General Pace and Secretary Gates just on CNN now answering questions from the press on the Iranian weapons press briefing from Sunday.
Key questions and answers below the fold:
one reporter kept asking: why was the MNIF allowed to brief reporters only anonymously? why was no tape recording allowed?
Gates: I don't know. i didn't set it up.
Reporter: did the briefer go to far in saying we know high ups in the iranian government were involved in the transfer of weapons?
G and P: (shorter version): no, that was problem of assessment versus fact. [blames the reporters not making that distinction when they were listening].
Me: Wha?
Gates claims "we know the IRGC high ups know, but the gov't we aren't sure about"
also "it's bad either way, if they know it is bad, if they don't know it is bad"
R: obvious follow up: "does it matter in terms of how we handle Iran whether or not they knew at the top?"
P: "no, because we aren't planning on going to war with Iran"
P: "Qods force is subordinate to IRGC, and we know about Qods force. either way is bad."
My conclusions here: the goalposts are moved so quickly by these bastards (bastards aren't necessarily pace and gates but rather pols in WH): so we 'know' some things, without proof, but these other things we don't know.
huh, now i'm not asking about the veracity of claim a (Iranian weapons supplied by Qods in Iraq), but only claim b (Iranian gov't involvment at highest levels). combine this with c) gates and pace saying it won't change our behavior whichever way, so in fact now you've got tacit acceptance of a) by reporters, which justifies whatever evil plan these incompetent boobs have for iran.
good luck to all of us on that one.