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So, Mike Mullen’s contention here is that Iran is arming Shiite militias to attack Americans in Iraq.
Iran is sending Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq the most lethal weapons it’s ever provided them, aimed at killing American troops there, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the accusation in a roundtable with members of the Pentagon Press Association on the same day that two American service members were killed in Baghdad, apparently the victims of a bomb known as an explosively formed penetrator, a type of weapon that U.S. officials say comes from Iran.
“Iran is very directly supporting extremist Shiite groups, which are killing our troops,” Mullen said.
These things never seem to have direct evidence attached to it, but OK. I’ll give that to you. Let me offer a suggestion for stopping these well-armed militias from killing US troops.
US troops could leave Iraq.
Unless Mullen thinks that the Shiites will follow the troops back home – maybe hang on the bars as the helicopters leave the last Iraqi base – I don’t see the issue here. Shiite militias have been extremely explicit – they are targeting US troops because of the rumors that they will extend their military presence beyond the agreed timeline of December 2011. If we announce that we leave, the targeting is likely to stop, and it will certainly stop by December, because there will be no US forces left to be targeted.
Now, Mullen may say that, if we leave, Shiites will terrorize the Iraqi government. Well, the Iraqi government is made up of Shiites, including the Sadrists, who are driving the militia activity. Iran already has the influence inside the Iraqi government that would be feared here. Mullen says that Iran “wants influence.” They already have it!
It seems too perfect that this activity is being used to justify an extended presence in Iraq, when ending the presence would end the activity, too. But this is life at the end of empire.
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“explosively formed penetrator”? that’s the same type of bomb they’ve been accusing Iran of supplying for at least 5 years now. Does Admiral Mullen think he was saying something new?
Well at least they’ve learn to stop hypocritically accuse Iran of “foreign meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs”
More Iraqi news…
Iran and Iraq ink accords, vow to put past behind…
Maliki slams Sunni secession talk…
And this is just sooo wrong…!
Texas woman loses Iraq rape case against KBR…
If anyone’s going to provide weapons to Iraqis it’s going to be us dammit.
I’ve blogged about those EFP’s a few times over the years, the underlying assumption that they were Iranian, was made on the erroneous belief that the Iraqis couldn’t possibly ‘machine’ those copper discs…! Interestingly, there’s been three ‘dog and pony’ media shows scheduled over the years on supposed captured Iranian weapons caches… None ever saw the light of day, because our own EOD guys laughed at their wild ass assertions…! ;-)
seven replies here of which three are ads.
Who’s monitoring the spam folks?
If I mention I wanna s***t Boehner, I know someone will be on me like stink on shit, but spam? And three consecutive entries no less?
How can we get these out of here?
How is this crap being posted here without even user names? There is either a serious hole in the security or they are being tolerated by the site.
I think Iran is the holy grail that the warhawks at the MIC have had their eyes on since 1979. A war with Iran would make the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan look like a school yard spat. We wouldn’t need a jobs program. Just start a war with Iran and make military service mandatory for young people, (unless their parents have money of course), and they will be comfortable for twenty years, or so they think.
Now, they’re zapped. There’s a process piece which is once the user is zapped, the comments remain until deleted, but there is no username associated with the spam for a minute or two until the comment itself is deleted.
So there’s no security hole or tolerance for the spam. It’s just that we can see different pieces of the process in time.
does the admiral have anything to say about the ‘made in u.s.a.’ white phosphorus rounds dropped the children of gaza?
i thought not.
That makes sense. I have no idea how the nuts n bolts work. But I wanted to see the user name so I could flag the commentator as inappropriate. I can’t believe anybody here would actually click on one of those links. Must be begging for spyware or a trojan to be installed on their computers.
See this
The image was from either the US Army or DoD
Yep. Not surprised so much as appalled.
The State Department finally told a wee bit o’ the truth the other day:
“The US ambassador in Baghdad said on Saturday that the State Department has asked for a $6.2 billion budget for Iraq in 2012, underscoring that its oil and gas reserves were critical for the world’s future energy needs.
“This country is on a glide path to increase its oil exports,” James Jeffrey told reporters at the sprawling US embassy in Baghdad, the world’s largest.
The embassy plans to double in size next year to 16,000 personnel, when it takes over many military tasks after US troops pull out of Iraq at the end of this year, including military sales and training of Iraqi security forces.”
Now the Ambassador fudges the numbers, and leaves out the 50,000 contractors still there, but delivers the incredibly surprising news that ‘It’s about the oil, baby’.
I’ve been collecting links to do a piece on Iraq; Sy Hersh says it will be the Big News next year; it’s really falling apart, and our boy Malaki is evil. Bet we didn’t know that, eh?
If I were an Iraqi I would be joining the people protecting their own land against the American invaders. I would use every means I was able to rid my country of the murderous bastards from the US of effin A. I would enlist the aid of every person and of every nation I could to get rid of the oil grabbing, torturing, “christian” Americans.
Why the great fucking surprise that the Iraqis want the killers out of there? It is seriously time for the Iraqis, Afghanis and the Pakistanis to band together and rid themselves of the evil christian capitalists and it is time for the Iranis to join in. And while they are at it get the Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians to join in and get rid of bloody Israel.
Bushco took out the Saddamm Sunni government and a pro Iran Shite regime was installed and supported by USA troops, equipment, mega bases and tax dollars. They did it to us! Millions of Iraqis died or were displaced in classic MIC regime change. The plan is to keep USA troops in Islamic countries forever and reverse the Shah’s removal. The insanity is justified by fear mongering. How’s the new job coming along Margaret?
Yea, they tried this same exact story a few years ago trying to pawn off weapons they found, saying they originated from Iran, but it was all a lie
I wrote a blog on it. I’ll try to find it
Of course it is. That’s always been the goal. Gotta show ‘em they can’t push US around, (and make a fortune for the top few to boot)! USA! USA! USA….!
EDIT: Job’s going fine I think though I’m constantly paranoid I’m going to lose it. I don’t know how much of that is the long term unemployment I just experienced. Certainly we’re staying busy and I haven’t been griped at in weeks.
Ahh, yes, the Imperial Occupation of Iraq brought to you by the bipartisan coalition to replace Social Security and Medicare. You thought you wanted Social Security and Medicare. They thought you wanted imperial foreign wars. The grand bargain: destroying the safety net to keep you “safe”. You may die in the back hall of an unfunded nursing home, but you’ll do it safe from Iraq. (Of course, you always were safe from Iraq).
Found it
But, give me a minute to clean it up. The page got corrupted in a server move / upgrade
Anxiety can be reduced by a simple awareness. Practice abdominal breathing by relaxing the thorasrsic cavity (rib cage) and relaxing the lower abdomen to do shallow breathing. Try a few minute a day to “get it” then remind yourself to do it on breaks an lunch gradually make it a habit and the rest of the nervous systems and cardio will get the signal and open more for nutrient and O2 supply while letting the waste go.
Just goes to show you the utter stupidity of the Bush regime in getting rid of the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein and putting in a pro-Iranian Shiite regime.Isn’t it amazing that Ronald Reagan was able to get along with Saddam Hussein and used him as a buffer against Iran.Maybe Obama is right,Reagan really was a great President,at least when it came to foreign affairs.
Right/s I remember talking about this bomb 2 years ago
Is it just me? This constant refrain of “we’ll stay if asked” reminds me of a very early Saturday Night Live Sketch “The thing that wouldn’t Leave.”
Evidently the tens and tens of thousands of Iraqis who’ve died in Operation Enduring Shitmire don’t make it into the good admiral’s mathematics.
I don’t think that Maliki can survive politically (and perhaps, not literally) if he signs off on continuing the occupation of Iraq.
I think the mechanics of turning this misery into latex, so that Bush, first, and now, Obama, can continue to stretch it out, are about to disintegrate.
Obama and the other warbots need to figure out how to realize the bushCo wet dream of shoe-horning Iyad Allawi in as head of the Iraqi “government”. I think it’s going to be a tough row to hoe, in that the “extremist Shiites” will, once again, “vote” on that by using AK-47′s and RPG’s as ballots.
And to think, Maliki is having a hard enough time trying to keep the Sunnis from seceding, along with the Kurds…!
I’m sorry, but this is obviously the suggestion of a left-wing extremist.
If you wish to make a suggestion that is moderate and centrist, please offer one that will involve a)enriching one of our high-powered and influential war corporations. b) enriching one of our high-powered and influential mercenary corporations, c)increasing the Pentagon’s budget, or d) all of the above.
That’s what any true American patriot would do. USA! USA! USA!
And so, Adm. Mullen would approve of the Mexican Army crossing into, say, Texas to blow up gun shops who’s weapons wind up in the hands of drug cartels in Mexico? Or bombing the ATF? Seems reasonable to me.
Tehran knows that Iraq will be the staging area for a US push into Iran.
For the Iranian leadership to not help the Iraqi resistance would be irresponsible.
Mullen knows this.
Here’s a thought, what country is in between Iraq and Afghanistan, and, has beaucoup oil too…? 8-(
I love your posts tanbark. I disagree, however, with the implication that there is any kind of problem with dragging the enduring shitmire out for another 10, 20, or “make it 100″ years. It should be clear by now that whatever constraints politicians of the past felt compelled to abide by are long since gone. The executive branch and, by extension, the military industries that guide them have a free hand to do as they please in foreign policy, namely because Congress is bought and paid for and most Americans don’t really give a damn.