Time Out On US Causing Hostage Crisis

Drudge links a breaking Independent story suggesting that a "botched" raid by the US in Irbil is behind the reasoning for Iran to have taken 15 British sailors and marines hostage. But that story may not add up. See second link below.

In reality the US attack had a far more ambitious objective, The Independent has learned. The aim of the raid, launched without informing the Kurdish authorities, was to seize two men at the very heart of the Iranian security establishment.

The two men were in Kurdistan on an official visit during which they met the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, and later saw Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), at his mountain headquarters overlooking Arbil.

"They were after Jafari," Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of Massoud Barzani, told The Independent. He confirmed that the Iranian office had been established in Arbil for a long time and was often visited by Kurds obtaining documents to visit Iran. "The Americans thought he [Jafari] was there," said Mr Hussein.

Mr Jafari was accompanied by a second, high-ranking Iranian official. "His name was General Minojahar Frouzanda, the head of intelligence of the Pasdaran [Iranian Revolutionary Guard]," said Sadi Ahmed Pire, now head of the Diwan (office) of President Talabani in Baghdad. Mr Pire previously lived in Arbil, where he headed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Mr Talabani's political party.

This from CBS reporting at the time of the Irbil raid:

Last month, U.S. troops detained at least two Iranians and released two others who had diplomatic immunity. Two of those detained were visiting as guests of Talabani, his spokesman said.

That report demonstrates that US forces acted appropriately, if not indulgently, in accepting the diplomatic immunity of high level Iranians visiting Talibani. Given that, it's at least questionable if they would carry out a follow up mission for the very same purpose. The Irbil raid was publicized widely at the time and the Iraqi's knew who was and who wasn't seized.

And frankly, when it comes right down to it, just how often do high level intelligence officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard really need to be visiting Iran if they are not creating trouble for the US?

Comments

[Cernig]

Dan,

just how often do high level intelligence officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard really need to be visiting Iran if they are not creating trouble for the US? Umm, don't they live there?

If you meant Iraq, then as often as they like. Iraq and Iran aren't at war and as long as the sovereign nation of Iraq's government is aware of the visits then they technically have every right on their side.

Regards, C

[Capitalist Infidel]

What a shock, some far left wing fanatical paper blames the U.S. Just as shocking as the sun coming up in the east.

[Phoenix]

Iran gets its refined petroleum products from Bahrain. Cheney spent three days there just a short time ago. Halliburton is moving their world headquarters to Dubai - same/same as Bahrain. We have 2 CTFGs offshore of Iran with probably several subs watching their harbors in case they try to sink some tankers in the Straits of Hormuz.

The Jerusalm Post is saying the US will strike Iran on Good Friday. The Russians have been saying that for a week or ten days. The Russians did take all their techs out on some ruse about non-payment for services.

It’s very likely Iran took the hostages because they KNOW some good old United States of America “shock and awe” is coming their way and desperation made them take the Brits.

[CTFG] (2 of these are there)
1 Aircraft carrier
2 Missile frigates
2-5 destroyers
3-6 submarines
1 chopper carrier
1 oiler
2 general purpose troop landing type craft
3 SEAL teams
Plus additional craft and personal as needed. The figures are very fluid, but that's about the size of a Carrier Task Force Group.

[Phoenix]

Pentagon tests new bunker-buster —for Iran?
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 20:01.

The Pentagon conducted a test March 28 of a new ultra-powerful 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The MOP, carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives, delivers more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the BLU-109. Designed to be carried in B-2 and B-52 bombers and dropped from high altitudes, the MOP is guided by global positioning system navigation and has cropped wings for improved agility. The $30 million MOP development program is overseen by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in conjunction with Boeing Co. (AP, March 15)

This is the latest in the Pentagon's series of so-called "bunker-buster" bombs, which are the most powerful conventional explosives yet developed. The Russian press, which has been full of ominous predictions of an imminent US attack on Iran in recent days, sees the MOP test as a key step towards the opening of a bombing campaign. Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper featured a analysis of by Gen. Leonid Ivashov of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems March 28 (translated by BBC Monitoring), headlined: "Superbomb for Strikes Against Iran: Pentagon Equipping Itself With Weapons To Destroy Nuclear Installations."

Hopefully it is not necessary to comment on the Orwellian nature of the name "Defense Threat Reduction Agency."

http://www.ww4report.com/node/3480

[Phoenix]

I hope they do this while Pelosi is over there. Maybe Chinless will put her in Room 101 for her own safety. The wallpaper in Room 101 is pictures of Bush. Smiling. :)

[Buzzy]

So the Iranians supposidely took some Brits hostage because the US captured some of their military inside Iraq. Yeah, like thats a linear progression of thought! How about they took Brits hostage because if they took US soldiers hostage there wouldn't be a floating Iranian ship that wasn't burning in the entire hemisphere. Terrorist attack things they percieve as weak, the UK is weak and weak willed. Sadly although the US isn't weak yet we're heading that way quickly. The Congressional timeline to surrender sent a message that made every soldier's life more dangerous and well could have made every Americans life more dangerous.

[BobInStamford]

US shock and awe? That didn't work against the goatherders, why should it work against Iran. You sheep are deluded morons, just like your cowadly male cheerleading leader. Surge on!!

[Buzzy]

You sound like a broken record al Qaeda Bob, maybe a little frantic these days. Goatherders? Sounds like you have a racism problem going on.

[BobInStamford]

Frantic? Not in the least. You heros and the head cheerleader are being phased out. This takes time. Fun to watch you idiots and your silly little war implode though. Stay the course, patriots!!!

[Hillary Miller]

Maybe we should send Rosie over there - she seems to know everything - NOT!

[Fred Beloit]

BoobinBridgeport keeps trying to make the point that we have lost (past tense, guess he doesn't know it is still going on) in Iraq. Same old lame BS. V1. Iraq Army defeated in a few weeks. V2. Saddam deposed, tried, convicted, sentenced, executed. V3. Free elections held installing democratic government in Iraq. V4. Daily improvement in fighting spirit and effectiveness of Iraqi forces. Battles, yes, murders, yes, suicide bombers, yes (but they take care of themselves too, they only participate in one attack). This is called warfare and is not the same as defeat. Defeats = zero. The Dems want it badly, as does the Boob. But it hasn't happened yet.

[Fred Beloit]

Seems like the MOP Phoenix wrote about above will be just the thing to end Iran's burning quest for an A-bomb, when the time is right. What do you think, Ziffy, Inc?

[Zifnab]

"Maybe we should send Rosie over there - she seems to know everything - NOT!"

Sequetar, that was not.

"Battles, yes, murders, yes, suicide bombers, yes (but they take care of themselves too, they only participate in one attack). This is called warfare and is not the same as defeat. Defeats = zero."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/02/MNGCCOVUB41.DTL

"(04-02) 04:00 PDT Baghdad -- After a violent week that claimed the lives of some 500 Iraqis, and the weekend combat deaths of six U.S. soldiers, U.S. and Iraqi military officials acknowledged Sunday that it will take time for the effects of a much-vaunted security crackdown in Iraq to be felt.

The U.S. military disclosed late in the day that two Americans were killed Saturday night in a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad, and four others were slain in the same area a short time later in what was apparently an insurgent ambush laid for would-be rescuers. "

“You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it.”
~ Ho Chi Mein

What victories, Fred? We toppled a defunct dictator with vastly superior firepower to replace his reigme with civil war? There's a word for those kind of victories. Pyrrhic.

You might as well claim the Twin Towers beat the 9/11 hijackers by killing them in their own airplane.

But please, if it will get us the hell out of Iraq, tell yourself whatever lets you sleep better at night. Yeah, sure. We won. Horray. Mission Accomplished. Now lets go home.

[templar knight]

Sooner or later, the Iranian nuclear program will have to be dealt with, preferably before they have nuclear-tipped missles ready to launch. I'm for the easiest way possible to deal with them, and if it takes a 30,000lb. MOP to do the job, great. It's nice to know we have it, just in case.

And I'm not afraid of BrainlessBob's goatherders doing very much damage to us, not here in the US, or in the Straits of Hormuz. After all, goatherders can't do anything, according to BrainlessBob.

[southdakotaboy]

If this does start to go down while Pelosie is over there do we have to ask for her back or can we just let them keep her?

[Victor]

Pelosie? Are you retarded or something? Seriously.

[templar knight]

And you've never misspelled a word, huh, vic? Please, if that's all you have, go away. On second thought, go away, period. You bring nothing but invective here.

[Fred Beloit]

Why Ziffy, I never suspected until this day that the BoobinBridgeport could be one of your employees over there at Zifnab, Inc. Your post above describes the horrors the terrorists are inflicting and the deaths of some of our brave soldiers. You have this weird idea you have described a defeat, but you have merely described a battle.

[Fred Beloit]

Victor, Pillousey. Is that better?

[Fred Beloit]

Just followed your link, my good friend Zif. It led to, I should have known, the Frisco (they hate it to be called that) Chronicle. No wonder your fact and thinking are so messed up. May I suggest you try reading the WSJ?

[Zifnab]

"May I suggest you try reading the WSJ?"

Or I could just get my stock info from the intro-nets.

Regardless, there still isn't any victory in Iraq, even post-surge. Squeeze the numbers how you like, but the country isn't improving and crying about "defeatocrats" doesn't improve the situation. Throwing billions a week at government and military contractors doesn't improve the situation. Saber-rattling with Iran doesn't improve the situation. Nothing the Bush administration has attempted has succeeded. The game is up. Time to pack the bags and go home.

Also, Iran doesn't have nukes. Never did. Most likely they won't have them for the better part of a decade - unless, say, N.Korea sells them one. So all this bullshit about "let's blow up Iran so they can't make new weapons" runs about as logically as "let's invade Iraq to capture Saddam's WMD stockpile". There's nothing to blow up. There's nothing to capture. The weapons don't exist. Just an endless civil war and a giant pit that sucks up all our national blood and treasure.

[Steel]

...Iran doesn't have nukes...

Boy, I sure feel better knowing that.

Makes me feel ever so much more secure knowing military experts, such as yourself, are on the job.

You f*cking self-deluded moron.

[ET]

Hey Zif, I am opening my mind to your position, but I need some clarification. Please describe to me the situation in Iraq in the 30 days after we "pack the bags and go home".

[templar knight]

I want to know how Ziffy knows Iran has no nukes, and how he knows it will take them ten years to get them. Actually, he doesn't know a damn thing, and his conjecture is just that.

[Phoenix]

Look at the white Zif-Space here.

Always happens when you ask him a direct question. He disappears to go trash another post.

[templar knight]

Yep, trashing posts and goatherding is about all Ziffy is qualified to do, phoenix. But we have to look on the bright side, I suppose, at least he's good for something, well, at least he's good for nothing.