July 2, 2007

Media Breakthrough: Finally Admits We're In Proxy War With Iran

Hatched by Dafydd

I believe we're starting to see the first cracks in the media dike.

This New York Times story about the announcement by Multinational Force - Iraq today, directly tying Iran to the January attack on American troops in Karbala, is remarkable... Not for the accusation itself, which every reader of this blog or any other in the dextrosphere already knows about; but for the simple, straightforward way it is reported -- without evasion, defeat-mongering, or snideness:

In effect, American officials are charging that Iran has been engaged in a proxy war against American forces for years, though officials today sought to confine their comments to the specific incidents covered in their briefing.

When the Karbala attack was carried out on January 20 this year, American and Iraqi officials said that it appeared to be meticulously planned. The attackers carried forged identity cards and wore American-style uniforms.

One American died at the start of the raid, but the rest of the American soldiers were abducted before they were killed.

Some officials speculated at the time that the aim of the raid might have been to capture a group of American soldiers who could have been exchanged for Iranian officials that American forces detained in Iraq on suspicion of supporting Shiite militants there.

But while Americans officials wondered about an indirect Iranian role in the Karbala raid, until today they stopped short of making a case that the Quds Force may have been directly involved in planning the attack.

Even the headline is non-evasive: "U.S. Ties Iran to Deadly Iraq Attack."

The story is not written with the certainty that the elite media reserves for discussions of the guilt of Republicans charged but not yet convicted of crimes; but it's still a couple of parsecs away from the usual reportage, where this story would be titled "Iranians Refute 'Wild Accusations' of Complicity in Attack." A month ago, this story would have begun and ended with a large number of quotations from unnamed "Middle-East experts," who would mock the American claims as the pathetic flopping of a landed fish; and would abruptly shift on paragraph four to a lengthy recitation of every American soldier or Iraqi civilian who had died, been wounded, been frightened, or had a sprained nose in the previous 24 hours... what I call the Generic Litany of Defeat.

Rather, the Times reports neutrally, giving the evidence a fair shake; they devote a couple of paragraphs to the pro-forma Iranian denial, but again report it with verbal neutrality... and the paper even interrupts the Iranian pish-toshing to lob another accusation:

Previously, Iranian officials have said that the United States is fabricating evidence to back up its accusation that Iran is sending bombs and weapons into Iraq. Some critics have cast doubt on the American military statements about the penetrator bombs, saying the evidence linking them to Iran was circumstantial and inferential.

In remarks that were reported over the weekend, Iran’s defense minister, Mohammad Najar, denied American claims of Iran’s “military interference” in Iraq. “We have many times announced that we are ready to cooperate with the Iraqi government so to restore security and stability to that country,” Mr. Najar was quoted as saying in a July 1 report by the Iranian student news agency, ISNA. It did not make clear which remarks he was responding to. Today’s assertions by the American military spokesman, which were presented at a news briefing here, marked the first time that the United States has charged that Iranian officials have helped plan operations against American troops in Iraq and have had advance knowledge of specific attacks that have led to the death of American soldiers.

I believe we're near a tipping point, though I'm not sure which side of we're on yet. Here is the other coverage of this American charge against Iran that I've found...

Assocated Press:

U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said the Quds Force, part of Iran's elite Republican Guards, was seeking to build an Iraqi version of Hezbollah to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces - and had brought in Hezbollah operatives to help train and organize militants.

U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said the Quds Force, part of Iran's elite Republican Guards, was seeking to build an Iraqi version of Hezbollah to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces - and had brought in Hezbollah operatives to help train and organize militants.

"Our intelligence reveals that the senior leadership in Iran is aware of this activity," Bergner told a Baghdad news conference. He said it would be "hard to imagine" that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not know about the activity.

The AP story still includes the Litany; but this time, readers must read all the way to the end to find it. And when they do, they also discover this buried nugget:

An American soldier was killed Monday by an explosion in Salahuddin province, a center for Sunni insurgents northwest of Baghdad. The U.S. military also reported the deaths of five U.S. service members killed in fighting a day earlier, in attacks in Baghdad and western Anbar province.

But violence appeared sharply down in Baghdad and other parts of the country, amid an intensified U.S. security sweep aimed at uprooting Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias in the capital and areas to the northeast and south.

Reuters:

Bergner said the Qods Force was involved in a brazen attack in the city of Kerbala in January when gunmen disguised as Americans made their way into a government compound and killed one U.S. soldier and seized four others whom they later killed.

Washington has long accused the Qods Force of arming and training Shi'ite militants who attack U.S. and Iraqi soldiers but previously it said it was not clear whether these actions were carried out with the full knowledge of Iran's leadership....

"Our intelligence reveals that senior leadership in Iran is aware of this activity," Bergner told a news conference. "We also understand that senior Iraqi leaders have expressed their concerns to the Iranian government about the activities."

Reuters includes the Litany, but it's short and shoved to the very bottom of the story.

Washington Post:

The briefing by U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner laid out what he described as an extensive program coordinated by Iran's elite Quds Force, the militant wing of the Revolutionary Guard, to provide armor-piercing weapons, funnel up to $3 million a month to extremist groups and train Shiite militiamen in three camps near Tehran.

While U.S. officials have repeatedly alleged that sophisticated Iranian-made weapons are killing Americans in Iraq, and that the Quds force is complicit in the violence, today's briefing offered the most specific accusations to date of direct Iranian involvement in specific attacks against U.S. forces.

The general also drew a new link with Hezbollah, saying an operative arrested in March had spent the previous 10 months worked [sic] with the Quds force to train Iraqis after years of commanding a Hezbollah special operations group.

The Post does not include either the Litany or even any specific denials from Iran.

Could the elite media finally have concluded that the state of permanent denial of global terrorist threats, coupled with nakedly partisan assaults on the president, the military, and all Republicans and cheerleading for the Democrats, are the major culprits in the catastrophic drop in readership of American newspapers? If so, it would see they have also finally concluded that their own survival as media institutions is more important that solidarity with the leaders of the Democratic Party -- the Harry "Pinky" Reids and Nancy Pelosis of Congress, the Democratic presidential candidates, and most important... the screaming meemies in the sinister side of the blogosphere.

Elements of the bigfoot media at last admit that:

  • Iran is fighting a proxy war against America in Iraq;
  • That Iran and Hezbollah are intimately connected in a mini-Axis of Middle-East Evil;
  • And that there has been a tremendous reduction in civilian deaths as we have shifted from chasing terrorists to protecting the Iraqi population per counterintelligence strategy.

Can an admission be long coming that the Iraq war is also an intense battle in the war against al-Qaeda?

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, July 2, 2007, at the time of 3:05 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: rich

Here is another angle to this:

Iranian_Activity_In_Iraq

How facts are embarrassing anti war judges. Read these two unrelated articles:

Impunity for al-Qaeda The Implications of a Bad Ruling on 'Unlawful Enemy Combatants'
WashPost 7/2/2007

". . . Two of three 4th Circuit judges concluded that because al-Qaeda is not a state, Marri must be treated as a civilian criminal defendant. They claimed this position was supported by the Supreme Court's statement in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the war in Afghanistan is only an internal conflict -- and further claimed that the legal classification of enemy combatant, as opposed to civilian, does not exist in such conflicts. . . ."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/01/AR2007070100932.html

Then see:

U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants

". . . Iraqi militants are being trained and organized by Iranian security forces -- in cooperation with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia -- to carry out bombings, kidnappings and other acts of violence against Americans and Iraqi security forces. . ."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

Of course Iran is not supporting the Taliban and has no secret contacts with the Taliban. Judges can determine that issue because they have not been presented with admissible evidence of such actions -- WRONG!

Adventurous, irresponsible and power hungry judges are using unconstitutional powers to overturn the Congress's authorization to use military force against terrorism. And the United States is going to suffer because of their malfeasance.

The above hissed in response by: rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 2, 2007 3:22 PM

The following hissed in response by: Pam

I've said for about three months now that the MSM will begin covering the story more accurately not because they've had a change of heart, but because the MSM believes a Democrat will win next November and they are laying the ground work for when the next president doesn't withdraw the troops as promised during the campain. I don't know if a Democrat will win, God I hope not, but I do know we're not going any where for a long while.

The above hissed in response by: Pam [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 2, 2007 5:11 PM

The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael

We'll have to keep an eye out to see if you are right Dafydd, but the cynic in me notes the timing. It's a Holiday week... lots of folks who have the opportunity have taken the entire week off since the 4th falls on a Wednesday. 9-Day weekends! Whoo-hoo! Certainly the lead editors at the NYTimes and the wires have enough clout to swing the time off... nothing else important is going on with the end of the Immigration Debate, etc.

Oh sure Michael Gordon is still gets the by-line, but I wonder if the editor left on duty is a second or third string guy who just doesn't have the inherent sense of duty to 'fix' the article to fit the day's theme.

Hey, I SAID I was a cynic.

In any case, Time will tell. Or maybe Newsweek.

The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 2, 2007 11:24 PM

The following hissed in response by: yonason

DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP

But while Americans officials wondered about an indirect Iranian role in the Karbala raid, until today they stopped short of making a case that the Quds Force may have been directly involved in planning the attack.

It sounds as equivocal as they can make it to me.

While we focus on the positive sounding stuff IRANIAN ROLE, MAKING A CASE, DIRECTLY INVOLVED, the drones focus in on the negatives I’ve high lighted above.

These guys are pretty slick. They know that most people following this only need to have a couple of hints that it isn't legit., and that's what they will jump on, because that's how they have been trained for the last 6 years.

We who know better read that, and then wonder why the delusional left doesn't finally get it, unless of course we know how the press manipulates information and how the manipulated respond.

It's very subtle, but they have gotten so good at it that they are confident that even when they tell the truth it isn't going to change any minds, because they have been made up long ago. The positive cues will be tuned out by the ones they have snagged in their negatives net, and the negative cues will be tuned out by those who are caught in the positives net.

It's a technique used to split us. YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. Divide and conquer.

And tomorrow when they come back with more negative stuff that undermines this report, it will be like a treat to only reinforce the misconceptions their negative readers "know" in their hearts to be true.

So, don't get your hopes up. It will only make you dispirited when you see them dashed. And that is how they are training you, or trying to.
___________________________

p.s., - I tried to post a response to our discussion on Ms. Rice and Israel, but am unable to. Just letting you know so you don't think I forgot, or quit trying.

regards

The above hissed in response by: yonason [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 12:16 AM

The following hissed in response by: yonason

Oh, and I am NOT saying this is a conscious conspiricy. It is a mindset which has it's own unconscious dynamic. No conscious effort could be that effective.

The above hissed in response by: yonason [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 12:22 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Yonason:

To paraphrase a co-culturalist of mine (German Jewish)...

In spite of everything I still believe that people are not as stupid as the elite media thinks.

By November 4th, 2008, it will be crystal clear to everyone but the fanatics that we -- Americans, Coalition troops, and Iraqi Security Forces -- have won this war. We will have withdrawn 50% to 70% of our forces, not in defeat but victory; Iraq will be protecting itself from the remaining mufsiduuni; and Iraq will still be democratic and free, with individuals freer than anywhere else in the Middle East except Israel to live their own lives by their own consciences.

And the Democrats, feeling shame from the American public at last, will be spinning like mad to claim that they were against surrender after they were for it.

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 2:31 AM

The following hissed in response by: MTF

Dafydd, on this point I agree with you completely: shortly, and certainly by election day, it'll be obvious we've closed out al Qaeda in Iraq, and maybe have them on the defensive in most of the world. If Musharraf can only hold on long enough, even Pakistan might be redeemable (eventually).

The political fallout here at home from the success in Iraq will be interesting, since every single Democrat was in favor of becoming a Dhimmi colony of the Arabian ummah with the sole exception of Hillary. And she might just be the big winner, politically speaking, out of Bush's steadfast persistence in the war.

The Republicans should ask Petraeus if he has a party affiliation.

The above hissed in response by: MTF [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 6:33 AM

The following hissed in response by: MTF

I meant to say "every single Democrat candidate" in my post, since obviously not every single Democrat is in favor of going Dhimmi. Only about 98% are in reality, of course, and I regret the mischaracterization.

The above hissed in response by: MTF [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 6:38 AM

The following hissed in response by: yonason

DAfydd

"In spite of everything I still believe that people are not as stupid as the elite media thinks."

I agree they aren't stupid, but after years and years of lies that go unchallenged by Bush and Co., and repeated over and over by idiotiotic but popular talk show hosts, etc., it's hard to immagine there's no effect. And it doesn't have to be a big one, just enough to tip the election ever so slightly in favor of the Leftists masquarading as "Centrists," whatever they are.

What is hard to immagine, and gives one hope, is that it hasn't had more of an effect. In fact, I have been pleasantly surprised at how well Americans can withstand the MSM attempts to deceive us on the one hand while puzzled on the other by Americans' apparent tollerance of that.

I really shouldn't be surprised though, I suppose, because before I had access to an alternative point of view, and the time to work it into my world view, I had only vague suspicions that something wasn't quite right, with no clear idea of how serious the problem was.

"spinning like mad to claim that they were against surrender after they were for it."

LOL Yes, I can see that.

MTF

Only about 98% are in reality, of course, and I regret the mischaracterization.

Only 98%? Sheesh, and here I had been worried.

The above hissed in response by: yonason [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 8:11 AM

The following hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist

By November 4th, 2008, it will be crystal clear to everyone but the fanatics that we -- Americans, Coalition troops, and Iraqi Security Forces -- have won this war. We will have withdrawn 50% to 70% of our forces, not in defeat but victory; Iraq will be protecting itself from the remaining mufsiduuni; and Iraq will still be democratic and free, with individuals freer than anywhere else in the Middle East except Israel to live their own lives by their own consciences.

Perhaps even sooner:

Iraq takes step closer to landmark oil law

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's cabinet approved changes to a draft hydrocarbon law on Tuesday and sent it to parliament for immediate debate, taking a big step towards meeting a key political target set by the United States.

How did Reuters let that slip pass their 'Filters'...so to speak whilst questioning?!?

The above hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 3, 2007 8:52 AM

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