During his official video-conference today, top US commander in Iraq General Ray Odierno again blamed the Iranian government for the continuing insurgency in Iraq, claiming that training was going on inside Iran and that the Iranians have been providing weapons and ammunition to Iraqi militants.
The charge is perplexing, given that the recent attacks have almost exclusively targeted Shi’ites and considering the strong ties the Iranian government maintains with the ruling Shi’ite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
In fact many of the victims of the violence of the last several months have been Iranian pilgrims visiting Shi’ite holy sites. The claim that the Shi’ite theocracy in Iran is funding Sunni insurgents in Iraq to kill Iranian pilgrims in hopes of undermining a Shi’ite government with which it remains close is bizarre, but an enduring narrative for US officials looking for a scapegoat for ongoing violence.
The latest accusation also comes at an odd time, as US officials attempt to dismiss the massive death tolls of recent days as irrelevant to the question of the nation’s security.
This has been troubling from the gitgo. Here we have another instance of our military (this started preinvasion with the activities of Bush admin officials) making declaritive statements about the Iranian involvement in something without offering a shred of proof. It's beautiful, just accuse the "enemy " – def. whoever you want to attack, of something and then it's true I guess.
Get this clown out of there, I'm sick of us trying to say we know what is going on over in other countries when we obviously have no dang clue.
Is there any US general left who isn't a joke, a jerk, a maniac, a toady or an imbecile?
CPB, I'm sure there are somewhere in the ranks but the one's that have been promoted to run this fiasco were the ones that lined up with the agenda of the last administration. The current admin may not be much better but only time will tell.
In any case I was serious about firing Odierno, Patreaus and anyone else near these guys. Find some new blood or at least someone that dosen't think they don't have to give straight answers to the press and the civilian leadership.