A text book example of framing an enemy, facts be damned.
The headline is unambiguous. Iran has been caught red handed shipping arms to the Taliban.
“It is inconceivable that it is anyone other than the Iranian government that’s doing it,” said former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.
So according to Clarke, it is inconceivable that the Taliban, who are largely based in Pakistan, and who historically received support from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, could possibly be receiving support from anyone but Iran. Yep, that makes for a perfectly logic conclusion.
Ok, but about the red-handed part?
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stopped short earlier this week of blaming Iran, saying the U.S. did not have evidence “of the involvement of the Iranian government in support of the Taliban.”
OK. Let’s try for best out of 3.
“This is part of a considered policy,” says the analysis, “rather than the result of low-level corruption and weapons smuggling.”
And we know this because…..??
The coalition analysis says munitions recovered in two Iranian convoys, on April 11 and May 3, had “clear indications that they originated in Iran. Some were identical to Iranian supplied goods previously discovered in Iraq.”
Why so ambiguous? If they recovered weapons caches, then surely they can identify the source. Either they originated in Iran or they didn’t. Which one is it?
And if a weapon originates in Iran, it can only mean one thing. By that logic, the US supports Hizbollah, seeing as Hizbollah are known to use M-16 semi automatics, among other weapons of choice.
Needless to say, when all else fails, one can always fall back on a previously debunked canard.
Also among the munitions are components for the lethal EFPs, or explosive formed projectiles, the roadside bombs that U.S. officials say Iran has provided to Iraqi insurgents with deadly results.
You can always tell when the “official government sources” have nothing. They use the Blairism that “they believe”.
“We believe these intercepted munitions are part of a much bigger flow of support from Iran to the Taliban,” the message says.
Translation: We don’t actually have any real proof where this stuff comes from but the US government “believes” the Iranians have been caught red handed. I guess it must be true then.
Note also that according to these writers, two vehicles constitutes a “convoy.”