Iran Using Hezbollah In Iraq

[red states rule]

The storm gathers.................


BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iran is using the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah as a "proxy" to arm Shiite militants in Iraq and Tehran's elite Quds force helped militants carry out a January attack in Karbala in which five Americans were killed, a U.S. general said Monday.

A senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative, Ali Mussa Dakdouk, was captured March 20 in southern Iraq, U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said. Dakdouk served for 24 years in Hezbollah and was "working in Iraq as a surrogate for the Iranian Quds Force," Bergner said.

The general also said that Dakdouk was a liaison between the Iranians and a breakaway Shiite group led by Qais al-Kazaali, a former spokesman for cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Bergner said al-Kazaali's group carried out the January attack against a provincial government building in Karbala and that the Iranians assisted in preparations. Al-Khazaali and his brother Ali al-Khazaali were captured with Dakdouk.

Dakdouk told U.S. interrogators that the Karbala attackers "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force," Bergner said.

Documents captured with al-Khazaali showed that the Quds Force had developed detailed information on the U.S. position at the government building, "regarding our soldiers' activities, shift changes and defenses, and this information was shared with the attackers," Bergner said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287632,00.html

 

[onedomino]

And some claim that Hezbollah is no threat. See this post: http://usmessageboard.com/showthread.php?p=582961#post582961

 

[red states rule]

And some claim that Hezbollah is no threat. See this post: http://usmessageboard.com/showthread.php?p=582961#post582961

I know

To some it all the fault of the US and the Jews

 

[DeadCanDance]

And some claim that Hezbollah is no threat. See this post: http://usmessageboard.com/showthread.php?p=582961#post582961

I’m surprised you haven’t learned your lesson about blindly accepting statements from the Bush adminstration about Iran, given that everything they told you about Iraq was wrong.

As for me? I didn’t fooled the first time. And I’ll be damned if I’ll believe anything they say again, unless its confirmed by independent, credible sources.

Point by point rebuttal:

1) This iran story is based off an NY Times article by Michael Gordon. Do you know who he is? He was Judy Miller’s sidekick at the times…the Times reporters who wrote alarmist and fear-mongering articles about non-existent aluminum tubes and WMD stockpiles. All of which turned out to not be true. Yeah, I’m gonna believe Michael Gordon’s reporting. Not.

2) This is based on what one general says, according to some defector he found? One single defector – some “Mr. Mr. Daqduq”. Here’s another case where you haven’t learned your lesson. Ever heard of “Curveball”. He was one of those single-source “defectors” who gave us phony information on WMD. You know, the phony info from a handful of “defectors” that got us into your war? You can’t base any decisions on the word of one low level defector. That’s just bad intelligence gathering.

3) As for the link to my previous post about Hezbollah – I don’t see anything at all that is inaccurate in what I claimed. I said there isn’t a shred of evidence that Hezbollah wants to attack American cities, or America civilians. That remains true. They HAVEN”T. Now, even assuming your story from the “defector” is true, it doesn’t mean Hezbollah has any intention of attacking American cities and civilians. We happen to have a large army in the middle of arab lands. It’s a simple statement of fact, to say that that pisses some people off. If our army wasn’t in Iraq, in an unnecessary war based on false reasons, is there a shred of evidence that Hezbollah would be attacking Americans? No, there’s not.



Finally, I don’t deny that Iran could be meddling in Iraq. Probably ALL of Iraq’s neighbors are meddling in Iraq: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria. What happens in Iraq is relevant to their national interest. Of course there going to be meddling. We’d do the same, if there was a civil war going on in Mexico. We’d get our asses involved and meddle.

But, at this point I don’t believe anything that comes from the Bush administration. Unless it’s backed up by multiple, independent credible sources.

 

[Chips Rafferty]

The storm gathers.................


BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iran is using the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah as a "proxy" to arm Shiite militants in Iraq and Tehran's elite Quds force helped militants carry out a January attack in Karbala in which five Americans were killed, a U.S. general said Monday.

A senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative, Ali Mussa Dakdouk, was captured March 20 in southern Iraq, U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner said. Dakdouk served for 24 years in Hezbollah and was "working in Iraq as a surrogate for the Iranian Quds Force," Bergner said.

The general also said that Dakdouk was a liaison between the Iranians and a breakaway Shiite group led by Qais al-Kazaali, a former spokesman for cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Bergner said al-Kazaali's group carried out the January attack against a provincial government building in Karbala and that the Iranians assisted in preparations. Al-Khazaali and his brother Ali al-Khazaali were captured with Dakdouk.

Dakdouk told U.S. interrogators that the Karbala attackers "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force," Bergner said.

Documents captured with al-Khazaali showed that the Quds Force had developed detailed information on the U.S. position at the government building, "regarding our soldiers' activities, shift changes and defenses, and this information was shared with the attackers," Bergner said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287632,00.html

Congenital idiots and denizens of US Message Board are again baying for Muslim blood…despite being unable to locate the United States of Muslim on a world map.

Meanwhile, Superman, disguised as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a mild-mannered leader of a great Muslim country, fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the Iranian Way!"


A potted history course on America’s premeditated Middle East conflict for the feeble-minded flag-wavers and gutless rear echelon urgers like RSR here,



• For the second time in twelve years America criminally invades Iraq – a predominantly Shiite nation - on a fabricated casus belli to filch its oil and for ongoing strategic purposes, i.e. as a base to launch attacks on Iran, Syria, etc


• America criminally occupies and continues to kill hundreds of thousand of Iraqis - to add to the million or so deaths it has already inflicted on them - even when the cat is out of the bag about their falsified casus belli

• Iran decides to democratically help the majority Iraqi Shiites to protect themselves from this brazenly predatory renegade super power

• America uses Iran’s stalwart assistance to fellow religionists as fabricated casus belli to filch its oil and for ongoing strategic purposes, i.e. as a base to launch attacks on it neighbours…

Only American mushrooms, i.e. tiny (minded) fascistic fungal spores kept in the dark and fed on Christo-capitalist bullshit, could believe that their cause is just and this is what their national talisman G-e-e-zus would do.

 

[red states rule]

I’m surprised you haven’t learned your lesson about blindly accepting statements from the Bush adminstration about Iran, given that everything they told you about Iraq was wrong.

As for me? I didn’t fooled the first time. And I’ll be damned if I’ll believe anything they say again, unless its confirmed by independent, credible sources.

Point by point rebuttal:

1) This iran story is based off an NY Times article by Michael Gordon. Do you know who he is? He was Judy Miller’s sidekick at the times…the Times reporters who wrote alarmist and fear-mongering articles about non-existent aluminum tubes and WMD stockpiles. All of which turned out to not be true. Yeah, I’m gonna believe Michael Gordon’s reporting. Not.

2) This is based on what one general says, according to some defector he found? One single defector – some “Mr. Mr. Daqduq”. Here’s another case where you haven’t learned your lesson. Ever heard of “Curveball”. He was one of those single-source “defectors” who gave us phony information on WMD. You know, the phony info from a handful of “defectors” that got us into your war? You can’t base any decisions on the word of one low level defector. That’s just bad intelligence gathering.

3) As for the link to my previous post about Hezbollah – I don’t see anything at all that is inaccurate in what I claimed. I said there isn’t a shred of evidence that Hezbollah wants to attack American cities, or America civilians. That remains true. They HAVEN”T. Now, even assuming your story from the “defector” is true, it doesn’t mean Hezbollah has any intention of attacking American cities and civilians. We happen to have a large army in the middle of arab lands. It’s a simple statement of fact, to say that that pisses some people off. If our army wasn’t in Iraq, in an unnecessary war based on false reasons, is there a shred of evidence that Hezbollah would be attacking Americans? No, there’s not.



Finally, I don’t deny that Iran could be meddling in Iraq. Probably ALL of Iraq’s neighbors are meddling in Iraq: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria. What happens in Iraq is relevant to their national interest. Of course there going to be meddling. We’d do the same, if there was a civil war going on in Mexico. We’d get our asses involved and meddle.

But, at this point I don’t believe anything that comes from the Bush administration. Unless it’s backed up by multiple, independent credible sources.

Like most Bush haters, you would rather stick in your head in the sand and ignore what is going on


The story has been picked up as the storm gathers


US links Iran to attack in Iraq

The US military in Iraq has accused Iran of orchestrating an attack that killed five US soldiers and of using Lebanese militants to train insurgents.
The information came from a top Hezbollah fighter recently captured in southern Iraq, an army spokesman said.

Brig-Gen Kevin Bergner said the suspect admitted working with the Quds Force, linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian officials have always denied involvement in anti-US and anti-British attacks in Iraq.

Tehran says it supports the US-backed Iraqi government, and blames the violence on the myriad conflicts within the country since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

But Gen Bergner insisted that the Quds Force knew of and helped plan the attack on a Karbala government compound in January.

for the complete article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm

 

[onedomino]

3) As for the link to my previous post about Hezbollah – I don’t see anything at all that is inaccurate in what I claimed. I said there isn’t a shred of evidence that Hezbollah wants to attack American cities, or America civilians. That remains true. They HAVEN”T. Now, even assuming your story from the “defector” is true, it doesn’t mean Hezbollah has any intention of attacking American cities and civilians. We happen to have a large army in the middle of arab lands. It’s a simple statement of fact, to say that that pisses some people off. If our army wasn’t in Iraq, in an unnecessary war based on false reasons, is there a shred of evidence that Hezbollah would be attacking Americans? No, there’s not.

You claimed that "They [Hezbollah] haven't killed an american in twenty years." http://usmessageboard.com/showthread.php?p=582961#post582961 And your claim is false:

BAGHDAD — A U.S. military spokesman accused Iranian leaders Monday of using guerrillas from Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group to train militiamen fighting American troops in Iraq.

The Hezbollah guerrillas also have organized attacks in Iraq, he said, including a January ambush on an Iraqi-U.S. outpost that killed five American soldiers.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq3jul03,0,3542714.story?coll=la-home-center

 

[red states rule]

snip


In 2005, the Hezbollah leadership instructed Daqduq to go to Iran and help the Quds Force train Shiite Iraqi militants, Bergner said. Daqduq went to Tehran in 2006 with Yussef Hashim, another Hezbollah operative who serves as the head of the group's operations in Iraq. They met with the senior Quds Force commanders and were directed to go to Iraq and report on efforts to train Shiite militants there, Bergner said.

Groups of up to 60 Iraqi militants were brought to Iran for military instruction at three camps near Tehran and trained in using roadside bombs, mortars, rockets, kidnapping operations and in how to operate as a sniper. The Quds Force also provided up to $3 million a month in funding to the Iraqi militants, the American general said.

Some of the Shiite militants who were trained in Iran are former members of Mahdi army, the militia that reports to Moktada al-Sadr. Bergner said there was no evidence to suggest that their activities were backed by Sadr, though Qasis Khazali once served as a spokesman for Sadr's movement.

Daqduq was captured in March in Basra. To avoid revealing his Lebanese accent, he initially pretended that he was a deaf mute, Bergner said. But he eventually began to speak under interrogation.

http://mobile.iht.com/articles/2007/07/02/africa/iraq.4.xhtml

 

[maineman]

and here I thought that RSR has been telling us that Iran has been supporting Al Qaeda.

Did they switch allegiance?

If Iran is now backing Hezbollah, how does that play into RSR's grand prediction of Al Qaeda and Iran jointly ruling Iraq against the will of the Iraqi people?

 

[DeadCanDance]

You claimed that "They [Hezbollah] haven't killed an american in twenty years." http://usmessageboard.com/showthread.php?p=582961#post582961 And your claim is false:

Please. This is just embarrassing.

As you well know, I said over and over and over, in multiple posts, that there isn't a shred of evidence that Hezbollah has any desire to attack american cities, the United States homeland, or american civilians. That was obviously what the 20 year reference was all about. Its disingenous of you to cherry pick that one statement, out of all the context I laid out, in a feeble attempt to prove I "lied".

Now as for these assertions (and let's remember, they're only assertions) about Hezbollah attacking american soliders in Iraq, I would say two things. First, why would you believe anything the Bush admin tells you now on Iraq? Second, its just plain silly to send an army of 150,000 american soldiers into the heart of the arab world, and not expect arabs to attack you. A LOT of arabs are pissed that we're occupying Iraq...not just hezbollah. Your fine GOP candidate, Ron Paul, put it quite well, when he basically said that when you send armies into other peoples countries, some of them are going to attack you.

So what does this have to do with proving any desire of Hezbollah to attack american cities and civilians? Nothing. It doesn't demonstrate anything about hezbollah wanting to attack kansas city. Just like I said 80 posts ago.

 

[onedomino]

Please. This is just embarrassing.

As you well know, I said over and over and over, in multiple posts, that there isn't a shred of evidence that Hezbollah has any desire to attack american cities, the United States homeland, or american civilians. That was obviously what the 20 year reference was all about. Its disingenous of you to cherry pick that one statement, out of all the context I laid out, in a feeble attempt to prove I "lied".

Now as for these assertions (and let's remember, they're only assertions) about Hezbollah attacking american soliders in Iraq, I would say two things. First, why would you believe anything the Bush admin tells you now on Iraq? Second, its just plain silly to send an army of 150,000 american soldiers into the heart of the arab world, and not expect arabs to attack you. A LOT of arabs are pissed that we're occupying Iraq...not just hezbollah. Your fine GOP candidate, Ron Paul, put it quite well, when he basically said that when you send armies into other peoples countries, some of them are going to attack you.

So what does this have to do with proving any desire of Hezbollah to attack american cities and civilians? Nothing. It doesn't demonstrate anything about hezbollah wanting to attack kansas city. Just like I said 80 posts ago.

I am not surprised your embarrassed. Most people would be embarrassed to insist that Hezbollah is not dangerous to Americans. Your distinction that Hezbollah has yet to attack Americans in the continential US is spurious. Ahmadinejad has yet to attack the continential US. Is he not dangerous? North Korea has never attacked the continential US. Is it not dangerous to Americans? There are Americans all over the world, including the Middle East. Hezbollah is a proxy murder organization for Iran. It is at war with Israelis, Americans, and whoever else gets in its way of using terror to murder its way to power. That you apparently seek to minimize the threat from such an organization, by saying that they have not killed an American in 20 years, must be confronted. You put "lied" in quotes in your post above, when I never used that word. I simply said that your statement that Hezbollah has not killed Americans in 20 years is false. Only you can tell us if your statement was a mistake or a lie.

 

[Annie]

Please. This is just embarrassing.

As you well know, I said over and over and over, in multiple posts, that there isn't a shred of evidence that Hezbollah has any desire to attack american cities, the United States homeland, or american civilians. That was obviously what the 20 year reference was all about. Its disingenous of you to cherry pick that one statement, out of all the context I laid out, in a feeble attempt to prove I "lied".

...

Recognizing the threat from Hezbollah is not new, it was one of the arguments for NOT acting in Iraq:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/18/60minutes/main550000.shtml

Hezbollah: "A-Team Of Terrorists"
April 18, 2003(CBS) This is what deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage had in mind a few months ago when he pinned this label on Hezbollah.

"Hezbollah may be the 'A-Team of Terrorists' and maybe al-Qaeda is actually the 'B' team. And they're on the list and their time will come,” says Armitage. “There is no question about it - it's all in good time. And we're going to go after these problems just like a high school wrestler goes after a match. We're going to take them down one at a time."

What he's talking about started about two decades ago as a ragtag militia group fighting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. But there's no longer anything ragtag about Hezbollah now, Correspondent Ed Bradley reports.

The Islamic government of Iran reportedly subsidizes Hezbollah to the tune of $100 million a year, providing its several thousand well-trained fighters with sophisticated weapons systems. Iran also sends advisors, and according to U.S. intelligence, issues its marching orders.

Sen. Bob Graham, the Florida democrat who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee in the last Congress, and is now running for president, says the Bush Administration should be more concerned with Hezbollah than they are with Saddam Hussein.

“Does Saddam Hussein or Hezbollah represent the greater threat to the United States,” asks Graham. “In my opinion, there's no question that Hezbollah is that greater threat, and yes, we should go after it first and go after it before we go to war with Iraq.”

Graham says Hezbollah has a global network of radical Islamic supporters, with enough operatives in the U.S. to pose a terrorist threat here.

“It has a significant presence of its trained operatives inside the United States waiting for the call to action,” says Graham.

But if we were to know that classified information, would we be more concerned? Would we be more afraid of Hezbollah than we are today?

“Well, I'm more concerned and more afraid than if I did not know what the scale of their presence was in the United States,” says Graham, without any hesitation.

“They are a violent terrorist group. And they have demonstrated throughout their now 25-year history a hatred of the United States and a willingness to kill our people.”

Senator Graham is referring to the 1983 truck bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, which resulted in the death of 241 U.S. Marines. Hezbollah's supporters say that attack was a response to shelling by U.S. warships of Islamic factions in the Lebanese civil war. The U.S. called it terrorism.

But Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, who we met in Beirut, insists that his group no longer poses a threat to the U.S. Unlike the leadership of al-Qaeda, he isn't hiding from anyone. You may never have heard of Nasrallah before, but he is a hugely popular figure, not just in the region but also among Arabs living in the West

“ I believe the Americans are just saying what the Israelis want them to say. I consider this to be an Israeli accusation coming out of an American mouth and nothing more,” says Nasrallah.

When he became its leader ten years ago, Nasrallah turned Hezbollah into a formidable fighting force. Few people know more about him than journalist Nick Blanford, who has covered Lebanon for eight years and is now writing a book about Hezbollah and Sheikh Nasrallah.

“People adore him. I mean, I talked to some Hezbollah fighters that speak of him almost as they would a wife or a mother,” says Blanford. “They think of him before they go to sleep at night, that he's always in their thoughts, so he has this tremendous power over the rank and file.”

The militant Islamic group has enough power and trained skilled commandos who are specialized in attacking Israeli forces that have occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years. Their most effective weapon: remote-controlled roadside bombs that were detonated when Israeli patrols passed by -- as in the 1983 attack in southern Lebanon.

All told, Israel lost more than 900 soldiers in Lebanon. In May 2000, the Israeli Army withdrew.

What did Israel's withdrawal do for Hezbollah in the eyes of the Arab world?

“Well, there's enormous boost for Hezbollah,” says Blanford. “I mean, this was a small Arab organization that had defeated the mightiest military force the Middle East has ever seen.”

...