DoubleEdgeSword
Feb 15th, 2007, 02:21 AM
NPR.org (http://www.npr.org/), February 14, 2007 ·
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There has been an ongoing debate within the administration regarding the role of the Iranian government in Iraq, and the growing number of roadside bombs that are killing Americans at a rapid rate. U.S. intelligence has linked the bombs to the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The conclusion by the White House is that the Quds Force is getting its marching orders from the leaders in Tehran, but Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said he was not ready to make that connection.
Mr. Bush said Wednesday that whether or not it can be proven that the Iranian government was directly involved, the fact remains that the weapons are in Iraq and are killing Americans, and that he, the president, is "going to do something about it." A more pointed question, whether the administration was getting the same kind of faulty intelligence about Iran that it got during the "weapons of mass destruction" debate in Iraq – and whether the intelligence was being manipulated as a "pretext to war" — was also dismissed by the president as missing the point.
"What's worse," Mr. Bush asked, "them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening?"
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7408301
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There has been an ongoing debate within the administration regarding the role of the Iranian government in Iraq, and the growing number of roadside bombs that are killing Americans at a rapid rate. U.S. intelligence has linked the bombs to the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The conclusion by the White House is that the Quds Force is getting its marching orders from the leaders in Tehran, but Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said he was not ready to make that connection.
Mr. Bush said Wednesday that whether or not it can be proven that the Iranian government was directly involved, the fact remains that the weapons are in Iraq and are killing Americans, and that he, the president, is "going to do something about it." A more pointed question, whether the administration was getting the same kind of faulty intelligence about Iran that it got during the "weapons of mass destruction" debate in Iraq – and whether the intelligence was being manipulated as a "pretext to war" — was also dismissed by the president as missing the point.
"What's worse," Mr. Bush asked, "them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening?"
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7408301