Iran-backed groups using secret arms stores: U.S.

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it had evidence Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq were increasingly using secret weapons stores to attack U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The accusation comes days after Tehran postponed talks with the United States on improving security in Iraq for "technical reasons," a move that prompted rebukes from U.S. officials.

"In just the past week, Iraqi and coalition forces captured 212 weapons caches across Iraq, two of those inside Baghdad, (which have) growing links to Iranian-backed special groups," military spokesman Real Admiral Gregory Smith told reporters.

The military uses the term "special groups" to describe rogue elements in the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. It says these militants get weapons, funding and training from neighboring Iran.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080217/wl_nm/iraq_dc

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Iran says U.S. talks delayed for technical reasons
2 hours, 34 minutes ago

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday technical reasons were behind the delay in talks between Iranian and U.S. officials on Iraq and denied new U.S. charges that Tehran was stoking violence in its neighbor.


Tehran on Thursday postponed what would have been a fourth round of talks. The move has prompted Washington to question Tehran's commitment to dialogue.

Washington accuses Iran of destabilizing Iraq. Tehran blames the U.S. occupation for the unrest. David Satterfield, the U.S. State Department's Iraq coordinator, said on Friday Iran was "intent on continuing to promote violence within Iraq."

The U.S.-Iranian security talks are one of the few forums in which officials from the two bitter foes have direct contact. Diplomatic ties between Washington and Tehran have been frozen for almost three decades.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080217/ts_nm/iran_usa_iraq_dc_2

[acmavm]

1. These buffoons ALWAYS have evidence of something. But generally

when you look into it the evidence only shows that they were lying their asses off in the first place.

[maddezmom]

3. agree, how many times have we heard this only to hear later

that they've either disavowed the statements or play them down. It's all show as far as I'm concerned.

[hobbit709]

2. captured 212 weapons caches

That's not a very good "secret" if they really found that many in a week.

[acmavm]

4. I'm just SURE the reason they're (the bush** criminal cabal) are ramping

up the propaganda has NOTHING to do with this, right?

<snip>
Iran opens first oil exchange

TEHRAN, Feb 17, 2008 (AFP) - Iran on Sunday inaugurated its first stock exchange for oil products and petrochemicals, in a bid to become a major player in the global downstream industry.

OPEC's number two crude oil producer hopes that its oil exchange can lead the way for a domestic downstream industry to match its upstream crude oil production, the country's main foreign currency revenue winner.

"We have been a good seller (of crude oil) and now we have a higher objective to have a share in the oil trade," Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters.

-MORE-

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080217/bs_afp/iranstockseconomyoil_080217122603

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3185819

[kirby]

5. How do we know that...

these aren't the same weapons stores from Saddam's time. You know, the ones we didn't have enough troops to either guard or destroy? Now that Saddam is gone, we are relabeling them as Iranian sourced?

[davidinalameda]

6. sounds familiar

every time the war was going badly, they'd break out another dead Al-Qaeda "leader"

I swear-Al Qaeda has more "leaders" than a dog has fleas