IRAN: War fears spike after Mullen remarks

The barometer of tensions between Iran and the United States went up a notch or even two today as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael G. Mullen accused Iran of stepping up weapons and training to its surrogates in Iraq despite promises to stop doing so.

Los Angeles Times Pentagon correspondent Julian E. Barnes is following the story from Washington:

...Mullen said there was not a massive infusion of weapons but said over time there had been "a consistent increase" in arms shipments. Speaking at a morning news conference, Mullen said weapons had been intercepted in Iraq that showed evidence of relatively recent manufacture in Iran...

Also today came word of another possible confrontation between U.S. forces and Iranians in the Persian Gulf. According to the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, an American contractor fired approaching speedboats that identified themselves as Iranian vessels. Iranians said no such incident took place.

Insiders say Mullen is no warmonger. They say Mullen is not eager to get America's overstretched military embroiled in a war with a country three times bigger than Iraq.

He insisted in a press conference today that it was Iran, not the U.S. stirring up trouble:

I have no expectation that, you know, that we are going to get into a conflict with Iran and in the immediate future. But I am concerned over time just in these last couple of years, you know, the tensions continue to rise. Iran does not respond. And in fact, they seem to be ratcheting it up in terms of their support for terrorism. And I am concerned about where that goes in the long term.

Mullen underlined the topic by beginning his opening remarks at the press conference with a sternly worded announcement about Iran:

First, on Iran, I've been clear lately that I'm extremely concerned about what I believe to be an increasingly lethal and malign influence by that government and the Qods Force in particular in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. I believe recent events, especially the Basra operation, have revealed just how much and just how far Iran is reaching into Iraq to foment instability. Their support to criminal groups in the form of munitions and training, as well as other assistance they are providing and the attacks they are encouraging, continues to kill coalition and Iraqi personnel. The Iranian government pledged to halt such activities some months ago. It's plainly obvious they have not. Indeed, they seem to have gone the other way.

He said that there would be evidence forthcoming demonstrating Iran's involvement in Iraq: 

MULLEN: I know that General [David] Petraeus is preparing a briefing which, I would expect, he'll give in the next couple of weeks. That would get into the kinds of details that you asked specifically. Some of it has shown me though that some of the weapons are recently not just found but recently manufactured.

QUESTION: What specific evidence though is there on that date issue?

MULLEN: Usually when you manufacture weapons, there's a time/date stamp that's put on. And it's that kind of evidence or that kind of detail that's typically available when you pick up weapons in a cache discovery.

QUESTION: Admiral, there are reports this morning that some of those weapons were stamped with dates of only two months ago. Are you aware of that?

MULLEN: I'm aware that some of the weapons — and again Jim, I haven't been through this in great detail. But I'm aware that some of the weapons found are very recent.   

So is the U.S. planning a war with Iran? Beltway insiders say no. The uniformed military is genuinely concerned by Iran's alleged actions in Iraq.

Mullen himself stressed that the "solution right now still lies in using other levers of national power, including diplomatic, financial and international pressure" to persuade Iran to change its ways.

But ironically, his comments may have helped energy-rich Iran fill its coffers by causing oil prices to shoot up on concern another Middle East conflict will disrupt supply lines and production.

— Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

Photo: Adm. Michael J. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Credit: Pentagon website

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Comments

[poetryman69]

Anyone who wants cheaper fuel prices needs to ask his representatives
at the local, state, and federal levels, what are their plans and
policies for Energy Independence. If they don't have any, don't
vote for them. They are costing you money and in the future they
may cost you your freedom. We need to stop paying dictators,
terrorists, and tyrants oil money. We have all the coal, oil,
nuclear power, and liquid natural gas we need to be come
energy independent. In addition, a healthy investment in
alternative sources will keep Energy Independent for the
foreseeable future. If we aren't in the business of fighting oil wars, then incentive for a war with Iran goes away.

[tarquinis]

I returned from Iran last week, and spent a very enjoyable two weeks in Isfahan. It is a beautiful old city, now growing rapidy with much new construction, including a major underground mass transit system. It really is like a muslim Paris, built around the Ziande river.

It was my second trip to Iran in the past two years, purpose being to spend some time with my wife and her family who live there. I was widely greeted with hospitality, including from soldiers, most of whom recognized me as an American.

While it is true that most do not favor the current Mullah regime, including the vast demographic buldge of youth under the age of 30 who constitute around 70% of the population, and while I do not care to act as an apologist for the political situation, let me assure any objective person that Mullan and Gates are correct in the honest statement that a third wasting war, this time against Iran, would certainly constitute a total disaster for America, and via petroleum economics, the entire world.

And this for a leakage of a few low tech weapons into Iraq, and the allegation that Iran is interferring in Iraq? While we of course have a vast army occupying and dominating Iraq? Iran is a neighboring country with whom Iraq shares borders, history good and very bad under Saddam, economics, Shiia government with their strong support for Maliki, and needs for regional stability. Iran just last week assisted the Maliki government in putting an end to the al-Sadr fighting in Basra, in coordination with our government I might add.

So I hope cooler heads will prevail and there will be no new war, the consequences and blowback of which are impossible to evaluate except to note that it would certainly be very bad, and could constitute our doom.

[William Foster]

What a load of rubbish. Why on earth would Iranians be stupid enough to put their own stamp on any weapons and munitions sent into Iraq. What's next? A presentation showing "made in Iran" stamps?

[Charlie O]

Who trusts the US goverment ? where is the accountability? War with Iran before this administration elaves office would be a great excuse to suspend our rights further , as we run chasing our tales to fill up.. remeber we are all guilty for the lack of accountability.. what they are doing is criminal..nothing will come as a suprise.. lets see how long before they brake the camels back and what will be left what kind of world are they hoping to leave? you want to see evil look at this administration.. put the self intrest aside and take a look at what we have become ..
it's shameful

[RJ Earle]

Andy, your description of middle east history is simplistic and filled with half-truths as well as a few lies. Granted one can't explain anything relating to these issues in a short paragraph, but if you make claims like this, you should present the other side of the stories, else you're effectively lying. You also shouldn't present rumors as fact--the internet is filled with such bs and just because you can find places that support outrageous claims doesn't mean they're true. In any case, the US and every other country involved in such issues (including Iran) always do what is in their best interests at the time, and always will. Iran is attracting the attention of US submarines, etc because of what it has done, threatens to do, and its long term goals. There are reasons French Polynesia, Lichtenstein, Canada, Iceland, and most other countries are NOT being harassed by the US. "Feelings" have nothing to do with it. Take off your rose-colored glasses and stand for something that needs and deserves defending (our culture and citizens), think about what the next ten or twenty years will bring us if we cry "Peace in our time" like Chamberlain (100,000,000 dead as a result) instead giving knee-jerk reactions to the here and now. You can't hope for the best and do nothing simply because there are painful consequences of an action. There are negatives to every action, but failure to take action of some kind leaves a vacuum into which some of the hellacious societies and fanatics of the world will expand.

[bertoldbrecht]

RE .: Posted by: Shaun | April 25, 2008 at 03:41 PM

Shaun Israel can be fully on its own. Americans ,who wanna help are welcome over there . Other Americans
should not risk life and limb for israel (neither iraq orelsewhere)

Pounding every 5 -10 years is certainly the right idea ,but iran has multiple sites , undiclosed location,mostly under University and/or Hospital
compounds etc.
And worse as they become N-capable they will not launch
until tehy have the retaliation protected by uman shields.
They are as Evil as the Japanese were 1932-1945
or as the Naizigermans were 1939-1945

So Adm.Fallon once said, we need to cruch them like ants once the day is coming

[Mara]

Why in the world should we believe a word these people have to say? DId anyone happen to read the well documented 11 page report in the NYT? Remember that nuclear build-up in Iran? Remember those weapons of mass destruction? Yellow cake uranium?

But I have to agree that Iran does have considerable influence. After spending $2 Trillion dollars. losing 4000 American lives, and bringing home 100,000 disabled vets - and the famous surge - what do we have to show? OUR guy in Bagdad goes to IRAN to help negotiate a ceasefire in Basra. So can someone explain what we are doing there? And what the surge accomplished? And what my money went for? And what more lives and money will go toward? And where new troops are going to come from for another war? Can you spell DRAFT?

[jahlen]

I think the Iran/Iraq situation begs a question:

The U.S. fought a protracted war in South East Asia against a well-supplied foe. If that supply of weapons had been halted, the outcome of the war would have been very different.

Who supplied the weapons? The Soviet Union and China. How was it that we were able to continue in a war that took the lives of over 50,000 Americans and not expand it and fight the nations that provided support to the enemy?

I'll just leave it at that.

[Randy]

People who seem to "Recognize Evil" seem only to see it in others but not us. This is a pathology that the Nazis had as well. They never saw themselves as evil when they pre-emptively "freed" Poland, Austria, etc.

We are heading down the same path. If we pre-emptively bomb Iran, this country will have lost any right to claim to be a civilized nation. We need to learn to work with other countries not bomb them. Since we are so proud of being Christian, what would Christ do in this situation? What did he teach in the Sermon on the Mount?

One million Iraqis dead, two million refugees, and a totally destroyed economy. We created this. Why is there no accountability? Who is the real evil?

[Nikos Retsos]

This war drumbeat by the U.S. against Iran has been going on intermittently for 5 years, and the Iranians don't seem to be concerned at all. Russian air force generals have assured the Iranians that their 29 modern anti-aircraft batteries they installed in Iran can take care of U.S. attack aircraft. In addition, Iran has tested successfully medium range missiles, and it probably has enough in stock to rain on U.S. warships in the Gulf. If the U.S. could attack Iran with impunity - like it did with Iraq- it will have done so a long time ago.
And it actually sound quite foolish to me for the U.S. to
keep repeating threats that they should have learned by now that Iran is not scared - for the reasons stated above.

We, however, the consumers, should be scared more than Iran. The threats make the supply of oil markets jittery, and we pay for that in the pumps at more than $ 4 a gallon. Good for Bush, Cheney and other republican fat cats with heavy investments in oil, but bad for the rest of us. And if a war starts with Iran, oil will shot up to $ 6-7 a gallon, and there will be instant millionaires in the wealthy oil traders circles, and desperation at the pump for the rest of us. Nikos Retsos, retired academic.

[Jim]

I can't believe all of the America haters here. Karpy is absolutly right when he states "Perhaps because they do indeed recognize the evil flowing in the world, and recognize a kinship with it."
After all Einstein said " The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."
All of you that blame America for all the worlds problems are pathetic.

[Dose of Reality]

Wow. So many naive individuals that will eventually be demanding to know why our government didn't do something to prevent what will certainly happen with their rose-colored, non-agressor diplomacy. Very sad.

[Karpy]

To those who love to misunderstand and quote Eisenhower, I would suggest you take what the Good Admiral says here at face value. Take a deep breath and re-read the above. He is telling simply that Yes, Iran is killing our people and our allies, and No, we are NOT going to war with them. The world knows America does not have the will to defend herself or her allies, just as Bin Ladin promised. The hand wringing, blame America first crowd has them all laughing at us.

[Andreas]

Karpy wrote: "Perhaps because they do indeed recognize the evil flowing in the world, and recognize a kinship with it."

Actually I do recognize evil and people like you are at the epicenter. If the whole world had your view - that it's OK to go around the world and attack and kill anyone that might potentially be a threat to you - well then I suppose we'd all be dead. But I guess not - only those with the biggest weapons get to kill. The old "might makes right" theory.

Yes, and those supporting peace, cooperation and human rights are the evil cowards, but those dropping bombs from 30,000 feet in impenetrable fortresses on civilians and babies, they are the saintly heroes, right? More double-speak.

And that to you is "good"? That is tyranny and dictatorship. Whoever voted for the US to attack Iraq, and who is asking the US to attack Iran? I guess democracy is only important in the US, to heck with the rest of the world, right?

Defend the ideals the US was founded on? Those ideals included, critically, non-intervention in the rest of the world, the absence of permanent alliances, the opposition to imperialism and the imposition of foreign power, etc. Not that you would care, since for most of the modern-day fascists, the supposed "ideals" this country was founded on are just a regurgitation of their own fascist ideologies.

I think when you start calling people evil, a bit of gazing at your own naval would really do you some good.

[Karpy]

It wont matter if Iran were to put missiles into Washington itself, America seems to have lost the will and courage to defend herself and the ideals she was founded on. The party of FDR, Truman and Kennedy is not capable of comprehending that evil is a real and tangible entity and that there are people out there that want us dead. There is a naive and absurd popular concept that America is to blame for the murderous trends in the world. Bush is hysterically villianized for daring to stand in this fight by a limp wristed, effeminate, self righteous, and cowardly liberal elite. Perhaps because they do indeed recognize the evil flowing in the world, and recognize a kinship with it.

[Bob]

Obviously, Americans themselves are not going to curtail our war machine. Read the posts below and you see so many people supporting a strike against Iran. This time, Europe won't be so compromising in supporting the US. And the rest of the world will certainly object. So its the US and Israel against everyone else. Well, hunker down for the long and steep spiral downwards as we bankrupt our nation.

[Andreas]

"It [i]s Iran, not the US stirring up trouble."

Well give George Orwell his due, for all I hear from our dear leaders is the same old double-speak time and again.

Who funded and supports the invasion of the Jews into the Middle East?

Who overthrew whose democratically elected government to support their oil interests and installed a dictatorship?

Who shot down whose civilian airplane?

Who has a heavy navy presence cruising just outside the other country's boundaries?

Who is occupying two neighboring countries of whom, after having launched wars of aggression against both?

Who is actively and openly supporting a terrorist group targeting the other country?

I could go on but to say it is Iran that is the one causing trouble is just so damn preposterous, that I fully expect that kind of lie from the US government, which has become a government of nothing but lies.

[Concerned Citizen]

All of us should be very concerned at this administration's apparently deliberate attempts to induce war - it seems that they are trying to create war to serve the interests of the military industrial complex that seems to our government. With such horrible advice that President Bush is getting (perhaps from people whose interests are related with some related but outside power(s) who do not have the best interests of American people in mind) who needs an external enemy - we are our own number one enemies. If the leadership in our country has moral strength, it is time for sensible people to come openly forward in opposition to another foolish war that would kill many men, women and children (both ours and theirs). All this for what? Shame Shame!!!

[Jon kirkpatrick]

This is propaganda at its best.

A few points.

- If Iran wants to send people across the world to fight us with guns, bring it on, im sure anyone of us here would pick up a weapon and get rid of them.

- I don't believe anything my government says. Rather anything the NEWS says. They have lied to us for over 100 years.

Our country gets involved with EVERYTHING! People forgot what America was about and why we left to start our own "world". We have a constitution. It's there for a reason. I just wish somebody would read it once it a while.

And all these news organizations can go to hell.

[PeteInPDX]

Lets not forget Eisenhowers first version ...

military-industrial-congressional complex

[Kish]

Bush ain't out of office yet. 08 election ?, maybe not.

[RJ Earle]

ROA: re: "Who is in charge here?" The liberal, conspiracy-crazy media, that's who. Where do liberals get all their information about anything? The "military industrial complex" is way down the rankings of influence in the US. You are what you eat, and it appears the American public has ingested so much nonsense that they have a severe case of mental indigestion. In time, countries and their cultures are always overcome by other countries and cultures. If you think the US culture is worth preserving, put aside fantasies and support it, if not, please find a better culture, move there, and support it. The US has become neurotic, fighting itself and oblivious to the realities of the world outside of our American Disneyland. The US media just fan the flames, and will still be fiddling their ridicuous viewpoints when Rome burns (i.e., when LA is vaporized by a smuggled Iranian nuke).

[Andy]

@ freedom,

WE (the US) overthrew their democrat elected candidate Mosaddeq, who nationalized Iran's oil, which prevented the British and the US from recieving free or very discounted oil from them. Our CIA plotted his assasination. We also installed a dictator (the Shah) in Iran for our own purpose of cheap oil. When the Shah was thrown out with the Iranian revolution, Saddam took the opportunity of an unstable Iran to attack Iran and capture its oil provinces. This was when US supported Saddam and sold him WMDs including chemical weapons which Saddam used on hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranian civilians. The US also shot down an iranian passenger airliner, Iran Air flight 655 which killed 290 innocent passengers, and we never apologized, claiming we accidently thought it was a fighter plane...

Don't get me wrong, I dislike the radicals, but to suggest that Iran is at fault, when we have done all these things, while we have our Nuclear armed vessels and submarines in the PERSIAN gulf pointed at their lands is ridiculous. How would we feel if China had its nuclear armed submarines and vessels in our waters? Also, howcome we can occupy middle-east lands but we tell Iran not to interfere to its neighboring countries of Iraq and Afghanistan? Wouldn't we interfere if China or Russia from another continent attacked Mexico? Ofcourse, we would, and how would we feel if they accused us of stirring up the pot, when it was them in the first place who started the war? US foreign policy is hypocrisy at its best.

[Shaun]

I say that it's time for Israel and the U.S. to engage in some joint tactical operations against Iran. We don't need an all-out war or an invasion- instead, how about we just destroy their nuclear and weapons production capacity with some high-tech bombing? We can do this every 5-10 years or so, if necessary. The bulk of the expense for the operations should be on Israel- after all, it's their immediate security at stake. However, the U.S. has a definite interest in Israel's success in the region and should therefore assist to the degree necessary to ensure victory- that is, the complete destruction of the weapons Iran is threatening to use to eradicate Israel.

[John]

I find this story to be most disturbing...

-John
http://patrioticactivist.com/2008/02/09/an-experiment-in-back-yard-sustainability/