I am not one who tpyically writes diaries, so I will upfront, apologize if this isn't what the Kossacks are typically used to.
Last night, while listening to the Mike Malloy radio show, I was struck by one of his comments that in the LA Times it was reported that a cache of weapons that had been asserted to be Iranian munitions and proof of Iranian hostilities in Iraq were in fact, not Iranian. This morning, after a bit of googling, there it was, the article in question.
IRAQ: The elusive Iranian weapons
There was something interesting missing from Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner's introductory remarks to journalists at his regular news briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday: the word "Iran," or any form of it. It was especially striking as Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman here, announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen.
Among other things, Bergner cited 20,000 "items of ammunition, explosives and weapons" reported by Iraqi forces in the central city of Karbala; an additional Karbala cache containing 570 explosive devices, nine mortars, four anti-aircraft missiles, and 45 RPGs; and in the southern city of Basra alone, 39 mortar tubes, 1,800 mortars and artillery rounds, 600 rockets, and 387 roadside bombs. Read his remarks here.
Not once did Bergner point the finger at Iran for any of these weapons and munitions, which is a striking change from just a couple of weeks ago when U.S. military officials here and at the Pentagon were saying that caches found in Basra in particular had revealed Iranian-made arms manufactured as recently as this year. They say the majority of rockets being fired at U.S. bases, including Baghdad's Green Zone, are launched by militiamen receiving training, arms and other aid from Iran...
...Iraqi officials also have accused Iran of meddling in violence and had echoed the U.S. accusations of new Iranian-made arms being found in Basra. But neither the United States nor Iraq has displayed any of the alleged arms to the public or press, and lately it is looking less likely they will. U.S. military officials said it was up to the Iraqis to show the items; Iraqi officials lately have backed off the accusations against Iran.
A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. A U.S. military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin....
Tina Susman in Baghdad
The US has been pushing hard to create a link between the violance in Iraq with the actions of Iran. What astounds me is that this "development" has not been reported in the main stream media or if you prefer the State Sponsored Propoganda Machine. A note of Irony perhaps is that the origins of these weapons is most likely one of four countries; The United States, The UK, Russia or possibly China.