Comments on: Iranian Techniques Tested in Iraq

By: Michael Hank

Michael Hank — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:59:38 +0000

For those of you who have never been in Iraq? How the hell would you know.…We were catching lots of insurgents moving in and about our AOR being “trained” on the spot by unidentified people, traicing them with ROV to their homes, picking them up and then some officer at a checkpoint not finding any evidence to hold them. Iranians have been using our weak point to bolster and expand their operation deep within Iraq for years.

By: Brian H

Brian H — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:31:26 +0000

Training is cheap and portable, and generally hard to track, so it’s a good option for increasing “friend’s” capabilities. As far as the simplicity of mortaring, are there or are there not different skill levels? If there are, training counts. Duh.
Iran is unquestionably destabilizing Iraq in every way it can; playing both ends against the middle is hardly a stretch. It would be surprising if it didn’t do so, actually. Figure Mookie’s outburst recently as pique that he’s not their only or main proxy there.

By: ajay

ajay — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:33:55 +0000

I presume Odierno has some captured Iranian mortarmen he can show the media.
No?
Or some captured Iranian trainers?
How about some mortars that can be traced to Iran?
How about, you know, any evidence at all? Because being fed a line of utter bull about Iraqi weapons by a decorated general* is what got us into this in the first place, so I’m not exactly keen to make the same mistake again. (*That would be Powell.)

By: Kniero

Kniero — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:54:11 +0000

"ellis said: Hey sglover, With your extraordinary grasp of geography and your super-fast typing skills, you'd be a lock for a job editing a site like this and informing us all of your vaunted opinions. Or a valuable asset to the intelligence community, or even advising the President. So why are you sitting in your basement shrieking at the screen about how unqualified the guys running this website must be? You're reading it. Who's the idiot?" One is not but a fool for visiting a transferrer of informational access, but one is (a fool) when considering such a thing without the level of prudence being considered "not a fool" warrants. As far as I know, understanding Iran's aggressive behavior as responsives to perceived threats as something "not evil" is workable. But, understanding it as "not evil" when they wish entire, legitimate parties "wiped off the map" isn't workable.

By: sglover

sglover — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:47:42 +0000

Look, to all you Clausewitzen talking about how Iran *really is* backing proxies in Iraq, all I can say is, No shit?!?! The point, geniuses, is that Iraq and Iran are neighbors — geographically, culturally, historically. It’s THEIR part of the world, not ours. If we believed that hostile powers were supporting proxies in what we consider our sphere of interest, we’d be doing *exactly* what the Iranians are doing. In fact, we did, in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
So how’s about you drop the breathless moral outrage about evil Tehran, unless you enjoy looking stupid, laughable, hypocritical.

By: sglover

sglover — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:44:33 +0000

By: Max

Max — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:17:41 +0000

Actually, the sniper rifles DID pan out. We just haven’t punished Iran for it.
We still haven’t dealt with repeated Iranian incursions into Iraqi territory.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1605487,00.html
Iranian Army units shooting at US Army units in Iraq haven’t been dealt with.
Components for the EFP are coming from Iran.
Today the Sun reported that Iranian helicopters are flying into Iraq fairly regularly.
The Iranians tried to seize Australian Navy personnel before British personnel were taken
If you don’t think that Iran is fighting a war against the US-you ARE A FOOL.
But we knew that about you Glover. You still think John Kerry would have done a better job.

By: ellis

ellis — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:17:23 +0000

Hey sglover,
With your extraordinary grasp of geography and your super-fast typing skills, you’d be a lock for a job editing a site like this and informing us all of your vaunted opinions. Or a valuable asset to the intelligence community, or even advising the President. So why are you sitting in your basement shrieking at the screen about how unqualified the guys running this website must be? You’re reading it. Who’s the idiot?

By: Les H

Les H — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:05:22 +0000

When are we going to get a stream of articles about the involvement of Saudi Arabia and Jordan in the Sunni insurgency and terrorist cells? For instance, two-thirds of the suicide bomb attacks are being carried out by Saudi nationals.

By: Hoax Meister

Hoax Meister — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:42:21 +0000

“Iranian tactics”?? Unless the Iranians invented the mortar, it sounds like basic infantry tactics–I see nothing that is uniquely Iranian about a mortar barrage.
The article did mention one important aspect to this situation. These Iranian-Iraqi networks most definitely date back to the Iran-Iraq war, where the Iranians used Shia and even Kurds to undermine the Baathists. Obviously, US intel knows this and is seeking ways to encourage those groups to drop their Iranian relationship in favor of a US one. It would be an interesting article that covered the extent of these relationships and how they have evolved in post-Saddam Iraq.