Panetta Says Iranian Arms in Iraq Are a ‘Concern’

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

BAGHDAD — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Sunday that weapons supplied by Iran had become a “tremendous concern” for the United States in recent weeks in Iraq, where more American troops died in June in combat-related episodes than in any month since June 2008.

“We’re seeing more of those weapons going in from Iran, and they’ve really hurt us,” Mr. Panetta said before arriving here on an unannounced trip, his first to the Iraqi capital as defense secretary.

Mr. Panetta is the third top American official to raise an alarm about Iranian influence in Iraq in recent days. The American ambassador to Iraq, James F. Jeffrey, said last week that the United States had “forensic” evidence that weapons and weapons parts from Iran were being used by Shiite militias against American troops. His remarks were echoed two days later in Washington by Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr. Panetta did not elaborate on what the forensic evidence entailed.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/world/middleeast/11military.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. Who cares, we're leaving.

Let them flood the place with weapons, it's not like the US hasn't supplied other countries with military hardware.

[TomClash]

2. A concern to whom? nt

[still_one]

6. It is a concern because Iran is more fucked up than we are, and they can cause even more

destabilization than the mess we already created.

I am talking about an all out war between the Shia and the Sunni.

and yes, it is all about energy

[truth2power]

3. What makes the United States of Terror think they have anything to say about that?..

We invaded their country on a lie. Killed about a million of their citizens. Are still occupying the place, and we're yammering about Iranian arms.

We need to get out and take that monstrosity of a Green Zone with us.

[gratuitous]

4. Gotta agree

Where does Panetta think we have the credibility or authority to say anything about someone else's use of arms and violence? That's like being lectured on temperance by W. C. Fields. The other thing that occurs to me is that for the United States to be "concerned" about Iranian arms in Iraq, we have to forget all about that unpleasantness during the Reagan administration when we were supplying arms to both sides while Iran and Iraq were trying to kill each other.

I guess Panetta's concern has to be based on United States' arms suppliers being out of the money stream.

[truth2power]

11. Why yes...I forgot about the Iranian arms deal. But never mind....

For many years I've thought of the mind-set of our so-called leaders as akin to the RAM in your computer. When you shut it down for the day, everything in RAM is gone. Every day is a whole new world in that respect. Lucky for them.

[jwirr]

5. Was Panetta a warmonger in the Clinton administration? I don't remember

what he was doing then.

[somone]

7. And we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud either!

:sarcasm:

[Lasher]

8. Maybe Iran has Weapons of Mass Destruction Program Related Activities.

Eeeeek! Terra, terra! Oh the humanity, what should we do, Mr. Panetta? Do you think it would help keep us safe if we kept US troops in Iraq for ever and ever?

[Poll_Blind]

9. Cool story bro.

You can tell me all about it during the massive "Welcome Our Troops Home!" parade.

PB

[armodem08]

10. Same as it ever was.

[dmosh42]

12. Duh, is this what we need the CIA to tell us! n/t

[Nossida]

13. Any old reason to stay

We've been watching this 2 bit dog and pony
show for months now. Iranian Arms in Iraq?
No doubt a slight fraction of the number of
US arms in Iraq. And when we withdraw,
we will leave all that hardware there.

The US is begging Iraq to let them stay.
The Press has put Iraq back in the News
after a 3-4 year silence. And the death
toll has risen to 6100 US Service people
killed.