1115.org

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Partly, I have been distracted by things going on in my personal life the last couple of weeks. Partly, I have been overwhelmed by the rapid-fire pace at which huge amounts of smelly stuff have been lobbed at us by those consummate shitmeisters, the Bush administration.

Here’s what completely slipped my mind regarding the Iran-in-Iraq briefing story (or rather the story of the Great Disavowal Attempt that followed): The infamous anonymous briefing in Baghdad wasn’t really the launch of Triple-I. The media offensive to push this product really began the previous day, when the NYT’s current reigning media whore, Michael Gordon, published exactly what his administration handlers instructed him to.

His sources, please remember, were “civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies”. (Why does that sound like a White House task force?)

Somehow, well before a over-enthusiastic briefer stood up on Sunday February 11th in Baghdad and allegedly got carried away in response to questions, here’s one of the bleats the Gordon creature emitted:

An American intelligence assessment described to The New York Times said that “as part of its strategy in Iraq, Iran is implementing a deliberate, calibrated policy — approved by Supreme Leader Khamenei and carried out by the Quds Force — to provide explosives support and training to select Iraqi Shia militant groups to conduct attacks against coalition targets.’”

Not only was Gordon instructed to say that Iran’s actions in Iraq were specifically approved by the head of the “head leaders”, he was furnished a pre-fabricated quote so that he couldn’t possibly mangle the message by putting it in his own words.

Maybe the Bush administration should stop pretending that they did not make a concerted attempt to propagate this falsehood?

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Of course, now everyone is freely admitting that we have no proof whatsoever that the head leaders ordered the Quds force to supply weapons to anyone in Iraq. Naturally, Bush has manfully shouldered his part of this burden:

What we do know is that the Quds force was instrumental in providing these deadly IEDs to networks inside of Iraq. We know that. And we also know that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. That’s a known. What we don’t know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds force to do what they did.

Let’s be very clear about one thing. Even if you think Bush thinks he’s telling the truth there, the record of his own past statements makes it abundantly clear that he has a very different definition of words like “truth” and “proof” and “know” than most people you and I know.

So when Bush says we know that the Quds Force was instrumental in supplying the weapons, let’s remember that they haven’t really adduced any proof of even that lesser claim. He may know. Or he may think he knows. But at this stage we don’t know. Nobody, that is, apart from Michael Gordon and Joe Lieberman and, of course, the extremely credulous head leaders of the NYT. (Speaking of the head leaders of the NYT, if shitmeisters is the term for the producers of the stuff, what is the term for the eager consumers thereof? For all its occasional journalistic triumphs, the NYT has for far too long also led a secret life as a serial gobbler at the administration’s all-you-can-eat buffet. Why are there no consequences for Michael Gordon of prostituting the NYT to the administration’s purposes?)

Until the Bush-men actually produce some evidence that amounts to something resembling proof — either to the public by press conference, or to Congressional committees by classified briefing — we better maintain a steadfast skepticism.

I very much fear that, in the aftermath of the ill-fated briefing, all attention has been focused on the “head leaders” claim, and the Bush regime is managing to get away unchallenged on the lesser claim that the Quds Force is responsible for supplying weapons to anti-U.S. forces in Iraq. Even though it looks like they may not have anything resembling proof:

Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee emerged from a classified briefing Wednesday saying they wanted more information about Iran. The committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, said it was unclear to him precisely what the administration knows about the Tehran government’s ties to the weapons found in Iraq.

I think Sen. Levin just said that even after the classified briefing he doesn’t know that the administration knows “the Quds force was instrumental in providing these deadly IEDs to networks inside of Iraq”.

At this stage, it is all smoke and mirrors, even when it comes to the lesser claim.

Let’s also recognize that it is hardly surprising if Iranian weapons are floating around in Iraq. Nothing is proved by the mere existence of these weapons. The rival militias are obviously going to be battling it out with weapons. Since these weapons are not manufactured in Iraq, they are obviously going to come from other countries. Even Condi Rice would be willing to stipulate, I imagine, that the most likely source of weapons is a contiguous country.

So the question is not whether Iranian arms exist in Iraq, or even whether they are being used against U.S. forces. The key question is: if Iranian arms are being used against U.S. forces in Iraq, are they being supplied by the criminal segment of the free market, or by the government of Iran? The Bush regime has yet to step up to the plate and provide anything that resembles proof or evidence on this question to anyone. (Yes, that was a parting shot at Michael Gordon and Joe Lieberman, and the head leaders of the NYT.)

Previously:
February 16: Setting The Record Straight, Version 2.1
February 14: Setting The Record Straight, Version 2.0
February 13: We’re Not Fools; We Just Choose To Turn A Blind Eye
February 12: Baghdad Snippets