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February 14, 2007
Bush Says Iran Is Source of Deadly Bombs
By DAVID STOUT and BRIAN KNOWLTON

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- President Bush said today he is certain that elements of the Iranian government are supplying deadly roadside bombs that kill American troops in Iraq, even if the innermost circle of the government is not involved.

Mr. Bush said it had been established beyond a doubt that a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps known as the Quds Force is supplying Shiite groups inside Iraq with particularly deadly, Iranian-designed weapons known as explosively formed penetrators, or E.F.P.s.

“We know that,” Mr. Bush said at a White House news conference.

The United States regards the Quds Force as part of the Iranian government, since the force has historically been under the command of Iran’s senior religious leaders. And even if the highest officials in Tehran have not directly ordered the Quds Force to supply weapons to Iraqi Shiites, they are still complicit, Mr. Bush said.

“What’s worse?” Mr. Bush asked. “That the government knew, or that the government didn’t know?”

The weapons include squat canisters designed to explode and spit out molten balls of copper that cut through armor. The canisters are perhaps the most feared weapon faced by American and Iraqi troops, and American military leaders say they have killed more than 170 United States soldiers in the past three years.

The president brushed off a suggestion that there is a disagreement within the American military about the role of the Quds Forces, as evidenced by recent statements by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said he was not ready to conclude that the top Iranian leadership was behind the attacks.

“There’s no contradiction,” Mr. Bush told a questioner today. “I can’t say it more plainly.”

Mr. Bush rejected the idea that the intelligence about the Quds Forces might be no more reliable than that about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, which turned out not to exist. “I can say with certainty that the Quds Force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated I.E.D.’s that have harmed our troops,” he said, using shorthand for improvised explosive devices.

“I intend to do something about it,” Mr. Bush said, alluding to the armor-piercing weapons. He also said, as he has repeatedly, that an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be a peril to world peace, although he steered wide of any suggestion that the United States might wage war against Iran.

As he has with other countries at odds with the United States, Mr. Bush drew a sharp distinction between Iran’s leadership and its people. The country has “a proud history” and “very capable, smart people,” he said. “And our policies are all aimed at convincing the Iranian people there’s a better way forward, and I hope their government hears that message.”

The president also addressed a tentative agreement between North Korea and the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, to provide North Korea with $400 million in fuel oil and aid, in return for the North’s starting to disable its nuclear facilities and allow nuclear inspectors back into the country.

Mr. Bush praised the six-country deal and rejected sharp criticism by John Bolton, his former ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Bolton said the deal highlighted U.S. weakness while challenging Iran’s nuclear program, and “undercuts” United Nations sanctions against the North.

“I strongly disagree,” Mr. Bush said. “The assessment made by some that this is not a good deal is flat wrong.” But he added that those now calling on North Korea “to prove themselves by following through are right.”

Just as the six-party talks on North Korea had proved useful, he said, the involvement of the European Union and the United Nations in pressuring Iran to end its nuclear program still made sense.

He was also asked whether Vladimir Putin, who charged on Saturday that the U.S. was undermining international institutions and making the Middle East less stable, was the same man of whom Mr. Bush once said: “I looked the man in the eye; I was able to get a sense of his soul.”

Laughing, Bush replied, “I think the person who I was referring to in 2001 is the same strong-willed person. He is a person with whom I have had agreements and disagreements.”

He said that despite his own efforts at persuasion, Mr. Putin still had doubts about NATO’s eastward expansion.

But the president added that “there’s a lot we can work together on.” Such collaboration had borne fruit with North Korea, he said, and he hoped it would with Iran.

Asked why he had resisted calls, including from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, for negotiations with Iran, he replied: “If I thought we could achieve success, I would sit down. But I don’t think we can achieve success right now, and therefore we’ll want to work with other nations.”

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elbisivni said:

There is a familiar scent wafting in the atmosphere.

No doubt week old spilled bong water on some kind of thatched carpet. With patchouli accents.

Do you doubt that Iran is attempting to influence the process in Iraq with weaponry assistance to favored factions? If so, are you sure you're old enough to be posting here?

AlteredAgain said:

i had a dream once where i saw george bush at a banquet and he got really mad at me because i told him to stop whatever he is doing.

he wouldn't listen.

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zappaisgod said:

AlteredAgain said:

i had a dream once where i saw george bush at a banquet and he got really mad at me because i told him to stop whatever he is doing.

he wouldn't listen.

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Bush Derangement Syndrome.  No matter what he does you want him to stop.

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and no matter what he does you want him to continue? where do you draw the ethical line if i may ask?

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zappaisgod said:No doubt week old spilled bong water on some kind of thatched carpet. With patchouli accents.

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Do you doubt that Iran is attempting to influence the process in Iraq with weaponry assistance to favored factions? If so, are you sure you're old enough to be posting here?

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AlteredAgain said:

to me it just seems like we (as citizens) are just following along with newspaper headlines and presidential speeches without a real idea of what course our administration is choosing before they make the concrete decisions..

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zappaisgod said:

I think it is absolutely ridiculous to expect him to tell us any strategic plan. Telling us tells the enemy and my curiosity is subordinate to my desire for a successful conclusion.

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yes that is also the official response given by the administration.

who/what is the enemy again? i forget.

elbisivni said:

Seems that people have just lost all of their faith and/or feel like there isn't a single thing they can do to make it all any better anyway, so we read the headlines, read the articles, think about what a shame it is, and continue on with our daily routines.  It can only go on for so long though, in what manner it will end is the question on my mind.

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yeah, i guess we're all just kind of hanging in there until something happens to shift us into a new position.

personally i feel like i'm on a ship that is heading towards an ice berg but nobody seems to be calling out to set in the brakes or steer out of the way.

and the captain is either sleeping, drunk, or wants to hit the ice berg to begin with.

AlteredAgain said:

who/what is the enemy again? i forget.

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zappaisgod said:

Sy Hersh

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Seymour Hersch is the enemy or what?

that was a serious question.

AlteredAgain said:

elbisivni said:

Seems that people have just lost all of their faith and/or feel like there isn't a single thing they can do to make it all any better anyway, so we read the headlines, read the articles, think about what a shame it is, and continue on with our daily routines.  It can only go on for so long though, in what manner it will end is the question on my mind.

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yeah, i guess we're all just kind of hanging in there until something happens to shift us into a new position.

personally i feel like i'm on a ship that is heading towards an ice berg but nobody seems to be calling out to set in the brakes or steer out of the way.

and the captain is either sleeping, drunk, or wants to hit the ice berg to begin with.

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zappaisgod said:

Oh, I don't know, I just got the sense that there was some kind of BOOOOOSH LIIIIIIIES nonsense coming. Can't imagine why.

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