Because I just want to be first to say it.
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.
You know what this means, don't you?
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.
It means that instead of entering into difficult negotiations with the reclusive Taliban, there is an opportunity at formal diplomacy and a Jack Layton style compromise with the Iranian regime.
We get "peace in our time" and Ahmadinejad gets to destroy only half of Israel.
The State Department will soothe you into believing that this is actually a good thing within 24 hours.
Oh oh... looks like Bush lied again.
Darn it.
Time to start arming anti-Ayatolah Iranians. Two can play at that game. On the other hand, maybe just setting a pricetag of say $10 million on the heads of some of the leading mullah's in Iran would be a cheaper way to do things; after all Iran did set a precedent when it put out a contract on Rushdie. Rewards were what gave the US the location of Sadam's sons and Sadam himself.
Pun-twit a little proof would be nice. We've all heard "its all about the oil" but there is never any proof. BTW yelling profanity is not proof and as my old debating teacher said "The first person to resort to profanity loses the debate".
Pun Dit,
Oh wise and all knowing one. Yes my head is firmly in the sand and you provide not one respected authority link for your expert *gut feeling*? How are we to learn? = TG
loki (12:20 AM)
Not so long ago I would have concurred pretty much with your take on things; now, I'm not so sure. Unless, that is, ALL the mullahs are gotten rid of. The thing is, how do you whack 'em all and not leave a vacuum?
Is Iraq nearly so bad as the news makes it out to be? I honestly don't think so... I trust in the "2 Michaels" (Yon and Totten... what the heck, add Michael Fumento in there, too) for my Iraq coverage. Maybe a little bit of Iraq's medicine for Iran is what's needed. Would it be chaos?
World War 2 was chaos.
It seems everyone's dancing around, and no Churchill or F.D.R. or Ike seems apparent these days. You know, someone willing or able to take the bit between his teeth and gallop. Ahmadinejad believes he's an end-times visionary; time to give 'im the white horse (that's "horse", not "house") treatment, not?
I know, I know, Churchill didn't have to deal with nearly so many deranged jackasses in the Forties as we have with us today; HE only had to face the Nazis... look at all the colossally stupid poltroons all around us these days. Need proof? No doubt a dufus like Keith Olberman will skewer this report double quick, and a lot of sheeple will buy his crapola. The "some of the people all of the time" Abe Lincoln refered to are in the majority, I fear.
Kate yer a little off on your negotiation outcome. Peace in our time AFTER Ibesuchanutjob gets to destroy everyone who does not convert to his brand of Islam. Taliban Jack gets to rule Toronto but only if he wears a Hijab at the gay pride parade.
It is getting embarrassing to be on this side of the war. The denial by half of our population that there is even actually an enemy is so juvenile and misguided, that they must be held partly responsible for the mounting violence and death our side is sustaining in trying to keep this war out of North America.
It is clear to me that there are at the very least, two distinct fronts in this war. Us against the Islamo whacks and us against the Leftist deniers and enablers.
Jack Layton is becoming as much of a war criminal for selling out our side in this war as Benedict Arnold was in his day.
We are way past due to get serious about stopping Iran and dealing with that disgusting Saud family.
But even more urgently, something much be done to either get our Leftist fools on side or somehow shut them up.
We can only pray that the US doesn't elect a democratic president next year and that Israel gets rid of the wimp who is running their show at this time. Iran needs a "bright boy" now, or Israel will soon get on then a major US city. We cannot let the Left get that happy.
Any ideas?
this would be the same iran that karzai said this week was their special friend.
This reminds me of the fairy tale "The boy who cried WMD."
And mentioning Layton's name in all this is just another "Look at Chewbacca" argument.
"Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests."
Jack Layton *is* Johnnie Cochran.
Joe B., you make some good points about the risks of a power vacuum in Iran, but I think that the Iranian population is a lot less fanatical than other islamic populations. Probably the majority of Iranians would want to live in a more westernized society. I've known quite a few Iranians and they seemed normal and not at all fanatical. They may represent a select population who decided to either study in Canada or move here, but they seemed quite normal in contrast to Arabs I've talked to.
It might not take much to destabilize Iran if it is done correctly. Ideally it would involve another Iranian revolution with a bit of US help in supplying guns to thousands of Iranians who are ready to fight in Iran. Now that Iran has been supplying arms to Iraqi and Afghani insurgents, there is little reason for the US to not start arming pro-western Iranian groups.
Yanni and Loki,
Such good sense. I agree with you.
Yes, excelent reading, yet I am now worried about those very decent Kurd military folk MichaelTotten visited a while back.
About the turkish skirmishes across the border to hit Kurd guerilas?
Worried too about the truck bomb up from the south that killed 50 in Kurdish government offices?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070514/D8P3UTV80.html
Are Acmahdinejad, Muqtada al Sadr and Hizballah striving to raise mayhem levels ever higher?
I have read speculation that there could be a hit to Iran*s nested Nuke bunker before November.
Seems the tipping point under Acmahdinejad and mad mullah direction, is approaching more quickly. = TG
Funny how when you agree with the message, then you're happy to take the opinion of a single unnamed "senior coalition official" at face value. What would the reaction here have been had this official concluded that there was no conclusive link between the arms shipments received by the Taliban and the Iranian government?
Gen. Dan McNeill: "There certainly are weapons or munitions of Iranian origin, but when you say weapons being provided by Iran that would suggest there is some more formal entity involved in getting those weapons here. That's not my view at all...I just have no information to support that there's anything formal in some arrangement out of Iran to provide weapons here."
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates: "There have been indications over the past few months of weapons coming in from Iran. We do not have any information about whether the government of Iran is supporting this, is behind it, or whether it's smuggling."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai: "“It is in the interest of our brothers in Iran to have a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. We don’t have any such evidence so far of the involvement of the Iranian government in support of the Taliban...Iran and Afghanistan have never been as friendly as they are today. In the past five years, Iran has been contributing to Afghanistan's reconstruction, and in the past five years, Afghanistan has been Iran's very close friend."
No,no,no. ABC got it all wrong. It is Bush who is actually supplying all the arms to the "freedom fighters". He needs an excuse to keep America over there. Same way he hid all those WMDs AND blew-up the WTC. Don't you guys watch CBC and the View?? Sheesh.
And Arafat was next in line for the Pope!Until those nasty Jooos did him in by sabatoging his surgery. In France. And why would the religion of peace have to resort to booby traps(the real name of IEDs) to get their point across?
Real cause of this crap? No one has the balls to call a spade a spade,and put these murderous a**holes in the ground,where they belong,except the Israelis,which is what PO's the leftie so much. They do. The lefties just talk. I still say we should have just let the French learn to speak German. And think of the money their white flag factories could have made.
I have said it here before, and I will say it again....Canada is in a de-facto state of war with Iran....it is time we took this s@#$ serious, and started treating Iran in the same manner we treated our enemies during WW2....there is no doubt that Canadians of Iranian descent are spying on the Canadian Forces in Canada, no doubt that Canadians of Iranian descent are supplying money to the Taliban....these people are our enemies, and it time we started acting as such...to any and all trolls(bob, iberia, alby)...go f@#$ yourself, and stick it .....if I ran into any of you on the street,you would know the wrath of a real man because of the support you have shown to the people who are KILLING Canadian soldiers...I personally have had enough of the moonbat/librano/dipper/coderre crowd...it is now time for all patriotic citizens to contribute something to the war effort...and one other thing idiots.....THERE IS NO OIL IN AFGHANISTAN MORON!.....GO ARMY!
a question for anyone to respond to.do any of you feel the political conflict between the left and the right in north america will reach a point where the seemingly increasing partisan hatred results in armed conflict?
Iran is a very dangerous enemy and about to become more dangerous when Wacko Amadiddypoo gets his big boomer cobbled up. He's the front man, the mad Ayatollah is the boss pulling strings in the name of Allah or whatever.
The whole world knows bloody well they're supplying arms and Taliban terrorists our NATO Forces are fighting.
Yes we are at war with Iran and we better get out of denial mode.
It has to be asked, has Jack Layton lost his mind?
I'll take Bush over any single one of the arses sitting in the Opposition Benches in our HOC at this time. They're a disgrace to all we stand for.
"a question for anyone to respond to.do any of you feel the political conflict between the left and the right in north america will reach a point where the seemingly increasing partisan hatred results in armed conflict?"
Nah!
As long as there's beer, burgers, welfare checks, Liberal TV and drive thrus we will carry on sleeping in our collective shoes...Western civilisation is doomed...The left already has won. Chamberlains are majority. = "It's all Bush's fault" (The last one of us left with some courage, even if it was often misguided, this misguidance was due partly to try to appaise the left)...So next time you here that old stereotype: "Bush's fault" then just retaliate that Bush's blunders were caused by the left.
I hate what we have become but I will fight to the death for our freedom if it comes to that.
Posted by: c.j.g.:
a question for anyone to respond to.do any of you feel the political conflict between the left and the right in north america will reach a point where the seemingly increasing partisan hatred results in armed conflict?
No, even our nuttiest nut-bar and wackiest wack-job (on either side of the political spectrum) are a long way from strapping 25 kilos of high-explosive to their stomach and walking into the nearest Timmies.
Kingstonlad....WHAT? No oil in Afghanistan???? OMG. You mean the left has been lying to us all this time? We are actually there just to kill terrorists,and allow girls to go to school, not support Halliburton? I am SO disappointed. How dare we kill those who are against everything we in the West cherish if there is no oil! What next? Darfur? Iran?
And you brought up that nasty "patriotic" thing. If you ain't drawing a welfare check,or wearing a diaper on your head,you ain't patriotic in Canuckistan.
And what is this WW2 you speak of? Wasn't that in Vichy and Norway?
Per Ardua Ad Astra
"Yes we are at war with Iran and we better get out of denial mode."
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai: "It is in the interest of our brothers in Iran to have a stable and prosperous Afghanistan."
So our soldiers are dying for a country that's trying to kill them?
""Yes we are at war with Iran and we better get out of denial mode."
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai: "It is in the interest of our brothers in Iran to have a stable and prosperous Afghanistan."
So our soldiers are dying for a country that's trying to kill them?
Posted by: Dave M. at June 7, 2007 8:58 AM "
Yes Dave, they are. Because a%%holes like the Dems in the U.S.,and the leftards/dippers/socialists in this country think it is better to talk then to actually stand up to a threat. At least you realize the absurdity of this. But do not dispair. The true soldiers of this country,and the U.S.,will soon be rid of your kind,as you hide behind your burkhas and sharia law.
We've already got two hot wars on the go - lets try not to add a third.
If the Iranian government is complicit in providing these munitions, there are better ways to deal with them than launching another war that we (literally) can't afford. Look to Reagan and how he fought the cold war for some good examples.
Taliban Jack is just a powerless utopian bozo blowing hot air with his putz swinging in the breeze where global power politics are concerned.
The inside track from the Bilberberg confab in Turkey last week has it that the western "powers that be" have sanctified a regime change for Iran.....this is a nice way of saying the world's largest and most influential banking and corporate interests will fund an Iranian over throw and whoever does it without setting off a neutron explosion will get bonus points and candy from the international banking/business cartels.
Already we see Turkey coming to the plate to secure the master's favor, ( and further their efforts to become an EU holding) by making some small border incursions against Iran this week.
Regardless of who is in the Whitehouse the US will be involved in cleaning up Iran's political instability...they need the bankers favor on their side to stabilize the over inflated US dollar... so the new pres will be taking Bilderberg/CFR marching orders.
Look to see a Iranian internal coup funded by the west and set up by CIA/MI6 and backed by US military massing in the Mediteranian and in new bases in Turkey...the new Iranian regime will ask these forces to come in and help police the smooth transition to democract systems.
I just love the inside dope that Journalist Jim Tucker has dug out of the Bilderberg meetings for the past decade...almost everything they have discussed comes about as fact within a year and a half.
WL, very interesting. I'd like to read more about this Bilderburg thing. Got any recommended links?
To Belisarius,
To not do anything is foolhardy and gives an obviously dedicated enemy the belief they can get away with anything.
In this case, Harper should come out with a public admonishment and put them on notice that if we find any further weapons in Afghanistan supplied by Iran that we will immediately close their embassy and legislate that no Canadians or Canadian Corporations may do business in Iran.
In and of itself the impact of Canada following through on that threat is minimal because of our limited trade relationship. However by making said threat publicly it creates debate in Europe and Iran cannot under any circumstances afford to lose trade access or FDI from the EU.
Matthew.
Dave said: "WL, very interesting. I'd like to read more about this Bilderburg thing. Got any recommended links?"
Google Jim Tucker or bilderberg.org
Warning: Now there is a lot of flakey peripheral consoiracy gibberish on the Bilderberg dot org site but it has lots of links to reliable sources.
Also Jim Tucker is a credible vetern journalist who has been reporting on the Bilderbergs foe years...even in the years when the MSM called him a conspiracy nut and denied the existabce of Bilderberg
The Bilderberg group is probably the most secretive and well heeled internationist policy tank...since the 50s the world's top bankers, media moguls, corprations and euro royalty with large international investment portfoilios have met once a year in secrect to discuss and develop policy which is mutially beneficial to their interests....now this does not seem overtly freaky...just a bunch of rich folks who like their privacy getting together to discuss things that protect their interests right?...well the thing that makes it creepy and also insideous is that these financial and media elites meet with the free world's top elected officials....thus we see big money, big business and big media exerting undue influence on elected officals in international policy making...add to this the complete air tight secrecy they have had until recently and it is cause for concern from democratic populists or constitutional republicans like.....not the tinfoil hat crowd....these people are real and the meetings are real and the policy initiatives discussed usually come about (strangely enough)
".....if I ran into any of you on the street,you would know the wrath of a real man..."
Posted by: kingstonlad
HAHAHA!! Thanks for the laugh.
The people in Iran are generally quite pro-western. The more radical mullahs and politicians are the problem, and they hold a veto over the country's democratic government. We need to do everything we can to quietly support efforts leading toward democratic reform. The radicals in Iran love it when the west threatens them. Iranians are patriotic, and like people in most countries they'll support a government they don't like against external threats.
We should definitely be engaging with the Iranian government and people. They could ultimately be a very powerful ally against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. At the same time, we use their own dirty tricks against the elements that are supplying munitions to terrorists in Iraq/Afghanistan (be it the government, or elements within the Revolutionary Guard or corrupt officials). They'll get the message if a munitions factory blows up, or a convoy of trucks just disappears without a peep, or rebels suddenly seem very well funded.
Iran has been very good at fighting wars by proxy. If they don't stop, lets beat them at their own game.
I have to disagree Belisarius. Iranians are largely sick of fighting wars started by their looney Mullahs and politicians...the current regime is universally hated by the people as it is drawing heat from the US Nato and the UN....now their whack job ideocrat government has been caught red handed supplying arms agaist an enemy the US and NATO are fighting...even Russia and China would not be cought in this situation and if the west did decide to invade to force a regime change they would not aid Iran.
The climate in Iran is ripe for a coup for regime shange...possibly a revolt but a coup will accomplish the same thing...particularly when I ramians despise the current regime so much....if that coup is carried off by democratic liberal Iranians so much the better...I ran wants to westernize but has be restrained by the mullahocracy and fanatic political regimes.
It will be easy to depose a bad regime there with the willing aid of Iranians....as you say as long as we don't leave big US fingerprints on the action everything will work out.
I think the only way for regime change to succeed in Iran is for Iranians to think it was their idea. As you say WLMR, no US fingerprints...
"Jack Layton is becoming as much of a war criminal for selling out our side in this war as Benedict Arnold was in his day."
I think a better comparison would be Oswald Mosely.
Belisarius for Minister of Defense. = TG
Thanks for the vote of confidence TG, but I think I'd prefer 50 lashes with a wet noodle to life as a politician.
wmlr iran is islamic. we in the west think there are muslims who will take action against the mullahs, that sir will not happen and if war breaks out because of iran then there will be tens of thousands of muslims making up a fifth col. in most western nations. it will be more than total war.
Somebody has to do something about Iran. If the US doesn't do it, the Israelis WILL.
And if that happens the moslem cavemen will go absolutely APE.
It won't be a long trip for them either.
When things do break, we will be helpless in our driveways.
Why are we so stupidly dependant on Chevron, Exxon-Mobile, and Petrocan in backward Canada?
Many Paris taxis run on compressed air. France is shipping 6,000 compressed vehicles to India. France bought 8,000 battery run p/us from California for French Postal delivery.
BendGovernment.blogspot.com
Municipalities are buying up plug-in Phoenix EV trucks so they will not be crippled by a sudden shortage of gas and diesel. fuels.
TonyGuitar.blogspot.com
Aside from BioFuel alternatives, why can we not buy these compressed-air and battery run vehicles in Canada?
Most hybrids are dead in the driveway too as they can not be run battery only without severe damage.
In a national emergency, [ no gas or diesel], all the trucks and vans owned by Canadians will be useless when they are most needed.
Should we move to France? .= TG
Wouldn't it be reasonable to return these materials/devices back from whence they originated? Say maybe some outdoor market in Tehran. At midday. From about 40,000 feet or so.
Perhaps the mullahs et al will be a little more careful with this stuff.
CRB