I can't believe I'm going to write a diary on this. I feel like slamming my head on a desk, repeatedly. Heck, I have slammed my head on my desk, often, in the last couple of days.
We've been shown proof that the bombs are coming from Iran. Incontrovertible proof, impeccable logic, so much so that the people presenting the proof don't want to be named. What proof, exactly?
Below...
OK, let me see if I can do this with pictures:
Here is some of the proof (fair use, source below):
Source: Fairfax Digital's The Age.
Elsewhere, we're seeing the same '2006' with a '-3-', supposedly made in the month of March, the year 2006. So far, so good.
Now, in Iran, people speak Farsi(Persian).
No big deal, right? With me so far?
OK, now we have all this wonderful stuff on The Internets tubes, which we can find with the wonderful The Google. Interesting stuff, like an English-Farsi automated translator.
Now, what do you suppose might happen if I ask that translator how to write "March 2006" in Farsi?
I tell you, I was shocked when I saw the translation:
Is it just me, or is that completely different from what the Pentagon 'proof' of Iranian manufacture shows?
My apologies to the diary police, I just can't wrap my head around this enough to write another 500 words on the subject. I'm going back to banging my head on my desk, it seems more productive.
Edited to add:
Kossak fujigmo (UID 117530)informs me below that the Iranian national defense industry does indeed make these shells, and does mark them in English. He/she provides me with a nice link to the official website of the Iranian Defense Industries Organization.
I've taken a few screenshots, I'm cropping and posting them here. Let's see if you can notice what's amiss (fair use, and I don't think the Pentagon psy-ops guys are going to sue me over this):
The English portal:
The Farsi portal:
The Arabic portal:
The 105mm shell page:
The money shot:
Random problems with the site:
Notice the bad formatting, the catchy slogan "The Best in the Middle East!" (anyone who knows an Iranian will tell you that Iranians are not very likely to have writen that slogan), and my favorite, the .org email.
Not to mention the English messages telling us that the Farsi and Arabic portals are under construction. And all the "Page not found" error messages, when you try to get some specs on the weapons. But they will take your name and credit card number, if you want to buy some of this stuff.... Ha! You'd need an IQ in turnip-range to fall for that, methinks.
OK, my bullshit detector just went into overdrive on this story.