Here’s the latest:
As the wars drums beat louder today, the U.S. administration has asserted that, like Iran, Russia is now supplying the Iraqi insurgency with one of its deadliest weapons—the so-called Ak-47. U.S. officials stated this morning that they believe this weapon is responsible for over 1/3 of all U.S. fatalities in Iraq. To make matters worse, they say, the Russians are believed to be funneling these weapons to all insurgent groups. One administration official claimed that this made the Russians more dangerous than the Iranians, citing the fact that the Iranians are believed to be supporting only Iraq’s Shias.
When asked how they could be sure the weapons were indeed being supplied by Russia, the same administration official had this to say: "In our after action reviews of combat in Iraq, we have consistently captured these weapons and parts of these weapons, the overwhelming majority of which had serial numbers indicating they were produced in Russia."
More....
The same article goes on to provide further evidence of Russia’s involvement:
"We believe this is the final proof that the Russian government is supporting the various insurgent groups," said the anonymous Bush administration official. "We can find no other reason that so many Iraqi insurgents would have access to this same weapon—a weapon with markings and serial numbers that undoubtedly link it to not only the Russian military, but also the Russian government."
He said the U.S. government was now working to find the actual method by which these "Ak-47s" were finding their way into the hands of Iraq’s insurgents. U.S. officials stress that this weapon represents the greatest threat to U.S. troops because of its versatility, its sturdiness, and its seeming availability.
I tend to believe this administration official, even though he’s choosing to remain anonymous, but I’m not 100% convinced. I did manage to find one piece of information on a well-known political blog that would seem to refute the U.S. government’s line of thinking on the Iranian weapons, so I’m also willing to give a chance to the fact that it could apply to these new Russian weapons as well. Here is a part of it:
A weapons dealer goes to Iran. He buys a load of new stuff from another Iranian arms dealer who gets his stuff from a corrupt member of the Iranian military. Then the original weapons dealer smuggles the stuff into Iraq and sells it for a profit to insurgent groups--both Sunni and Shia.
As shown by the scenario above, just because it was made in Iran, doesn't mean the Iranian government is enabling it or even approving of it. How in god's name is this a slam dunk?
I will certainly keep that writer’s thoughts in mind, but still, I am apt to believe the Bush administration over this. To me, if it has the serial number or other markings of Iran or Russia on it, I am pretty sure that this means their governments are intimately involved with the Iraqi insurgency.
Also, in other news today, an American target shooter in west Texas was detained and questioned by the Department of Homeland Security when it was determined that he was using an assault rifle apparently made in China. "We just want to be sure he didn’t get it from the communist Chinese government who may be trying to directly infiltrate and undermine our democracy," an unnamed official was quoted as saying.