US and UK blame Iran for arms smuggled into Iraq in clear pre-war propaganda
- From: "tony" <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 23:42:48 +0800
US and UK blame Iran for arms smuggled into Iraq in clear pre-war propaganda
Comment: The US and UK have always claimed that weapons were being smuggled
into
Iraq from neighbouring countries. After years of desperate searching, for
the first time they now finally claim to have a piece of evidence, after a
car driven by Iraqis was caught inside Iraq close to the Iranian border with
weapons materials that "clearly" looked Iranian. The US and UK point the
finger of blame the highest levels of the Iranian government for the crimes
of individuals, as they always do for propaganda purposes against enemy
states. In reality, even if one car did actually cross the border as the
allies assume, this hardly constitutes a serious programme of arms smuggling
into Iraq by Iran's leaders.
***
Iranian weapons 'found in Iraq'
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said weapons from Iran have been
found in Iraq.
Mr Rumsfeld said it was "unhelpful" of Tehran not to have prevented them
from crossing the border.
He said the arms were "clearly" Iranian but refused to describe them or say
how many had been identified.
The flow of weapons to Iraq's insurgents from other countries has been a
concern to the Americans for some time.
Porous borders
"It is true that weapons clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in
Iraq," Mr Rumsfeld told reporters at a Pentagon news conference.
"That's a big border and it's notably unhelpful for the Iranians to be
allowing weapons of those types to cross the border."
Mr Rumsfeld emphasised it was not clear who had procured or transported the
weapons but he indicated he viewed them as a serious problem.
"It's a problem for the Iraqi government," he said. "It's a problem for the
coalition forces. It's a problem for the international community. And
ultimately it's a problem for Iran."
Some media reports have suggested that the weapons include sophisticated
explosives that are finding their way into the hands of insurgents but there
is as yet no independent confirmation of that.
The American military believes that securing Iraq's borders against the flow
of arms and foreign fighters will play a part in quelling the insurgency,
particularly those insurgent groups that espouse religious extremism and
draw manpower and support from abroad.
Mr Rumsfeld's clear implication was that the Iranian government was not
doing enough to help in that process.
BBC News, "Iranian weapons 'found in Iraq'", 9 August 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4136856.stm
FURTHER READING
The Guardian, "Warming hits 'tipping point'", 11 August 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1546838,00.html
US and UK blame Iran for arms smugglers
Iranian arms intercepted at Iraqi border
Britain warns Tehran about weapons smuggling
Britain yesterday described as "unacceptable" the smuggling of weapons
from Iran into Iraq after revealing that a consignment was intercepted at
the border between the two countries.
While complaints have been made in the past, it is relatively rare to
have concrete evidence of such smuggling.
...
.
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