1115.org

(1) Suppose We Held A Security Crackdown And Nobody Came?
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday:

Al-Maliki … said Iraqi security forces would deploy in force this week as part of a U.S.-backed security sweep aimed at stopping the violence in Baghdad.

“The new security plan will not start from a specific area, but it will start from all areas and at the same time and those who will take part in it are from all formations of the army and police,” he said earlier in the day. The Iraqi leader has faced criticism that delays in starting the operation have allowed attacks that have killed hundreds over the past few weeks.

He doesn’t think it’s started, but we think it has:

The chief military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, said Wednesday that the much-anticipated Baghdad security operation was under way.

Did we just start without them? Weren’t the Iraqi troops supposed to be ingredient X in the new, improved Operation Here We Go Again?

(2) Expanding Our Argument

(A senior intelligence) officer said American intelligence analysts believe the EFPs are manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq on orders from the top of the Iranian government. He did not elaborate.

U.S. officials have alleged for years that weapons were entering the country from Iran but had stopped short of alleging involvement by top Iranian leaders.

So we are making the same kind of allegations as before, largely unsubstantiated by all accounts, and the only thing that’s changed is that we have brought top Iranian leaders into the ambit of the unsubstantiated allegations?

(3) How To Win Friends, Influence People, And Save Lives

The U.S. officer said Iran was working through surrogates — mainly “rogue elements” of the Shiite Mahdi Army — to smuggle the EFPs into Iraq. He said most of the components are entering Iraq near Amarah, the Iranian border city of Meran, and the Basra area of southern Iraq.

So we know exactly where they are entering Iraq, but for some reason we’re announcing that in carefully orchestrated press conferences and leaks, instead of doing anything about it?

No, wait! Here’s what we did: we asked the Iraqis to ask the Iranians to stop:

The U.S. officer said American authorities had briefed Iraq’s Shiite-led government on Iran’s involvement and Iraqi officials had asked the Iranians to stop.

So that should be all right then. We can move on to other things.

(4) The Silence Of The Sheep
From the BBC’s report of Sunday’s Triple-I briefing in Baghdad:

The BBC’s Jane Peel attended the briefing in Baghdad, at which all cameras and recording devices were banned.

And here’s WaPo checking in:

Reporters’ cell phones were taken before the briefing, and the officials did not allow reporters to record or videotape the proceedings.

Funny. Neither Reuters nor AP chose to mention this in their Sunday stories. But let’s not rush to judgment. Maybe they’ll tell us at some point if they think we need to know.

Unless, of course, the news world lucks out again with a demented astronaut, or the premature death of a Marilyn Monroe reincarnation. In which case, all bets are off.