Connecting the Absence of Dots

It's probably not escaped your attention that the administration has Iran in its sights. The president, while denying in his Richard Engel interview that the Iraq adventure had strengthened Iran"s position in the Middle East, keeps hammering on the idea that the Iranians are "meddling" in the affairs of their neighbor -- unlike the U.S., which is just helping out thousands of miles from home.

Aside from the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, the primary focus of the administration has been on the idea that Iran was training militia members and supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq. So it was doubly curious that this item appeared on an L.A. Times blog early this month: curious because of its content, that a briefing called to publicize the weapons found in Basra made no mention of Iran, and because of its appearance, only on the online edition of the paper, not in print. Yet it did seem kind of newsworthy:

...neither the United States nor Iraq has displayed any of the alleged arms to the public or press, and lately it is looking less likely they will. U.S. military officials said it was up to the Iraqis to show the items; Iraqi officials lately have backed off the accusations against Iran.

A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them were from Iran.

Now, at the end of the month, the online site Asia Times has fleshed out the story, with a detailed report on the weapons turning up in Iraq. A sample:

Reports by the US command in Iraq over the past 15 months cited only a handful of Iranian weapons out of hundreds counted in caches found in Shi'ite areas. Nearly 700 mortars and rockets were reported by specific caliber size, along with a handful of RPGs, in nearly two dozen caches. Of that total, only four rockets were reported as being of Iranian origin, and another 15 were listed as possibly being Iranian.

Could it possibly be that the administration's conclusions were reached in advance of, or even iin the absence of, supporting facts? And could it be that the major media don't think of this as a significant story?

Comments

[mbaty]

But those aren't missles, they are tubes filled with dangerous yellow cakes. It's a trick!

[Binx101]

Connecting dots that aren't there ???

Listening to the administration imbued message from any of the Government smoke stacks is more like playing 'Pictionary' with Rorschach templates.

Binx101
The Almost Daily Binx
http://binx101.wordpress.com

[Mojane]

Are their any people commenting on this particular blog aware that this is THE country of arms and arms trades, either by the government selling them or using them as bargaining chips? Ever been to a gun show in this country, or a gun store? If you live east of the Mississipi, probably not. There is no f***ing way any gun anywhere in the world can be traced back to the trade route. To use Iran, again as the culprit in this bullshit scenario, is absurd.

[fogbreath]

it now appears that a "disgruntled former employee" has come to the aid of facts over fantasy.
anyone who watches tv and movies, especially those that claim to be factual, and thinks they are, is a fool.
if this mchale person is so gung ho for us war on iran, he should be on the front lines.

[Michale32086]

Sorry, son...

I have done my bit for King and Country...

What have you done???

As far as the "disgruntled former employee", I assume you are talking about the McClellan book..

Glad you brought that up...

If you buy into the book and believe it as fact (as many do) then I guess you must concede that the "fact" pertaining to some of the discussions here is that Bush did not lie..

At least THAT point has been laid to rest by McClellan's book, eh??

Or are you only going to believe the parts of the book that support your opinions and disregard the others??

Michale.....

[fogbreath]

i live in a republic, we have no king .
in what country do you live?

[applehead]

china is a threat, the so-called not there anymore soviet union is a threat; our popped lungs economy is a threat; our unprotected borders, our unchecked ports are a threat; our singed. shredded consitution is a threat, our cybor voting machines are a threat.

i did not fight in any war i probably would have volunteered after pearl harbor were i a young man then --- but i was born in 52 and did not believe in the righteousness of the vietnam war --- (more men committed suicide after coming home from vietnam than were killed there --- that's an indication as to how righteous that war was) --- nor any war our country has been in since. the mentality of going to war and killing people just because your 'elected' officials say so is really not that far removed from crips killing bloods and vice versa.

you mention God. ask yourself, what would Jesus do. exercise your power of discernment, be stingy, careful, with your blind faith in human beings. they use you. the bush administration laughs at Christians behind our backs. they pretend to be Christians, they pretend to be patriots. look for evidence. they SAY they're against abortion. do they care about babies once they're born? do they take care of the elderly? do they take care of their vets? . to me, i connect the dots and i see one picture either way: they WANT to DESTROY our america. don't enable them.

God bless you, Michale

[THINKB4USPEAK]

(Hope this is correct.) After the western puppet-ruler, the Shah had looted Iran and oppressed it's people to the point that the fundamentalists were able to rally the populace enough to kick him out, they wanted their national wealth back, including historical treasures transferred to, and held by, the West. But the banks and others who were the looters declined to recognize the new government, so as to hold onto their booty, which led to the hostage situation. Do the Iranians hate the US? Probably so. If you raped my country and then sat back and laughed at me, I wouldn't be very forgiving either.

[zelduh]

Actually, after all they have been through, the PEOPLE like Americans (though not so much the American leaders . . . .)

[indypete]

Funny... I feel the same way. I like Americans but I have a problem with conservatives and republicans.

[truth101]

Anyone who watched the GONZALEZ affair last year knows Bush is likely
to try getting McCain elected by manipulating events with Iran, and that
likelyhood grows by the day. The oil price just compounds the issue
where he oil wells pumping away are major major dots...

[Cybershaman]

I've said this before. This whole Iranian disinformation is designed to obscure the truth that the 'insurgents' are using our own stolen weapons against us. How much have we 'lost track' of?
How much are the Bush League losers willing to lie, to keep us from remembering all those missing caches? I'll bet a lot!

[billw8017]

This is to the point. We know that many guns in the Near East went to temporary Iraqi police or military trainees and were carried away as they defected. Other munitions were "rescued" from Hussein's armories, but a breakdown should be interesting: Where are insurgent arms coming from?

[zelduh]

They are US made.

[AdobePhsyko]

They probably buy them from Blackwaters Pumped Up Thigs

[Garvagh]

The demonization of Iran game plan is indeed intended to distract public attention from the stupidity of the Invasion and aftermath. The Iranian people want an end to the occupation of the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Many if not most Israelis also want an end to the occupation of the West Bank. Five out of Six people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan etc. see the US as a stooge of an expansionist Israel.

[labqi]

Its very simple, the people will decide and hold a referendum on WAR in NOVEMBER (6 mths away). In the meantime it should be made clear to the Bush lame duck adminstration(as the Israelis did on Syria negotiations) that it has no say, moral or otherwise on any adventurism in the meantime. To do so would clearly make the key players open to legal action as soon as a new administration is sworn in early 2009.

[Garvagh]

Great piece! George W. Bush and his administration try to demonize Iran, in part in order to conceal from the American public the fact that Iran warned the US that an invasion of Iraq likely would lead to the bogging down of American military forces in that country for years to come, and that the invasion would be virtually certain to set off a civil war. Iran offered the US assistance in assessing the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and help in dealing with any such threat.

[davidpeace]

Also in the Asia Times, online, was a story about the US planning to attack Iran by August. The article, by Muhammad Cohen (really, that was the byline) supposedly got the information from an anonymous, retired diplomat. I have my doubts about the story because further in the article he states: "It [Iran] is also widely suspected of assisting Taliban rebels in Afghanistan." I thought that Iran being Shiite and the Taliban being an offshoot of Sunni (I might be using the wrong terms, so I apologize if anyone is offended.), Wahabi, and that they didn't get along too well. So, why would they be helping unless this is another Pentagon planted story like we recently learned about "consultants" being paid by the military to hype the war in Iraq for the "mainstream" media. The story link:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE28Ak01.html

[JonSmiley]

Someone PLEASE tell me why this isn't the front page headline?

[wilburbudd]

THAT, Mr. Shearer, means no-thing. Nothing at all. It didn't with Iraq. It didn't with Angola. It didn't with Central America. It didn't with Vietnam, or Korea. WHY would it be any damn different now? And we all know, thanks to our Commander and Thief, that they don't have to convince ANYone. They didn't with Iraq. Or Vietnem, or Korea, or Central America, et. al.

[MATX]

I guess the author missed the IAEA's report that came out yesterday.

What a genius he is.

I suppose when Los Angeles melts that it'll be too late AND THEREFORE time to blame the Republicans again.

M

[Mogamboguru]

To your (distorted) knowledge:

The new IAEA report refers to files dating back as far as 2002, retrieved from a laptop which was (alledgedly) retrieved by a group od iraq-based terrorists who were supplied and directed in a concerted effort by MOSSAD and CIA.

If someone really WANTS to believe, what ANY of the fabricated files on this laptop contains - well, it's up to him.

But the problem is: After the laws of LOGIC, you can't proof, something doesn't exist. It's impossible - once and for all.

The NIE-Report from last fall is still valid. And that is good enough for me.

[deminmo]

Like a lot of people who find it more comforting
to believe nothing is going on, you will hold tight
until the truth causes a lump on your head. Bush
HAS been working on a military strike on Iran since
2003. No laptop or IAEA report will stop him. No
truth certainly.

[hypnus]

Iran is not close to building a bomb. If they wanted to "melt" Los Angeles, why not purchase one of the nukes floating about in the old USSR and smuggle it in? You know the ones that Val Plame was out hunting down before she was left out in the cold by the White House. Oh, wait, no, she wasn"t really a CIA agent. Her boss just lied to Congress when he testified that she was, just for chuckles. She was just a waitress at the commissary. Bottom line, this administration has had it"s head up it"s butt for 8 years. 911, Katrina, and Iraq; all these people have done is lie, cheat, and steal, and we are suppose to believe them on Iran. Well Chicken Little, the sky isn"t falling.

[publicinsanity]

Who the hell do you think your kidding? When we first invaded Afghanistan Iran actually HELPED us with information on the Taliban. They ALSO allowed humanitarian aid to come in from Turkey into Afghanistan to help the people displaced by our invasion. They ALSO worked side by side with U.S. Diplomats , the new Afghani government, and other coalition nations in helping Afghanistan create its new constitution. After ALL of this help Bush ranted them as an Axis of Evil.
Have you ever taken a look on a map? You should. Now, put yourself in the shoes of Iran. You help the U.S invade the country on your eastern border, because the Taliban is a mutual enemy. The U.S. than starts making threats toward you! The U.S. than attacks the country bordering your western side (Iraq). Even though there were 'no fly zones' already established in Iraq and Saddam Hussein was contained, and WoMD was a lie. (Another fact the Republicans want us to forget).
The U.S. has just invaded countries on your EASTERN AND WESTERN borders, and continue to threaten you. So what would YOU do? If it was me, I would start trying to make Nukes as fast as I can. The bottom line is the Bush administration ACTIONS have caused Iran's REACTIONS. We get rid of the warmonger and we get rid of the 'threat'.

[twofish]

You're talking to a brick wall, publicinsanity. We're not allowed to think about Iran as a separate country with a point of view. No, the universe is divided into the Good and the Evil. The US, no matter what nasty things we do, is leader of the Good. Anyone who annoys us is on the side of Evil. That's all that matters.

Life must be so simple when you hand your brain over to the robots.

[Mogamboguru]

De facto, Iran is of about the same danger to World-Peace as Norway.

Yet, The Bush-Administration DESPERATELY seeks a chance, to

a. blame the "Bogeyman" Iran for their own Iraq-Afghanistan-failures, and

b. bolster McCain's stance in the run-up to the GE.

And you surely don't believe that, this government wouldn't try REAL HARD to get their next, cosy, little war - see the "Asian Times Online" of today:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE28Ak01.html

Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August'

NEW YORK - The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.

Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear.

Alarm-bells, anyone?

The best thing to happen was, if one of his advisers told John McCain that the same second, the first US-cruise-missile explodes on Iranian soil, his chances to become Pressident of the USA are tossed in the bin.

But - honestly: how slim a chance is THAT?

If there really is a God in Heaven, he might hear this prayer, uttered in despair by a faithfull atheist: "LORD, PLEASE come down to Earth and stop those madmen from oblitering our Planet!"

[usaempire]

they can prove that iran has been asking for euros for its oil(like iraq and venezuela )surely thats all that matters.