There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.Haven't we been here before? Sketchy evidence, based on suspect intelligence, is being touted as absolute proof of malfeascence on the part a foreign government. And since that malfeascence is a security threat to the United States, pre-emptive military action may be called for.
"We have been able to determine that this material," especially sophisticated roadside explosives called explosively formed penetrators, "is coming from the IRGC-Quds Force," said a briefer, identified only as a senior defense analyst. Direction for operations using the weaponry, he said, came from the "highest levels" of Iran's government.
Asked by reporters yesterday to provide more information on the charge, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity." He called the Baghdad presentation a "very strong circumstantial case," saying he was "not going to try to embellish that briefing" and "any reasonable person . . . would draw the same conclusions."
White House spokesman Tony Snow offered similar responses. "Let me put it this way," he said. "There's not a whole lot of freelancing in the Iranian government, especially when it comes to something like that."
Sounds rather definitive, even damning. Of course Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies involvement. "While not denying that Iranian weapons may have been found in Iraq, Ahmadinejad implied that if they were, it was not his government's doing. We are opposed to any kind of conflict in Iraq." But we know he's a liar, and insane, right? So, are we in "slam dunk" territory? Perhaps not.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that he has no information indicating Iran's government is directing the supply of lethal weapons to Shiite insurgent groups in Iraq. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved," he continued, "but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."
Oops. Okay, with all this evidence of Iranian wrongdoing, someone must be on top of disseminating said evidence to the press & public. What say you, Tony Snow?
"Look, the Department of Defense is doing this. What I'm telling you is, you guys want to get those questions answered, you need to go to the Pentagon."
A call to the Defense Intelligence Agency brought a referral to the main Pentagon press office. That office referred a caller to the Washington office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, which responded with an e-mailed copy of Sunday's briefing slides -- containing no mention of the "highest levels" allegation and a request for questions in writing. Written questions brought no response. An official from the Pentagon Joint Staff said last night that Pace had seen the briefing slides but had "no personal knowledge of any senior involvement by senior Iranian officials."
Mmm-hmm. Why am I beginning to get a vague sense of déjà vu? Oh, maybe because of these types of statements about another rogue government:
President George W. Bush on Chemical and Biological Weapons:
"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories. And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."
--Source: Interview with TVP, Poland, White House (5/29/2003)
Vice President Richard Cheney on Al-Qaeda:
"Saddam Hussein had a lengthy history of reckless and sudden aggression. His regime cultivated ties to terror, including the al Qaeda network, and had built, possessed, and used weapons of mass destruction."
--Source: Remarks to Veterans at the Arizona Wing Museumm, White House (1/15/2004)
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Chemical and Biological Weapons:
"We do know that the Iraqi regime currently has chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction."
--Source: Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, House Armed Services Committee (9/18/2002)
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Chemical and Biological Weapons:
"And we made a case, I made the case to the United Nations just in February as to what we knew, and I showed drawings of a biological laboratory. We found that biological laboratory, now everybody can see it."
--Source: Interveiw with Italian TV Canale 5, Italian TV Canale 5 (6/2/2003)
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Chemical and Biological Weapons:
"Going into the war against Iraq, we had very strong intelligence.
I've been in this business for 20 years. And some of the strongest intelligence cases that I've seen, key judments by our intelligence community that Saddam Hussein . . . had biological and chemical weapons . . . ."
--Source: Interview with ZDF German Television, ZDF German Television (7/31/2003)
None of these people have ever lied to us, have they, in order to wage war against a nation that posed no security threat to the US...right? Fool me once, guys....
