Propaganda?

Military intelligence officials have released an interesting piece of data:

Attacks on American-led forces using a lethal type of roadside bomb said to be supplied by Iran reached a new high in July, according to the American military.

The devices, known as explosively formed penetrators, were used to carry out 99 attacks last month and accounted for a third of the combat deaths suffered by the American-led forces, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said in an interview.

Such bombs, which fire a semi-molten copper slug that can penetrate the armor on a Humvee and are among the deadliest weapons used against American forces, are used almost exclusively by Shiite militants. American intelligence officials have presented evidence that the weapons come from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, although Iran has repeatedly denied providing lethal assistance to Iraqi groups.

Obviously I am--and I hope most thinking people are--fairly wary of the claim that we know exactly where these devices come from. But I also think it's fair to wonder why, of all the information they must have on hand about all the various insurgencies, the military believes that this detail should be rushed over to the press. This is Iraq, after all. Just about everything bad there is escalating. The number of U.S. troops is increasing. The number of insurgents is increasing. And, yes, the proliferation of weapons is bound to be increasing, too. Between our arms deals with the Saudis and our half-baked plan to back certain Sunni militias, we're seriously contributing to the problem.

My guess is that every type of weapon in the insurgents' war chest is being used more commonly across Iraq over time, not less. The fact that the most effective (read deadly) of them is proliferating fastest should be no surprise to anybody. And if that weapon didn't exist, then a different, also deadly device would take its place as the Shiite militas' weapon of choice. So why all the fuss? Oh, right. That's why.

Comments

[JimPortlandOR]

I think this sentence needs a re-write:

And if that weapon didn't exist, then a different, also deadly device would take its place as the Iranians' weapon of choice.

As Atrios points out, reports from Iraq indicate that they have internally the means to manufacture EFPs. Unless Odierno tells more than he has, it cannot be determinend that these EFPs are from Iran, Iraq or whereever.

With that in mind, this seems like a better description:

And if that weapon didn't exist, then a different, also deadly device would take its place as the insurgents-in-Iraq's weapon of choice.

[A.L.]

Isn't the buried lede in this story the admission that these bombs "are used almost exclusively by Shiite militants"?

Previously, the administration had fudged this fact in an attempt to imply that Iran was supplying Sunni insurgents and even al Qaeda. Military sources would always refer cryptically to "extremist groups," never Shiitte extremist groups.

But no, as one would expect, these bombs are going to Shiite militias, most of whom are allied with the Malaki government that we're supporting.

[Brian]

Point taken as usual Jim.

A.L. who are you and where do you find the time to be so damn thorough?! :)

[ibfamous]

Is it surprising that Iran is involved in the Iraq conflict? If a Middle Eastern, hell any, country invaded one of our neighbors without provocation don't you think we'd get involved? The question is; how do they do it so easily? As former Florida football coach Steve Spurier used to say when he was lambasted for putting fifty on his opponents, "It's not my job to keep my team from scoring." Each time I see the Bushies whine about Iran, all I can wonder is; "whose fault is that?"