BREAKING - NYT - "Police Seize Forged Ballots Headed to Iraq From Iran"

[kpete]

BREAKING - NYT - "Police Seize Forged Ballots Headed to Iraq From Iran"
by steppenwulf
Tue Dec 13, 2005 at 08:53:33 PM PDT
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 13 - Less than two days before nationwide elections, Iraqi border police seized a tanker on Tuesday that had just crossed from Iran filled with thousands of forged ballots, an official at Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

...

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Iranian truck driver told the police under interrogation that at least three other trucks filled with ballots had crossed from Iran at different spots along the border.

...

At a news conference on Tuesday, hours before the ballot seizure, the American ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, spoke of what he said were overt Iranian attempts to influence events in Iraq.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/13/225333/75
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/international/middleeast/14iraq.html

[Clarkie1]

1. Gee, that's just so, so SHOCKING, isn't it?

Imagine Iran trying to influence events in Iraq, who could ever have imagined it?

:sarcasm:

[stopbush]

2. They outed Plame when her operation stopped the WMDs from entering

Iraq - the WMDs bushco was going to plant.

I wonder who at CIA will get outed for stopping a truckload of ballots marked "Chalabi" from making it to the polls.

[No Exit]

3. That does it! We have to INVADE IRAN now!

(And, wouldn't you know, that's just what Junior and the Neocons were hoping we'd say...)

We have to SAVE DEMOCRACY! Democracy is on the march! (We mustn't allow those bad Iranians to slow the steady march of democracy's thundering jackboots!)

[Marie26]

33. I kinda doubt it was Iran. nt

[No Exit]

39. Why do you hate America??

[Toots]

36. Are you suggesting it is not Democratic to "fix" the election?

:shrug:

[No Exit]

40. Hey, lissen, Toots--it's democratic when WE do it!

It's NOT democratic when some brown-skinned uppity PERSIANS do it, 'kay? Got it?? Huh??

[Ilsa]

4. Democracy is breaking out all over

the Middle East, isn't it. Thanks, George. :sarcasm:

[mcctatas]

5. Why on earth would they need to do that?!!

Didn't we give them some old Diebold machines to go along with thier shiny new constitution?:evilgrin:

[Straight Shooter]

6. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. This has Negroponte's fingerprints all over it.

I'm just sayin ...

[TahitiNut]

16. ... and Ahmad Chalabi's, of course -- the Iranian connection.

:shrug:

[woodsprite]

7. Did it have Texas plates? n/t

[Quixote1818]

11. LOL!!!

Too funny!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Straight Shooter]

17. Bwahahahaha!

:spray:

[Just Me]

30. LMAO!!!

:rofl:

[Joanne98]

31. Good one! LOL!

[bahrbearian]

8. Why would the Iraqi elections be any less corupt than ours,,,

We are the Occupiers, that thrust Chalabi on them.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Do they even know what the hell they're voting for???

:shrug:

[Blue_Roses]

24. I had a post on this very same question last night

but I guess it got lost in all the Tookie Williams threads:shrug:

[bahrbearian]

9. One way for Chimpy to point to a high voter turn out.

[pinto]

10. News plant alert! News plant alert!...n/t

[Skink]

12. Butterfly ballots probably.

[Wordie]

49. That was my very first thought too.

If this is a true story, that just shows how badly Bush has screwed things up.

[Just Me]

13. So, the Iranians have followed the neoconsters' lead on how,...

,...to "steal" democracy? :shrug: They really MUST get in touch with Diebold 'cause it's MUCH MORE SNEAKY AND EASY TO HIDE. For pete's sake.

Give Iraq BACK to the Iraqis, damnit, 'cause we are just killing life and love and hope and morals and ideals and decency every damn neoconster step of the way.

Stop this freakin' insanity!!!!

[Quixote1818]

14. This could have major implications

I am surprised this isn't getting more attention here on DU. This could cause all kinds of problems.

Note Daily KOS summary:


Great timing. Not to be too conspiratorial, but what does this mean? Is it exactly what it looks like? Is it exactly what it says it is? Does this mean the elections will need to be put off? Is it a Sunni gambit to cast doubt on any Shi'a election victories? Will those other three (unlocated) trucks worth of ballots be blamed for any seat that 'falls' the wrong way? Does the bombing of Tehran begin in five minutes? Am I out of question marks yet?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. You forgot the most important question: Is this story even remotely true?

[Straight Shooter]

18. Next important question: Does the bush administration care if it's true?

[pinto]

22. At the risk of sounding jaded *sigh* it doesn't matter. It made headlines.

My forecast is we'll have an upswing of widespread propaganda before the Iraq elections, accompanied by a spike in localized insurgent/Islamist/recalcitrant/jihadist/thug/Saddamist/foreign instigated violence, followed by a brief calm that may be punctuated by periods of Green Zone press releases.

[RazzleDazzle]

47. Sadly, you're right. However,

The number of people who can be fooled all the time has dwindled. Hooray for our side.

My forecast is: we'll bring home enough troops next year to grease the fake election forecasts and attack Iran and/or Syria post haste.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

21. Of course it's true!

a truck full of fake ballots was caught entering from IRAN. Chaos during the elections help the Neo-cons.

I'm a little drunk right now, but I'm not stupid. :rofl:

[katinmn]

28. No! Note the anonymous source. The NYT has no credibilty!!

They ought to know their stories are under greater scrutiny. This is bullshit.

[SOS]

46. Re today's Times

The article about the ballots was filed by Dexter Filkins. He writes "Iranian agents are arming and training many of the illegal militias that are bedeviling the country".
The lead editorial in the same edition says "A smaller role for the sinister party militias, which are now an important element of the Iraqi Army and police forces, would be a welcome development".
So the Iraqi Army and police forces are bedeviling the country? Interesting.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Trying to rig elections eh?

[LunaC]

23. Welcome to "Democracy"

where the elections are rigged and the politicians are corrupt.

In who's favor were the forged ballots? Chalabi by any chance?

[Nimrod2005]

25. Did the trucks have Al Sadr Brigade printed on them?

Or just Iranian/Iraqi islamists coming to kick your ass in the desert?

[Nimrod2005]

26. American style Democracy trucked in from Iran!!!

[katinmn]

27. Another planted story by the NYT. Serves a dual purpose:

Keep building a case against Iran and give the US an out if the election doesn't go the way they want it to (they will say Iran cheated). The Bush Admin and NYT are clearly up to their old tricks and America is still being lied to. Don't ever, ever trust any anonymous sources, ESPECIALLY from the NYT. Their credibility is shot.


"The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Iranian truck driver told the police under interrogation (KS interjects: code word for "torture") that at least three other trucks filled with ballots had crossed from Iran at different spots along the border.

The official, who did not attend the interrogation, said he did not know where the driver was headed, or what he intended to do with the ballots.

The seizure of the truck comes at a delicate time in Iran's relations with both Iraq and the United States. The American government has said Iranian agents are deeply involved in trying to influence events in Iraq, by funneling money to Shiite political parties and by arming and training many of the illegal militias that are bedeviling the country."

[sofa king]

32. I'm with you on that.

They want an excuse to call the elections if it doesn't go their way. And I'll bet anything that GOP campaign officials are "observing" the elections, too.

If they have to kill the elections because they're not going our way, it will be good practice for here in 2006 and 2008.

[Marie26]

37. You're right

At first I thought this was a "scoop" by the NY Times that makes the Administration look bad. But I forgot the cardinal rule of sources - asking what's their agenda? Nothing gets out about Iraq except what they want to get out, so there must be some reason the "anonymous official" is revealing this now; & it's too coincidental that it coincides nicely w/the Administration campaign against "Iranian inflence" in the election. Do you think they would try to discredit the results if Shiites end up winning?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

38. Bingo.

[Gregorian]

29. Hey, it's not Pottery Barn anymore.

Iraq is not free- we paid for it.

Unlike Pottery Barn, we paid hundred of billions for the place. We own it. Elections my ass.

[WLKjr]

34. We must be trying to spread out brand of Democracy to Iraq

I thougth that stopped with the torture chambers?

[Marie26]

35. And in a completely unrelated story...

Chalabi elected Iraqi prime minister in surprise landslide. I knew they'd find some way or other to get that sleazeball into office. Remember when he took the "grand tour" of Washington neoconservatives a few weeks back? I wonder if this is what they were hatching.

ETA: Ooh, And I think he came to Washington straight from meeting w/Iran!

[No Exit]

41. Gee, I hope someday Mr. Chalabi runs for office HERE!

[Marie26]

43. We can only hope & dream

Chalabi 2008? He'll have the looks, the money, the contacts, and of course, first-hand experience running Iraq. It could happen.. nah. We're luckier than the Iraqis!

[No Exit]

44. You know, I hate to say it

but next to what we have, even CHALABI looks good. Hell--even SADDAM looks good compared to these scumbags...

[katinmn]

50. Think projection....

and we have the truth.

[Marie26]

51. Hmmm..

You're much smarter than me! What exactly do you mean by "projection"? That this is just election fraud that they're "projecting" onto Iran?

[katinmn]

52. This administration floats one thing and does the opposite

Such as:

Clean Skies Initiative!

Healthy Forests!

We are bringing peace and democracy to Iraq!

Rebuild New Orleans bigger and better than before!

We do not torture!

P.S. I'm not smarter. Just more cynical. :-)

[Marie26]

54. Spin & propaganda

No Child Left Behind! Yeah, I know what you mean. It doesn't matter what the reality is, just the label you give to it. And by spinning & trumpeting the labels, it keeps people from noticing what they're really doing. It's almost like a magician, distracting attention with one hand while he does a trick with the other. So you're left wondering, what's the trick? They're obviously trying to distract attention w/this story about Iran - distract it from what, I don't know.

[Norquist Nemesis]

42. So, who is Iran stuffing the box for?

I'm betting it's not Allawi.

[Cleetus]

45. If they had electricity

If they had electricity then we could put in Diebold machines for them.

ChimpCo are masters of election manipulation, having stolen 2 elections already. Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about election fraud via Iran. If the election is gonna be rigged, we will be the ones rigging it.

[LSK]

48. as the ANTI-Iran propaganda continues....

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

[Nostradammit]

53. Al Queda's #3 behind the wheel, I presume?

Or was it a #2?