UK drops allegations of Iran 'involvement' in Iraq bombings

[Barrett808]

London, IRNA - The UK government is reported to have dropped its allegations of Iranian 'involvement' in supplying Iraqi insurgency groups with bombs to attack British soldiers.

Military and diplomatic officials have stopped pointing the finger at Tehran after carrying out a thorough assessment of the latest intelligence, wrote the daily Times.

Officials were now 'merely saying that the new technology matched bomb-making expertise traditionally found in Syria and Lebanon', according to the daily's defense editor Michale Evans.

The withdrawal of the allegations comes after Prime Minister Tony Blair first confirmed that the UK was accusing Iran of involvement at a press conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during his visit to London in October.

Blair said that there was no specific evidence and that 'cannot be sure of this at the present time' but that the 'particular nature of those devices leads us either to Iranian elements or to Hizbollah (in Lebanon)'.

(more)

http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jan/1019.html

[K-W]

1. The experts called this one bullshit on day one.

The technology was already widespread and was known in Iraq before the war.

[mikeytherat]

2. Syria and Lebanon are in Iran?

"Officials were now 'merely saying that the new technology matched bomb-making expertise traditionally found in Syria and Lebanon', according to the daily's defense editor Michale Evans."

So, Iran was implicated because...

mikey_the_rat

[mom cat]

8. You know... those people all look alike.

:sarcasm:

[grytpype]

3. This is getting very tiresome...

... and Rummy was citing this report as proof of Iranian involvment in the insurgency. Think he is going to correct himself, or even stop citing the report? I don't.

[xchrom]

5. rummy -- or this white house correct itself?

what a thought, hunh?

[HuffleClaw]

4. so, they simply shift the blame to syria ?

right on cue too. this crap is sooo tiresome. good lord.

[VegasWolf]

6. Blair will be bitch-slapped by Bush over this turnaround.

:nopity:

[xchrom]

7. it's iran's fault! -- uh, no, no wait -- it's syria's fault!

uh, no wait -- yeah -- it's lebanon's fault! uh, no wait -- well, well, it's somebody's fault -- the insurgents couldn't POSSIBLY kick our ass on their own.