10-07-2007, 02:28 PM
|
#2
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Okolona, Ky.
Posts: 6,142
|
Petraeus tellin' it like it is...
Petraeus: Iran still fueling war
7 Oct. 2007 - Petraeus: Sectarian fighting could be the biggest long-term challenge for Iraq; Top U.S. general says Iran still supplying arms to militias in Iraq; He said Tehran must prove it is fulfilling pledges to halt weapons flow; Still, Petraeus says, "Al Qaeda remains the wolf closest to the sled"
Quote:
Although America's top general in Iraq called al Qaeda "the wolf closest to the sled," he said sectarian fighting among militias fueled by Iran could be the biggest long-term challenge for Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, in an interview with CNN's Jim Clancy near the Iranian border in Diyala province, said, "Militias could potentially be the long-term problem for Iraq, if you assume that we can continue to make progress against al Qaeda," Petraeus said.
He said he is in a "show-me mode," waiting to see if Iran honors a pledge to stop the flow of arms, money and training from Iran into Iraq that has helped both Shiite and Sunni militants. "Al Qaeda remains the wolf closest to the sled, if you will. The enemy that is always bent on reigniting sectarian violence, causing the most horrific casualties, damaging the infrastructure in the most difficult way. So you cannot lose focus on al Qaeda."
But, Petraeus added, there was "no question" that Iranian arms were ending up in the hands of the Iraqi militias and there was "no debate" that six Iranians detained by the U.S. military in northern Iraq are Iranian Quds force members, the Iranian unit accused by the United States of training and arming insurgents. "There's no question, absolutely no question that Iran is providing advanced RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], RPG 29s," Petraeus said.
"It has provided some shoulder-fired, Stinger-like air-defense missiles. It has provided the explosively formed projectiles and it has provided 244 mm rockets, in addition to mortars, mortar rounds and other small-arms ammunition." Petraeus also said the Iranians "are implicated in the assassination of some governors in the southern provinces."
MORE
|
See also:
Petraeus puts heat on Iran over Iraq violence
7 October 2007 - The US military commander in Iraq stepped up accusations over the weekend that Iran was stoking violence in Iraq and said Teheran’s ambassador to Baghdad was a member of the Revolutionary Guards Qods force.
Quote:
Washington accuses the elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of inciting bloodshed in Iraq and of training and equipping militias who have attacked US troops. General David Petraeus, speaking at a US military base about 30 km (20 miles) from the Iranian border on Saturday, said Iran was giving advanced weaponry to militias in Iraq.
“They are responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers,” Petraeus told a small group of reporters when asked if the Iranian government was responsible for killing US troops. “There is no question about the connection between Iran and these components, (the) attacks that have killed our soldiers.”
Petraeus did not say how he knew Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, was a member of the Qods force. “The ambassador is a Qods force member,” said Petraeus, before appearing to suggest that Kazemi-Qomi was not under the US military spotlight because he was a diplomat. “Now he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject (to scrutiny). He is acting as a diplomat.”
MORE
|
Last edited by waltky; 10-07-2007 at 02:38 PM.
|
|
|
Gates: Bombs tie Iran to Iraq extremists
Linear Mode
