the LA times seems to be the only major american newspaper that is really
looking closely at the bush administration's case against iran. from
today's paper:
Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims that Iran is fomenting violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.
...
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates seemed to concede Friday that U.S. officials can't say for sure whether the Iranian government is involved in assisting the attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq.
"I don't know that we know the answer to that question," Gates said.
Earlier this week, U.S. officials acknowledged that they were uncertain about the strength of their evidence and were reluctant to issue potentially questionable data in the wake of the intelligence failures and erroneous assessments that preceded the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
but most importantly, the LA times article contains the line that really is the key to understanding it all:
Few doubt that Iran is working to increase its influence inside Iraq, but many of its beneficiaries have been political groups that also are allied with the United States.
conservatives like to say "we're already at war with iran." but these days you could just as easily say "we're already allied with iran." we already know who is funding the insurgents who are responsible for most of the american casualties. it just
doesn't happen to be anyone the administration is anxious to attack.
