Petraeus on Iranian involvement in Iraq
He and Ambassador Crocker had a press conference this morning where this issue came up. From the WaPo, this was his response to reporters inquiries to the point he was making:
Asked whether his testimony about Iran could be viewed as part of a campaign to build toward an attack, Petraeus said: "I'm not blaming Iran for all that's gone wrong in Iraq." But he said Iran has contributed to sophisticated attacks in Iraq that otherwise would not be possible, including strikes with armor-piercing "explosively formed projectiles" and 240mm rockets.
"The evidence is very, very clear," Petraeus said. He cited documents discovered during the capture in March of Qais Khazali, a Shiite Muslim militant with ties to the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the arrest of a deputy commander of Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite group supported by Iran. Petraeus said the evidence links Iran to an attack in Karbala in January that resulted in the deaths of five U.S. soldiers.
Under interrogation, Khazali was asked if he could have carried out that attack without Iranian support, Petraeus said in the news conference. "He literally throws up his hands and laughs and says, 'Of course not,' " the general said.
Khazali and other captives have told U.S. investigators about funding, training, weapons and ammunition they had received from Iran, he said.
A videotape of the Khazali interrogation was shown to Iraqi leaders, "several of whom then went to Iran and made their case, quite forcefully, about their concern of Iranian involvement," Petraeus said.
In response to another question, Petraeus said he and Crocker agree that "you can't win in Iraq . . . just in Iraq." Rather, success requires "greater involvement with respect to some of the neighboring countries, some of the source countries for foreign fighters," he said. "And it certainly involves Iran."
Let's face facts here folks. Iran is using it's elite Quds forces and Hezbollah to wage a proxy war in Iraq against the US and coalition forces. The fact that they caught Khazali and he admitted that he was there at Iran's behest and they were funneling fighters, weapons, and supplies to the militants in Iraq is most telling. The Iranians are practically bragging about it. And he is right with regard to the region. We need involvement to stabilize the region, and part of that involves dealing with Iran. We may not like having to do it, but we can't allow them to continue their efforts to destabilize nations like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.
Oh, and he has an answer to MoveOn.org's idiotic ad, as well, as Real Clear Politics picks up this morning. Allah linked to it, too.
"Needless to say, and to state the obvious, I disagree with the message of those who are exercising their First Amendment right that generations of soldiers have sought to preserve for Americans. Some of it was just flat, completely wrong and the rest is at least more than arguable."
In other words, and not to put too fine a point on it, "You're welcome."
Publius II
Asked whether his testimony about Iran could be viewed as part of a campaign to build toward an attack, Petraeus said: "I'm not blaming Iran for all that's gone wrong in Iraq." But he said Iran has contributed to sophisticated attacks in Iraq that otherwise would not be possible, including strikes with armor-piercing "explosively formed projectiles" and 240mm rockets.
"The evidence is very, very clear," Petraeus said. He cited documents discovered during the capture in March of Qais Khazali, a Shiite Muslim militant with ties to the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the arrest of a deputy commander of Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite group supported by Iran. Petraeus said the evidence links Iran to an attack in Karbala in January that resulted in the deaths of five U.S. soldiers.
Under interrogation, Khazali was asked if he could have carried out that attack without Iranian support, Petraeus said in the news conference. "He literally throws up his hands and laughs and says, 'Of course not,' " the general said.
Khazali and other captives have told U.S. investigators about funding, training, weapons and ammunition they had received from Iran, he said.
A videotape of the Khazali interrogation was shown to Iraqi leaders, "several of whom then went to Iran and made their case, quite forcefully, about their concern of Iranian involvement," Petraeus said.
In response to another question, Petraeus said he and Crocker agree that "you can't win in Iraq . . . just in Iraq." Rather, success requires "greater involvement with respect to some of the neighboring countries, some of the source countries for foreign fighters," he said. "And it certainly involves Iran."
Let's face facts here folks. Iran is using it's elite Quds forces and Hezbollah to wage a proxy war in Iraq against the US and coalition forces. The fact that they caught Khazali and he admitted that he was there at Iran's behest and they were funneling fighters, weapons, and supplies to the militants in Iraq is most telling. The Iranians are practically bragging about it. And he is right with regard to the region. We need involvement to stabilize the region, and part of that involves dealing with Iran. We may not like having to do it, but we can't allow them to continue their efforts to destabilize nations like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.
Oh, and he has an answer to MoveOn.org's idiotic ad, as well, as Real Clear Politics picks up this morning. Allah linked to it, too.
"Needless to say, and to state the obvious, I disagree with the message of those who are exercising their First Amendment right that generations of soldiers have sought to preserve for Americans. Some of it was just flat, completely wrong and the rest is at least more than arguable."
In other words, and not to put too fine a point on it, "You're welcome."
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:05 PM
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