Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad By Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is escalating its confrontation with Iran, sending an additional aircraft carrier and minesweepers into the Persian Gulf as it accuses the Islamic regime in Tehran of arming Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq for attacks on American troops.
The fact that some Iranian weaponry is flowing to the Mahdi Army, and that Mahdi Army fighters have attacked Americans, doesn't prove that the Iranians are targeting Americans, said a second U.S. intelligence official, who also agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity.
Moreover, a third intelligence official said, Iraq is awash in weapons purchased by Saddam's regime and never secured by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion. Plenty of Iranian weapons are also "floating around" because the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps created the militia of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and forces loyal to the Dawa party of U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, the official added.
Further compounding the problem, the three U.S. intelligence officials said, is that the Bush administration supports not only Dawa's Maliki, but also two major SCIRI leaders, Abdul Aziz al Hakim and Abdul Adel Mahdi, who are also in the government.
"So what do we do?" said one of the officials. "Accuse the Iranians of supporting the same guys we support? That's awkward."
Moreover, a third intelligence official said, Iraq is awash in weapons purchased by Saddam's regime and never secured by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion. Plenty of Iranian weapons are also "floating around" because the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps created the militia of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and forces loyal to the Dawa party of U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, the official added.
Further compounding the problem, the three U.S. intelligence officials said, is that the Bush administration supports not only Dawa's Maliki, but also two major SCIRI leaders, Abdul Aziz al Hakim and Abdul Adel Mahdi, who are also in the government.
"So what do we do?" said one of the officials. "Accuse the Iranians of supporting the same guys we support? That's awkward."
My View of It is that Bush is a meglomaniac who is going to get us all killed! Why the hell is he messing with Iran knowing they can have nuclear weapons up an running in a relatively short period of time, all they need is some uranium and we are all screwed!
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