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Iran Caught Red-Handed Shipping Arms to Taliban
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| Fir3start3r |
Not that anyone should be surprised because this has been under suspicion for a while now...
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Document: Iran Caught Red-Handed Shipping Arms to Taliban
June 06, 2007 6:00 PM
Brian Ross and Christopher Isham Report:
Document_iran_c_mn NATO officials say they have caught Iran red-handed, shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces, in what the officials say is a dramatic escalation of Iran's proxy war against the United States and Great Britain.
"It is inconceivable that it is anyone other than the Iranian government that's doing it," said former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stopped short earlier this week of blaming Iran, saying the U.S. did not have evidence "of the involvement of the Iranian government in support of the Taliban."
But an analysis by a senior coalition official, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, concludes there is clear evidence of Iran's involvement.
"This is part of a considered policy," says the analysis, "rather than the result of low-level corruption and weapons smuggling."
Iran and the Taliban had been fierce enemies when the Taliban was in power in Afghanistan, and their apparent collaboration came as a surprise to some in the intelligence community.
"I think their goal is to make it very clear that Iran has the capability to make life worse for the United States on a variety of fronts," said Seth Jones of the Rand Institute, "even if they have to do some business with a group that has historically been their enemy."
The coalition analysis says munitions recovered in two Iranian convoys, on April 11 and May 3, had "clear indications that they originated in Iran. Some were identical to Iranian supplied goods previously discovered in Iraq."
The April convoy was tracked from Iran into Helmand province and led a fierce firefight that destroyed one vehicle, according to the official analysis. A second vehicle was reportedly found to contain small arms ammunition, mortar rounds and more than 650 pounds of C4 demolition charges.
A second convoy of two vehicles was spotted on May 3 and led to the capture of five occupants and the seizure of RPG-7mm rockets and more than 1,000 pounds of C4, the analysis says.
Also among the munitions are components for the lethal EFPs, or explosive formed projectiles, the roadside bombs that U.S. officials say Iran has provided to Iraqi insurgents with deadly results.
"These clearly have the hallmarks of the Iranian Revolution Guards' Quds force," said Jones.
The coalition diplomatic message says the demolition charges "contained the same fake U.S. markings found on explosives recovered from insurgents operating in the Baghdad area."
"We believe these intercepted munitions are part of a much bigger flow of support from Iran to the Taliban," the message says.
The Taliban receives larger supplies of weapons through profits from opium dealing, officials say, but the Iranian presence could be significant.
"It means the insurgency in Afghanistan is likely to be prolonged," said Jones. "It would be a much more potent force."
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Normally this would constitute an act of war so how do everyone believe NATO will react? |
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| Krypton |
| We're going to appease them, sanction them, or bomb the revolution out of revolutionary gaurds:happy2: |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
Not that anyone should be surprised because this has been under suspicion for a while now...
Normally this would constitute an act of war so how do everyone believe NATO will react? |
Heh. Enemy of my enemy is my friend... So true in international politics
I don't think NATO can do anything. Iran has been supplying insurgents in Iraq for some time and US haven't done anything to slap Iran's penis.
I don't think NATO will do anything in this case either.
I guess you can get away with some things when you control a large supply of oil. |
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| hardcore trancer |
| I heard they are arming Nk too,and china,India,Africa and South America too :rolleyes: |
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| occrider |
Are you people so deluded that you don't think that this type of behaviour isn't happening?
Newsflash, the Soviets supplied the Vietnamese during the Vietnam war, China was tacitly fighting the US during the Korean war, the US was supplying Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, the Soviets were supplying the Cubans, and the Americans were supplying the rest of South America.
Christ, the written record of first hand accounts in Iraq have been written as of 2 years ago ... start reading them.
Nothing CAN be done with this as nothing can be done with Iranian intervention in Iraq. It's simple ing common sense. THe Iranians have been in both countries for DECADES, understand the tribes, politics, and culture far better than we have in our 3-4 years. Their influence stretches to legitimate political blocks that the US CANNOT oppose at risk of alienating all local parties. There are no significant moderate secularist parties with power in Iraq simply becuase extremeism has killed them off.
So cry all you want about Iranian intervention in the middle east. Only the most ill-informed will tell you that such a country is not so pro-actively involved with its neighbors. And only the more ill informed will tell us that we can actually do anything about it asides from resorting to diplomatic give and take.
There's a goddamned reason why the US, under the most undiplomatic administrations in history, is engaging in diplomatic negotiations with an "axis of evil" country. |
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| Zild |
| If you were them you would do the same. |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Are you people so deluded that you don't think that this type of behaviour isn't happening?
Newsflash, the Soviets supplied the Vietnamese during the Vietnam war, China was tacitly fighting the US during the Korean war, the US was supplying Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, the Soviets were supplying the Cubans, and the Americans were supplying the rest of South America.
Christ, the written record of first hand accounts in Iraq have been written as of 2 years ago ... start reading them.
Nothing CAN be done with this as nothing can be done with Iranian intervention in Iraq. It's simple ing common sense. THe Iranians have been in both countries for DECADES, understand the tribes, politics, and culture far better than we have in our 3-4 years. Their influence stretches to legitimate political blocks that the US CANNOT oppose at risk of alienating all local parties. There are no significant moderate secularist parties with power in Iraq simply becuase extremeism has killed them off.
So cry all you want about Iranian intervention in the middle east. Only the most ill-informed will tell you that such a country is not so pro-actively involved with its neighbors. And only the more ill informed will tell us that we can actually do anything about it asides from resorting to diplomatic give and take.
There's a goddamned reason why the US, under the most undiplomatic administrations in history, is engaging in diplomatic negotiations with an "axis of evil" country. |
International diplomacy is a funny thing.
Some things get called on one day, but not on the other.
*shrug* We all know how US is. It'll call something when only it sees an advantage or a legit concern in 21st century diplomacy.
Yank soldiers are dying because of Iran. I think that's a legit concern for US.
Yeah, the precedent to turning blind eye to arms shipment is there, but that does not mean it's right. (And yes, I'm quite aware that US is top seller of weapons world wide) |
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| XaNaX |
| My guess is that on this one we will do nothing. I don't believe there is anywhere near the popular support in the US needed for a war against Iran. George Bush has goated the handling of the Iraq war to the point that most people are not interested in another conflict unless something major happens. And to your average Joe dumbass American its no big deal if Iran supplies arms to kill our soldiers. However, if Iran's government was ever linked to a terrorist attack on US soil they would be ed. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by XaNaX
My guess is that on this one we will do nothing. I don't believe there is anywhere near the popular support in the US needed for a war against Iran. George Bush has goated the handling of the Iraq war to the point that most people are not interested in another conflict unless something major happens. And to your average Joe dumbass American its no big deal if Iran supplies arms to kill our soldiers. However, if Iran's government was ever linked to a terrorist attack on US soil they would be ed. |
us up over there, no one cares. us up on our SOIL, you better get ready for hellfire from the skies. |
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| Fir3start3r |
lol :haha:
So true... |
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| mcleod |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
lol :haha:
So true... |
I don't even know what to say to that idiocy... |
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