Iraqi media source "outs" the anonymous Senior US official claiming Iran meddling

[sabra]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/16677416.htm

U.S. officials accuse Iran of arming Shiite militias in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three U.S. defense officials Sunday accused the Iranian government of providing Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq with parts for sophisticated armor-piercing improvised bombs that they said have killed 170 coalition troops.

"We need Iran to stop doing what they're doing," one of the officials said. "It's a force-protection issue."

The officials Sunday accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds force of providing the devices, but one of them acknowledged that there's no "smoking gun" against Iran.

The three officials refused to let their names be used, and although the briefing was filmed for government use, reporters weren't allowed to have recorders, cell phones or cameras. The officials said they were releasing the information to get the Iraqi government to pressure the Iranians to stop.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aswataliraq.info%2Fmodules.php%3Fop%3Dmodload%26name%3DNews%26file%3Dindex%26startnum%3D11&langpair=ar%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools


The statements made by senior American officer following the press conference today in Baghdad spokesman cascade. Wat multinational William Caldwell, attended analyst at the Defense Ministry and an expert in explosives, the army the American refusal to disclose the names, , which models a variety of different weapons, including the onus Watt exploded Mfajkhat and mortar shells of various calibres , and detonators sensing, The documents include personal identities of the officers said Iranians they have engaged in acts of violence and the activities of the attacks in pw refined.

[jimshoes]

1. This must have been from today's

"off the camera" news conference. These are our friends huh? But honestly, WTF is the point of having an "off the camera" news conference. Nobody want's the albatross hanging around their neck as the one who told the WH intel fairy tale on TV.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. kick

[bigtree]

3. kick

[seafan]

4. More confirmation of Major Gen. William Caldwell as one unnamed source in Baghdad on Sunday.

Also from the Kuwait News Agency:

February 11, 2007

US military officials show evidence of Iran-made weaponry smuggled into Iraq
MIL-IRAQ-US-IRAN
US military officials show evidence of Iran-made weaponry smuggled into Iraq

BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (KUNA) -- A senior official from the US-led multinational coalition unveiled at a news conference here on Sunday that Iran has been extending tremendous support to the violent activities against the US troops in Iraq, unveiling that the US military officials have evidence of Iranian-made bombs being smuggled into Iraq.

Major General William Caldwell said that sophisticated Iranian-built bombs smuggled into Iraq have so far killed at least 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004.

"Iran is involved in supplying explosively formed projectiles or EFPs and other material to Iraqi extremist groups," the US officials told reporters.

Caldwell said that "The Qods Force arms extremists and insurgents to carry out terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare. The Qods Force provides advice, training and weapons to proxy forces in Iraq." He pointed out that US-led forces had evidence that Iran had increased shipments of EFPs, factory-built explosives designed to cut through armour, to armed Iraqi Shiite groups.

Caldwell said Iran's involvement was being perceived as a "force protection measure".

And from Eastern Echo Online:

February 12, 2007

As Iraqis mourned the victims of the worst single bombing since the American invasion almost four years ago, U.S. military officials acknowledged Sunday that the four U.S. helicopters that crashed since Jan. 20 were all brought down by hostile fire.

The Saturday truck bomb in a Baghdad market and Maj. Gen. William Caldwell's admission Sunday of militants' success against U.S. airpower told the story of a deepening crisis here, even as Iraqi officials prepare to implement their new security plan and additional American troops come riding into town.

In a separate announcement Sunday afternoon, U.S. military officials said the security plan would start Monday and expand over coming days and weeks.

.....

Caldwell, the U.S. military's chief spokesman, told reporters at a press conference behind the walls and checkpoints of Baghdad's Green Zone that investigations into the copter crashes were still under way and he couldn't say how each was shot down. Eyewitnesses had already reported seeing three of the helicopters crash after taking hits from ground fire.

Two were Apache attack helicopters that went down in battles Jan. 28 and Feb. 2, each killing two. Twelve people, most from National Guard units, died Jan. 20 when a Black Hawk transport helicopter crashed in Diyala province. And four Blackwater security contractors died when their light combat helicopter crashed in Baghdad Jan. 23. The same firefight killed another Blackwater gunner in a second helicopter.

.....

[sabra]

6. Thanks! So we need the foreign press to report the truth...

It's interesting that Caldwell asked the media to hide his name...

[NewJeffCT]

13. Now, watch if any major media outlets here report his name...

The RW media machine will generate a huge amount of mock outrage over his name being in the news.

I remember in the days after 9/11, I read some reports overseas in English language dailies from India and China about how US special forces were on the ground in Afghanistan within days...

However, it was not reported in the US media.

Then, a month or two later, USA Today reported how US special forces had been on the ground in Afghanistan since a few days after 9/11 - and the RW machine exploded with outrage about how USA Today was endangering the troops by printing that US special forces were on the ground already...

[Cerridwen]

7. A little more info about Maj. Gen. William Caldwell

In July 2002, Caldwell was assigned to his current position as senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense (Paul Wolfowitz). In this position he served his boss during the preparation, execution, and follow on for Operation Iraqi Freedom and other aspects of the global war on terrorism.

<snip>

"The great thing about working for Paul Wolfowitz is that he is an incredibly tremendous boss. He makes the job," Caldwell said. "He very much wants military advice. He asks your opinions. He makes you feel a real part of the team. The lessons I've learned by just watching him in action and seeing how he makes decisions will be extremely beneficial and useful for me as I continue my career."

<snip>

link to this information

edit to add: I wonder when he became so concerned about his name appearing in public? I've found plenty of articles with his name attached. Why not in this instance?

[leftchick]

10. He Enjoys Watching Wolfowitz In ACTION????

:puke:

what a sicko! Did he lick his comb too???

:puke:

[Cerridwen]

14. Yeah. The Maj. Gen. appears to have an issue with vision...

Why We Persevere

By William Caldwell IV
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; Page A25

BAGHDAD -- I don't see a civil war in Iraq. I don't see a constituency for civil war.

<snip>

I studied civil wars at West Point and at the Army Command and Staff College. I respect the credentials and opinions of those who want to hang that label here. But I respectfully -- and strongly -- disagree. I see the Iraqi people suffering from overlapping terrorist campaigns by extremist groups combined with the mass criminality that too often accompanies the sudden toppling of a dictatorship. (Cerridwen's note: also called, being invaded and occupied by a foreign and clueless country.) This poses a different military challenge than does a civil war.

<snip>

(snippage and emphasis added to highlight what I'm saying - Cerridwen)

link

[sabra]

12. you had me @ "Wolfowitz" :-)

nice find btw...

[Cerridwen]

15. Thanks. I added a bit more upthread.

Gotta 'know our enemies.'

[helderheid]

5. K & R

[Ghost Dog]

8. Yes. Is this info suppressed in USA? Barcelona's 'La Vanguardia' today

covers this story on p.8 (Internacional) in a box accompanying the larger full-page story about Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, addressing the Munich security conference, denying that Iran has any intention of attacking Israel.

Neither story appears on the La Vanguardia web site. (Subscribers/payers see, however, facsimile print edition).

Inside the box we read:

... Las acusaciones fueron hechas por el portavoz de la fuerza multinacional, William Caldwell, al que acompañaban expertos militares, durante un encuentro con periodistas en la superprotegida zona verde de la capital iraquí. "Irán está implicado en el suministro de proyectiles explosivos a grupos extremistas iraquíes", afirmó Caldwell.

trans. --> ... The accusations were made by the multinational forces' spokesperson, William Caldwell, who was accompanied by military experts, during a meeting with journalists in the Iraki capital's super-protected green zone. "Iran is implicated in the supply of explosive projectiles to groups of Iraki extremists", Caldwell asserted.

And also (in case this is also a new twist in the tale, over there):

... El portavoz militar desveló que la información pesentada fue obtenida gracias a las declaraciones de cinco iraníes que las tropas de EE.UU. detuvieron el 11 de enero en el consulado de Irán en la ciudad de Erbil, capital de la Kurdistán iraquí. "El Gobierno iraquí nos informó de que no eran diplomáticos y de que no tenían en su poder ningún documento que así lo acreditase", afirmó Caldwell.

trans. --> ... The military spokesperson revealed that the information presented was obtained thanks to declarations by the five Iranians detained by US troops on January 11 in the Iranian consulate in the city of Erbil, capital of Iraki Kurdistan. "The Iraki Government informed us that they were not diplomats and that they were not in posession of any documentation that would accredit them as such", Caldwell asserted.

Hope this helps. (ed. typos).

[Oilwellian]

9. Caldwell is a real piece of.....

propaganda work. He's been spitting it out since the beginning of the war.

[itsmesgd]

11. k and r. time to out the war pigs

no more of this anonymous shit. If you are going to start a war, you gotta sign for it.