Thanks to ex-democrat (mon semblable, mon frère) in the comments for pointing me toward this important AP article – Blair: Iran or Hezbollah Involved in Iraq. Ex-dem is correct that one of the goals of Pajamas Media is to reorder the choices in what news gets emphasized and one of the ways we are going to do it is to listen to readers like him (or her?). Anyway…
LONDON – Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that new explosive devices used against coalition forces in Iraq “lead us either to Iranian elements or to Hezbollah.”
“We cannot be sure,” Blair told a news conference, but “there are certain pieces of information that lead us back to
Iran.”
On Wednesday, Press Association reported that a senior government official said Britain believed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was supplying explosives technology to insurgents in Iraq that was being used against British soldiers there.
You will be shocked to hear…
Tehran rejected the allegation.
An encouraging subtext to this story is that in the past some have accused the UK of being soft on the Mullahs (for reasons of oil). Not our Tony.
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7 Comments
1. Lola:It looks like Bush is picking up the thread. He referred to Iran (although I think it had more to do with the nuclear plants) in his speech.
Oct 6, 2005 - 7:38 am 2. Sandy P:The Sauds are piling on, too!
Via Rantburg yesterday:
Talks between Iranian and Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly been postponed, days after the Saudis voiced concern about Iran’s influence in Iraq. Saudi officials said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has abandoned his plans to visit Riyadh. Mr Mottaki has visited Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman as part of a tour of the Gulf. Saudi Arabia recently voiced disquiet over the ascendancy of Shias and the prospect of sectarian war in Iraq, which it borders, along with Iran….
Oct 6, 2005 - 7:42 am 3. Antonio Mendez:For the Iraq war skeptics, here is a chronicle of why we invaded Iraq and why we must stay.
Oct 6, 2005 - 8:10 am 4. opine6:Tony Blair appears to be one of the few Britons with a brain and balls in Britain. I see “shock and awe” coming to Iran/Syria, Kosovo-style.
Your advice, GEN Clark?
Oct 6, 2005 - 6:45 pm 5. notthisgirl:Ex-dem is correct that one of the goals of Pajamas Media is to reorder the choices in what news gets emphasized and one of the ways we are going to do it is to listen to readers like him (or her?).
Well, I hope you were watching Brian Williams on NBC’s Nightly earlier. I’m assuming the broadcast is the same in NY as it is in California, etc.(?)
Ole Brian said he’d planned on starting the broadcast off focusing on Bush and the War on Terror … but of course, other more important things like the vague possibility of Karl Rove being indicted was soooo much more important – and had to be the lead-off instead!
Although I must confess I was cooking dinner at the time – I don’t believe I heard ONE mention of the subway crisis on his broadcast that was taking place right under his nose!
This just goes to show your statement carries even more weight.
Oct 6, 2005 - 6:46 pm 6. ex-democrat:thanks roger (”him” works just fine). the responsiveness of this medium is truly revolutionary.
indeed, on that note, another area PM might take an interest in is the tension in the context of blog comments between unfettered speech and defamation.
For example, legal rulings like this one (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/06/D8D2LHF06.html), which appears on the surface to be a victory for blogs and blog commenting, actually carry a nasty sting in the tail. Note, for example, the judge’s statement toward the end of the article that “blogs and chatrooms tend to be vehicles for people to express opinions, not facts.”
This is not a general principle that blog supporters should be promoting or endorsing in order to win specific cases. Blogs should not permit themselves to become trivialized as a way to avoid difficult issues.
Oct 6, 2005 - 6:56 pm 7. rosignol:- Blair: Iran or Hezbollah Involved in Iraq.
Hmph. Hizbullah is Iran’s creature, always has been. If Hizbullah does something, it’s a safe bet that Tehran signed off on it.
How can Blair not know this, and why would he bother to make a distinction between the two?
Oct 7, 2005 - 1:20 am