tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40436890291081048142024-03-08T08:29:08.208-08:00State and Mongerjlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043689029108104814.post-12889787286318926002007-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:002007-01-31T20:26:53.477-08:00Karbala<span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/world/middleeast/31karbala.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIran">Looks </a>sophisticated to this ole' timer, but still no firm evidence as to who did it. Some <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1583523,00.html?cnn=yes">speculation</a> about Iranian involvement, although the White House <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070131/pl_afp/usiraqiranmilitary_070131162826;_ylt=AquKLRMNfKtIh1p2ty7FePdX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl">isn't biting</a> yet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update</span>: More speculation <a href="http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/01/pentagon_investingat.php#comment-17882">here</a>, but fairly convincing on the face of it and in the absence of hard proof.<br /></span>jlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043689029108104814.post-74874152995334263442007-01-31T13:15:00.000-08:002007-01-31T14:54:36.849-08:00Iranian Detainee Conflation AlertI've seen this on a few blogs, and now Jim Krane & Robert Reid at <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_war_clouds_1;_ylt=AhwHxb.csqkNWAiwZRqOjDhSw60A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl">AP</a> are doing the same:<br /><br />"<span lang="EN-US">Those five Iranians, who were arrested in the northern city of <st1:city st="on">Irbil</st1:city>, <span style="font-style: italic;">included two members</span> of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard force that provides weapons, training and other support to Shiite militants in the <st1:place st="on">Middle East</st1:place>, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said last week. Iraqi and Iranian officials maintain the five were diplomats.</span>" [My italics]<br /><br />Those <span style="font-style: italic;">two members</span> are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100427.html">these guys</a>, Chirazai and Davari, who were arrested in December and <span style="font-style: italic;">do not</span> belong to the group of five detained in Irbil in January. <span style="font-style: italic;">All we currently know</span> about the Irbil detainees is that they <a href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/14012007/1/seized-iranians-diplomats.html">aren't official diplomats</a> and that the US is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/15/wirq15.xml">claiming</a> they are members of the IRG involved in facilitating attacks on US forces.<br /><br />As for Khalilzad saying last week that 2 of the 5 belonged to the al-Quds force, I have no idea where Krane & Reid got this, and I don't think it exists at all. I have found him <a href="http://iraq.usembassy.gov/iraq/10070115_zal_casey.html">saying</a> that the five belonged to the Revolutionary Guard and that "some" of those five belonged to the al-Quds force. As Borzou Daragahi <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.envoy25jan25,0,6763210.story?coll=bal-iraq-headlines">notes</a>, Khalilzad stated he was going to reveal the identities of the detainees today in a press conference (which has been postponed).jlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043689029108104814.post-53486439100671077862007-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:002007-01-31T12:14:37.756-08:00Is Iran supplying arms to Iraq militias?<span style="font-family:verdana;">No solid public evidence yet, say Zavis & Miller in </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraniraq23jan23,1,2522871.story?track=rss">this</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> L.A. Times piece (registration required) and Mazzetti & Cloud in </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/middleeast/27policy.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIran">this</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> NY Times piece.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We're waiting on Ambassador Khalilzad's press conference today in which he'll </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/middleeast/27policy.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIran">apparently</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> be presenting "a dossier of Iran's efforts to fuel sectarian violence in Iraq."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update</span>: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,248791,00.html">Looks like</a> the dossier's been put on hold.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Century;font-size:10;" lang="EN-US" ><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:country-region></span>jlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043689029108104814.post-19581943470722510112007-01-31T07:44:00.000-08:002007-01-31T12:02:38.442-08:00Bob Baer: 5 Iranians are IRGCBob Baer <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1583523,00.html?cnn=yes">writes as fact</a> that the five detained Iranians belonged to the Revolutionary Guard Corps:<br /><br />"American forces still hold five members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Arrested by American forces in Erbil on Jan. 11, the five are accused by the Administration of helping the Iraqi opposition kill Americans."<br /><br />No sources cited.jlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043689029108104814.post-12915674104979657562007-01-30T21:01:00.000-08:002007-01-31T12:03:39.593-08:00Who are the five Iranian detainees?<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Don't know yet, but apparently we should find out <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-envoy25jan25,1,701707.story">soon</a>. The US military <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/15/wirq15.xml">says</a> they're from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard al-Quds Force, which it labels as "an organisation known for providing funds, weapons, IEDs, technology and training to extremist groups attempting to destabilise the government of Iraq and attack coalition forces." The US did manage to capture two <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100427.html">top al-Quds officials</a> in December last year, but let them go after a week following pressure from Iraq.<br /><br />Even if the US is right about their affiliation, Borzou Daragahi at the L.A. Times complicates the picture by <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-envoy25jan25,1,701707.story">describing</a> the Quds Force as "an elite <span style="font-style: italic;">intelligence</span> and paramilitary organization," and the Revolutionary Guard as "a parallel army" that "controls Iran's borders as well as its<span style="font-style: italic;"> foreign policy</span> toward neighboring countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan." [My italics]<br /><br />The biggest concern on the US side, among other things, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/15/wirq15.xml">seems to be</a> that Quds is helping to supply advanced armor-piercing IEDs to Shiite militias, so the best question is not who the five Iranians were, but what they were doing: Directly helping militias attack US forces, providing consular services, or gathering intelligence? And if the latter, the next question is: what sort?<br /><br /><br />[Jan. 31st edit: added "providing consular services"]</span><span style=";font-family:Century;font-size:10;color:red;" lang="EN-US" ><st1:country-region st="on"></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-US" ><br /></span></span>jlphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633045739070753152noreply@blogger.com0