligence . . .
Unless the Austrian government is in on circulating a fake story, this one is real.
(BDS notwithstanding)
It wasn’t the Guardian; it was the Telegraph, which is ideologically joined at the hip with the Weekly Standard. Per Ed T, this shouldn’t be surprising, even if true (which it may or may not be - arms are money: they’ll find ways of circulating outside of government sanctioned channels)
[…] administration? More here. Posted on February 13, 2007 | Permalink | Categories Iran, Iraq | | View blog reactions » “>Comment #1 “>Gray said, February 13, 2007 at 7:28 am “Would an Austrian shipment ofguns making it to the Iraqi streets within 45 days of arriving in the hands of the Iranian government make any difference?” […]
[…] UPDATE: The rifles were purchased by the Iranian government supposedly for anti-drug efforts. Others: Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden, Roger L. Simon, Power Line, QandO, Gateway Pundit, The Bullwinkle Blog, Polimom Says, The Moderate Voice, Captain's Quarters, Protein Wisdom, Hot Air, TigerHawk, Argghhh!, Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt, Outside The Beltway, Beltway Blogroll, Classical Values, The Political Pit Bull, […]
Of Serial Numbers and Vapor Trails…
Terrorists have been captured in Iraq using sniper rifles that were originally manufactured in Austria. That isn’t the juicy part. The juicy part is that the weapon was part of a larger shipment of sniper rifles sent to Iran in an official shipment t….
Iran is falling apart domestically. That’s why nut boy keeps making statements. I’ve read that there is as much as 30% inflation and they are going to start rationing fuel soon. All they need is a little push and Iran’s gov’t will crumble.
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No chance this gets lots of play or even consideration in the Congress. Or CNN, or CBS, or…the list is pretty long.
Anyone still think we should be giving legitimacy to Iran via negotiating the future of Iraq with them?
Paul | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 8:21 am | #
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I got an idea. This means that it is the fault of Bush for not providing adequate body armor.
Ymarsakar | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 10:26 am | #
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BTW, here’s the PPT presentation that detailed Iranian involvement:
http://www.realcities.com/ multim…ran_in_Iraq.pdf
- SJS
Steeljaw Scribe | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 11:10 am | #
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It would be interesting to know whether these went to the Shia or the Sunnis.
Ymarsakar | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 1:57 pm | #
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All the proof in the world will not matter unless we are actually (finally?) willing to kill on the scale necessary to destroy Iran’s regime and nuclear program. No one seems to have the stomach for it. The same also applies to our treatment of enemy “combatants”.
Anthony Mirvish | 02.13.07 - 5:10 pm | #
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Kind of strange that the Telegraph said the .50s were sold to Iran for about $20,000 a piece. They can be bought in the USA for $4000.
Franz Holzschuh, Steyr’s CEO, said the company had not officially
been contacted by anyone to verify the serial numbers on the rifles.
He said there was a possibility the weapons were reproductions and
that there were “thousands'’ of these in circulation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ worldl…6413967,00.html