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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran, Hezbollah aiding Iraqi insurgents |
| 2005-09-01 |
| Many U.S. intelligence analysts say they are becoming more convinced by the day that the Iranian government is involved in the arming and training of insurgents in Iraq. Others say they need more evidence, but assert that the Lebanon-based Shiite militia Hizbullah is almost certainly aiding Iraqâs anti-government guerillas. These analysts point to recent sophisticated insurgent attacks on armored U.S. military vehicles using home-made anti-tank weapons with âshapedâ explosive charges. According to a U.S. counter-terrorism official familiar with the attacks (who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject), many of these home-made devices, known among U.S. bomb-disposal personnel as EFPs (Explosively Formed Penetrators), appear to be constructed according to instructions contained on CD-ROM formatted videos distributed by Hizbullah, which maintains close ties to hard-line religious factions in the Iranian government. Another counter-terrorism official said that âequipmentâ has also been recovered from Iraqi insurgents that U.S. analysts suspected had originated in Iran. âIt is true that weapons clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq,â Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserted earlier this month. According to a counter-terrorism official, two different types of instructional Hizbullah-made videos have been recovered by U.S. forces from Iraqi insurgents. One explains in great detail how to manufacture home-made explosives that can be used in EFPs. Another explains how to shape the home-made explosive (or for that matter a factory-made or black-market explosive) into an EFP charge, and then how to build an improvised EFP launcher using a length of pipe and a metal projectile. The Arabic-language videos are slickly produced and of âstudio quality,â complete with dramatic music and subtitles, said a U.S. official who has reviewed the material. The high-quality production values have led some analysts to speculate that they may well have been produced by an element of the Iranian government with access to professional television equipment. Other analysts note, however, that Hizbullah has its own television station and therefore access to high-quality video equipment and personnel. One reason U.S. officials have little doubt that Hizbullah is behind the CD-ROMs found in Iraq is that virtually identical discs were discovered aboard arms-smuggling ships intercepted during the past few years by Israeli military forces, according to a U.S. counter-terrorism official. In May 2003, Israeli commandos captured the Abu Hassan, a small fishing boat, off the coast near Lebanon. Its cargo allegedly included both bomb-making equipment and among its passengers were an alleged bomb maker named Abu Amar. According news reports at the time, the Israelis seized from Abu Amar 36 CD-ROMs containing bomb-making instructionsâdiscs with the same or strikingly similar content to those recently recovered inside Iraq. According to news reports, though, the Abu Hassan had traveled from Egypt to Beirut before the Israelis seized it off their northern coast. Its route therefore does not provide hard evidence that the boatâs passengers and cargo had any connections to Iran. However, a U.S. official said that similar instructional CD-ROMs were also found aboard the Karine A., a ship carrying a heavy load of weapons that Israeli authorities captured in January, 2002. A statement on the official Web site of the Israeli Defense Forces alleges that the Karine A. was originally loaded with weapons on the âisland of Kiesh in Iranian territorial waters.â The Israeli statement does not mention any CD-ROMs as being found aboard the boat. U.S. counter-terrorism officials began to notice earlier this summer that insurgents at various locations around Iraq were using EFPs against U.S. armored vehicles with increasingly deadly results. It is not clear, however, which insurgent groups or factions have been using the devices. That question has sparked debate within the intelligence community, with some analysts arguing that religious antagonisms make it unlikely that the Iranian governmentâs Shiite hardliners or their clients in Hizbullah would supply technical or material support to the Sunni militants or ex-Baathists who make up some of the most aggressive elements of the Iraqi insurgency. Other analysts note there is at least historical evidence of cooperation between Hizbullah and Sunni extremists, including Al-Qaeda militants, and that it is therefore possible that Hizbullah CD-ROMs on EFP construction are also being used by ex-Baathist insurgents and Jihadi militants aligned with Iraqâs self-appointed Al Qaeda leader, the Jordanian terrorist Abu Moussab al-Zarqawi. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 If you're gonna whack somebody, whack the bankers. If the Swiss Gnomes get nervous enough, they'll cut off all funding, overt or covert. No money, no Hezbollah. Iran's a tougher nut, though. |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-09-01 17:50 |
| #5 The enemy of my enemy is my friend... And that could get quite convoluted in the ME. Will need to deploy nested parentheses to figure out if that guy over there is my enemy or my friend. I agree with 'moose. We need some behind-the-scenes ops to let the MMs and Syrian leaders know that they will be hurt if they aid and abet those that hurt us. They will recognize power and they do not want to be personally hurt. Negotiation and compromise to them is a sign of weakness of their adversaries. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-09-01 14:04 |
| #4 The enemy of my enemy is my friend... |
| Posted by: Thromoter Wholet6690 2005-09-01 12:11 |
| #3 Assassination of leaders, technicians and foreign advisers,.. Shouldn't be too difficult to carry out in Lebanon. It's not like the authorities have control of the whole country... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-01 10:55 |
| #2 I would heartily recommend, since it doesn't seem that we are doing it right now, a program of "counter-terrorism" against Hizbullah in Lebanon. It is a highly effective technique, and if done properly can disrupt their operations at many levels. It can cover the gamut. Assassination of leaders, technicians and foreign advisers, bombings, poisonings, corrupting munitions, spreading disinformation and starting infights. All of these can be done with a minimum footprint. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-01 10:34 |
| #1 That question has sparked debate within the intelligence community, with some analysts arguing that religious antagonisms make it unlikely that the Iranian governmentâs Shiite hardliners or their clients in Hizbullah would supply technical or material support to the Sunni militants or ex-Baathists who make up some of the most aggressive elements of the Iraqi insurgency. Intelligence without memory? To wit, the Iranian cooperation with Saddam during Gulf War I |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-09-01 08:27 |