U.S. military: Iran still meddling in Iraq

U.S. military: Iran still meddling in Iraq
By Steve Lannen | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008


BAGHDAD — A top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said Sunday that the use of a lethal roadside bomb thought to come from Iran declined last week after a sharp increase earlier this month.

Ten days ago, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, noted a sharp rise in the use of explosively-formed penetrators. The sophisticated roadside bombs, which fire slugs of metal that can pierce even the most robust armor, are thought to come from Iran and have killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers.

At a news conference Sunday, Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said the use of EFPs has returned to "normal levels" after a brief increase in the first weeks of January. He couldn't explain the increase, nor could he say if Iran was behind the delivery of the weapons to Iraq.

Smith, however, said there's evidence that Iran continues to train and support Iraqi Shiite Muslim groups.

"We continue to see a negative influence by Iran," Smith said. "We clearly see their intent of training and financing continues."

Tensions between the Bush administration and Iran remain high. During his Mideast trip this month, President Bush declared, "Iran is a threat," and his administration and the U.S. military have accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Quds Force of training and equipping Iraqi Shiite militias that attack U.S. soldiers.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/25112.html

They couldn't let stand yesterday's report that IED's supposedly coming from Iran had subsided.

So is the US.

:eyes:

Of course they have an interest in what happens there, Iraq is RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.

We've spent decades "training and financing" fighters in other countries that we decided served our interests.

Guess that's not expected or tolerated in any countries that we think we can bully.

They just keep upping the rhetoric. It's disgusting.

US Military: If your C-I-C didn't still have you occupying Iraq, there would be no need to worry about what Iran is or is not doing there.

:eyes: