.Petraeus says Iran stoking Iraq violence
The US military commander in Iraq has stepped up accusations that Iran was stoking violence in Iraq and said Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad was a member of the Revolutionary Guards Qods force.
Washington accuses the force, the elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, of inciting bloodshed in Iraq and of training and equipping militias who have attacked US troops.
General David Petraeus, speaking at a US military base about 30km (20 miles) from the Iranian border, said Iran was giving advanced weaponry to militias in Iraq.
"They are responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers," Petraeus told a small group of reporters when asked if the Iranian government was responsible for killing US troops.
"There is no question about the connection between Iran and these components, (the) attacks that have killed our soldiers."
In August President George W Bush, already at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, said attacks on US troops with Iranian-supplied weapons were increasing and he had told commanders in Iraq to "confront Tehran's murderous activities".
Since then, US military officers have repeatedly presented what they say is evidence of Iranian-produced arms, including the particularly deadly explosively formed projectile (EFP) bombs, being used against US soldiers.
"The ambassador is a Qods force member," Petraeus said of Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran's envoy to Baghdad.
He did not say how he knew this but appeared to suggest that Kazemi-Qomi was not under the US military spotlight because he was a diplomat.
The Iranian embassy in Baghdad had no immediate comment.
Tehran routinely denies US accusations about its role in Iraq's violence, as well as Western allegations its nuclear program is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
Bush has said he is committed to diplomacy to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program but he has not ruled out taking military action.
ACCUSATIONS
Kazemi-Qomi has twice met US ambassador Ryan Crocker in Baghdad this year for landmark talks on ways to stabilize Iraq.
The discussions have made little headway, with both sides accusing each other over the violence in the country.
The US military, which has poured 30,000 extra soldiers into Iraq this year to try to stem the sectarian warfare between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs, says the troop "surge" has helped reduce some of the killing.
But the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has failed to push through legislation to reconcile the country's warring communities – laws which are vital to any long-term reduction in the violence.
In Baghdad on Sunday eight people were killed in three separate bombings. On Thursday, an Iraqi Shi'ite mayor and four of his guards were killed in an attack south of the capital.
The US military said the mayor was killed by an EFP, a particularly deadly roadside bomb that has killed hundreds of US troops in Iraq.
Petraeus said Iran was supplying advanced rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-fired "Stinger-like" air defence missiles and 240 mm rockets to militias in Iraq.
This was in addition to components used to make EFPs.
Petraeus also suggested there was an Iranian link in the assassination of two provincial governors in southern Iraq in August. Both were killed by roadside bombs.
"They are implicated in the assassination of some governors in the southern provinces," said Petraeus.
Stuff
Washington accuses the force, the elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, of inciting bloodshed in Iraq and of training and equipping militias who have attacked US troops.
General David Petraeus, speaking at a US military base about 30km (20 miles) from the Iranian border, said Iran was giving advanced weaponry to militias in Iraq.
"They are responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers," Petraeus told a small group of reporters when asked if the Iranian government was responsible for killing US troops.
"There is no question about the connection between Iran and these components, (the) attacks that have killed our soldiers."
In August President George W Bush, already at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, said attacks on US troops with Iranian-supplied weapons were increasing and he had told commanders in Iraq to "confront Tehran's murderous activities".
Since then, US military officers have repeatedly presented what they say is evidence of Iranian-produced arms, including the particularly deadly explosively formed projectile (EFP) bombs, being used against US soldiers.
"The ambassador is a Qods force member," Petraeus said of Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran's envoy to Baghdad.
He did not say how he knew this but appeared to suggest that Kazemi-Qomi was not under the US military spotlight because he was a diplomat.
The Iranian embassy in Baghdad had no immediate comment.
Tehran routinely denies US accusations about its role in Iraq's violence, as well as Western allegations its nuclear program is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
Bush has said he is committed to diplomacy to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program but he has not ruled out taking military action.
ACCUSATIONS
Kazemi-Qomi has twice met US ambassador Ryan Crocker in Baghdad this year for landmark talks on ways to stabilize Iraq.
The discussions have made little headway, with both sides accusing each other over the violence in the country.
The US military, which has poured 30,000 extra soldiers into Iraq this year to try to stem the sectarian warfare between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs, says the troop "surge" has helped reduce some of the killing.
But the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has failed to push through legislation to reconcile the country's warring communities – laws which are vital to any long-term reduction in the violence.
In Baghdad on Sunday eight people were killed in three separate bombings. On Thursday, an Iraqi Shi'ite mayor and four of his guards were killed in an attack south of the capital.
The US military said the mayor was killed by an EFP, a particularly deadly roadside bomb that has killed hundreds of US troops in Iraq.
Petraeus said Iran was supplying advanced rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-fired "Stinger-like" air defence missiles and 240 mm rockets to militias in Iraq.
This was in addition to components used to make EFPs.
Petraeus also suggested there was an Iranian link in the assassination of two provincial governors in southern Iraq in August. Both were killed by roadside bombs.
"They are implicated in the assassination of some governors in the southern provinces," said Petraeus.
Stuff
posted by madtom at 12:35 PM
2 Comments:
THE GENERAL IS WELL-BRED
Petraeus is an epicure,
Vino e cucina daily fare,
Knowing--as such a "realist"--
Fine dining never should be missed.
Without each meal´s aperitif
His strategies might turn to grief;
Why, fared he but on daily grub
How do his duty? There´s the rub.
His soldiers like to see well-fed
The epicure who is their head,
And know--though they may wind up dead--
Their General is so well-bred.
He takes a sip, in deep repose:
Chilled to perfection. So it goes.
The pasta is not overdone,
Sauce not too thick, nor does it run.
Of military men, you see,
None are so fine as General P;
Consummate class so clearly shows
Him with the best of CEOs.
Brush all those crumbs, now; clear that plate;
The General needs to contemplate
Conditions of th´ Iraqi state
(But first dessert: affairs can wait!).
--I.M. Small
;-)
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