Venezuela's Chavez Denies Iran Troop Presence

[Judi Lynn]

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 27, 2010
Venezuela's Chavez Denies Iran Troop Presence
Firebrand Leader Calls U.S. Intel Report "A Disgrace" and an Attempt to "Justify" Future Military Action

(CBS/AP) President Hugo Chavez rebuffed a Pentagon report that found that an elite unit from Iran's Revolutionary Guard has a presence in Venezuela, warning that the United States could be looking for an excuse to attack his country.

Chavez on Monday called the 12-page report that was delivered to the U.S. Congress last week "a disgrace," saying "these are the things they raise and repeat in reports to later justify anything."

In the report, the Pentagon concluded that Iran's Qods Force, an elite unit within its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is well established and increasing its presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.

"It's totally false," Chavez said of the report's findings.

The unclassified Pentagon report did not include more details on what an increased presence by the Qods Force might entail. Pentagon officials have separately said that they do not believe Iranian terrorist proxies in Venezuela pose a threat to the United States.

More:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/27/world/main6435290.shtml

Also posted in LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4358075

[Judi Lynn]

1. No Iran military presence in Venezuela: U.S. general

No Iran military presence in Venezuela: U.S. general
By Phil Stewart
Reuters
Tuesday, April 27, 2010; 1:40 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. military official played down any role of Iranian special forces in Venezuela on Tuesday, saying Tehran's activities there were diplomatic and commercial in nature -- and not military.

His comments appeared to contrast with a Pentagon report sent to Congress earlier in April. The report said the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' elite Qods force had a growing Latin American presence, "particularly in Venezuela" -- a claim Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has strongly denied.

General Douglas Fraser, head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees most of Latin America, told a group of defense reporters Iran did not have a military presence in Venezuela.

"We see a growing Iranian interest and engagement with Venezuela. ... It's a diplomatic, it's a commercial presence. I haven't seen evidence of a military presence," Fraser said.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/27/AR2010042702935.html

[rabs]

2. "the 12-page report that was delivered to the U.S. Congress last week "

Judi, do you know the identity of the the Pentagon official who delivered the report to Congress? Seems like whoever it was overstepped his authority in making such an outlandish claim to Congress and he/she has now been put down by his/her superiors.

I was gone for a few days and did not see the story last week.

[naaman fletcher]

3. I agree..

It's a pretty bizarre claim.

[IndianaGreen]

5. There is a bunch of Bush era neocon holdovers still in Defense Department

with several of them switching into civil service jobs after the 2008 elections.

Obama has not done a thing to purge DOD of neocons.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Haven't seen it yet, it would be good to know. Here's an earlier article:

Iran's Quds force in Venezuela, Latin America: Pentagon
(AFP) – 5 days ago

WASHINGTON — Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has stepped up its presence in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, according to a Pentagon report to Congress.

The Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force "maintains operational capabilities around the world," said the report on Iran's military power, released Tuesday by the Defense Department.

The force "is well established in the Middle East and North Africa, and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela," the report said.

"If US involvement in conflicts in these regions deepens, contact with the IRGC-QF (Quds Force), directly or through extremist groups it supports, will be more frequent and consequential," it said.

The report said Iran's top priority is to ensure "the survival of the regime" and that Tehran has ambitions to position itself as a regional power, while expanding its presence on the world stage.

The elite Quds force, which serve under the authority of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has been accused in connection with a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year accused Iran of engaging in "subversive activity" in Latin America.

Venezuela, which accused Washington of meddling in Latin America, has denied the accusations and defended its ties with Iran as focused on economic cooperation.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jvXOYLKMt3NWFER4xXMlDPSTmhBw

~~~~~~
From "Before It's News:"

Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela Pentagon predicts U.S. clash with Islamist paramilitary

Contributed by Anonymous (Editor)
Thursday, April 22, 2010 12:05
|
Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon's first report to Congress on Tehran's military.

The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.

The Qods force "maintains operational capabilities around the world," the report says, adding that "it is well established in the Middle East and North Africa and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela."

"If U.S. involvement in conflict in these regions deepens, contact with the IRGC-QF, directly or through extremist groups it supports, will be more frequent and consequential," the report says.

The report provides the first warning in an official U.S. government report about Iranian paramilitary activities in the Western Hemisphere. It also highlights links between Iran and the anti-U.S. government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been accused of backing Marxist terrorists in Colombia.

• Click here to view the report. (PDF) and HERE to read more

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/35398/Iran_boosts_Qods_shock_troops_in_Venezuela_Pentagon_predicts_U.S._clash_with_Islamist_paramilitary.html

:wtf:

~~~~~~

22 April 2010 - 18H55

Iran's Quds force in Venezuela, Latin America: Pentagon

AFP - Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has stepped up its presence in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, according to a Pentagon report to Congress.

The Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force "maintains operational capabilities around the world," said the report on Iran's military power, released Tuesday by the Defense Department.

The force "is well established in the Middle East and North Africa, and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela," the report said.

"If US involvement in conflicts in these regions deepens, contact with the IRGC-QF (Quds Force), directly or through extremist groups it supports, will be more frequent and consequential," it said.

The report said Iran's top priority is to ensure "the survival of the regime" and that Tehran has ambitions to position itself as a regional power, while expanding its presence on the world stage.

The elite Quds force, which serve under the authority of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has been accused in connection with a 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year accused Iran of engaging in "subversive activity" in Latin America.

Venezuela, which accused Washington of meddling in Latin America, has denied the accusations and defended its ties with Iran as focused on economic cooperation.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100422-irans-quds-force-venezuela-latin-america-pentagon

From the Pipeline News, "The Right News....Right Now"!

Pentagon Study Sounds Alarm - Iranian Al-Quds Force Presence in Venezuela Increasing

http://www.pipelinenews.org.nyud.net:8090/readerimages/chavezred.jpg

April 21, 2010 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - According to a just released DOD report made available to Congress, the al-Quds force, the elite core of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, has markedly strengthened its position in the Venezuelan stronghold of dictator Hugo Chavez.

Al-Quds has been deeply involved in Islamic terrorism for decades including the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which was home to many American defense workers in the region.

The declassified report is available through the Washington Times http://media.washingtontimes.com/media/docs/2010/Apr/20/Iran_Military_Report.pdf> which details that, "it is well established in the Middle East and North Africa, and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela."

It is believed that as American involvement in the region increases, so will "contact" with al-Quds.

Unbelievably, despite ample public record of the increasing threat posed by Venezuela http://www.pipelinenews.org/2009/GAO-Study-Suggests-Obama-Buddy-Hugo-Chavez-Is-The-King.html, New York Times, Venezuela Buys Missiles With Russian Loan, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/14/world/international-uk-venzuela-chavez.html and PipeLineNews, Hugo Chavez: Friend of Holocaust Deniers and Drug Dealers, http://www.pipelinenews.org/2007/Hugo-Chavez-Fascist-Friend-Of-Holocaust-Deniers-Drug.html> especially as aided by Iran, Secty. Defense Gates downplayed its importance, saying that the information in the report regarding the rogue South American dictatorship was not a threat, "I certainly don't see Venezuela at this point as a military challenge or threat."

http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=chavez4.21.10.htm

(Love that photo! It shows the world how scary he REALLY is! I'm getting the hell out of here! Run! Hide! Which is it, is he a lazy, corrupt slob, as some dirtbags say, or is he a violent savage? Halp!

[rabs]

7. Did a rapid read of the 12-page, PDF report (from your link)

and only found a brief reference to Venezuela.

It looks like the Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz took the liberty of embellishing that one-sentence reference to infer that Iran Special Forces are in Venezuela. It is so typical of the Wash. Times, which as we know on this forum is fiercely anti-Chavez.

The author/s of the report itself is not attributed and it is an "unclassified" report on Iranian military capabilities. You would think that such a report would be highly classified.

I tend to agree with IndianaGreen that it may have come from holdover neocons in the Pentagon, but I also think that it smacks of propaganda from the powerful Israeli lobby in Washington.

Whatever the case may be, the Pentagon has issued a disclaimer. Wonder if the Wash. Times will backtrack too.

[Judi Lynn]

8. It makes one dizzy trying to imagine how ANYONE can get that dirty.

Anyone except Bill Gertz! He's been driven to make up as many lies as possible, as if he considers it his mission to start a war by his own efforts. Hideous, famously dishonest man.

He has always been totally protected, too, even though the whole world knows he's dishonest, and cheap.

http://www.gertzfile.com.nyud.net:8090/gertzfile/biophoto-3.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_hntojuBOgo0/RnxB4o2kYDI/AAAAAAAAAcU/jV4VDMFhdME/s200/BillGertz.jpg

Gee, he sure looks great now he has contacts!
Thanks for the information on that report. Am sickened to hear that's how they got that crap. Of course we know they do it on less than that, too!

Washington Times. It really figures.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Looks like our anointed Dear Leader is getting ready to invade Venezuela, like Poppy Bush did Panama

Not much outrage about the US killing a lot of civilians during our invasion of Panama. Not outrage at all when it come to the US overthrowing the government of a sovereign nation just because its President stopped taking orders from CIA.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Iran's elite force expanding influence in Venezuela, claims Pentagon

Iran's elite force expanding influence in Venezuela, claims Pentagon
Hugo Chávez dismisses as a 'disgrace' the US report claiming Iran's Revolutionary Guard is making inroads into Latin America
Rory Carroll in Caracas guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 April 2010 19.09 BST

~snip~
Without naming Venezuela, the report said Qods forces overseas were posted in Iranian embassies, charities and Shia religious and cultural institutions. In addition to humanitarian support, the agents promoted "paramilitary operations to support extremists and destabilise unfriendly regimes".

The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has warned Latin America to steer clear of Tehran's embrace. But Washington has given mixed signals over how gravely it views the relationship.

In recent years, the Pentagon has said Hezbollah and other alleged Iranian terrorist proxies in Venezuela did not pose a threat to the US. American officials in the capital, Caracas, have said the same thing.

There is no independent evidence of Iranian military involvement in the oil-producing south American country. Many of the economic accords signed by Chávez and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have stalled, raising a question mark over the alliance.

On a visit to the region earlier this month, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, played down Iran's influence. "I think it makes for interesting public relations on the part of the Iranians, the Venezuelans. I certainly don't see Venezuela at this point as a military challenge or threat."

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/27/iran-venezuela-pentagon-report