[THS] CIA Director Says Iran Wants to Kill Americans in Iraq

Fri May 2 14:37:04 CEST 2008

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19849.htm

CIA Director Says Iran Wants to Kill Americans in Iraq

By John Milburn

01/05/08 " -- - MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — CIA Director Michael Hayden said
Wednesday that Iranian policy, at the highest government level, is to help
kill Americans in Iraq, the boldest pronouncement of Iranian involvement by
a U.S. official to date.

Hayden made the statement in response to a student question while
delivering the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University.

"It is my opinion, it is the policy of the Iranian government, approved to
highest level of that government, to facilitate the killing of Americans in
Iraq," Hayden said. "Just make sure there's clarity on that."

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have ratcheted up their complaints that Iran
is increasing its efforts to supply weapons and training to militants in Iraq.

Military commanders in Baghdad are expected to roll out evidence of that
support soon, including date stamps on newly found weapons caches
showing that recently made Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq at a
steadily increasing rate.

Another senior military official said the evidence will include mortars,
rockets, small arms, roadside bombs and armor-piercing explosives —
known as explosively formed penetrators or EFPs — that troops have
discovered in caches in recent months. The official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because the evidence has not yet been made public, said
dates on some of the weapons were well after Tehran signaled late last year
that it was scaling back aid to insurgents.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the U.S.
prefers to resolve the issue through other pressures, but that it has the
combat capability to strike Tehran, if necessary.

Hayden also said the recent Iraqi offensive in the southern Iraqi city of
Basra should stand as a clear indication to Iraq's neighbors that it intends to
be a credible force in the region. He added that such activities boost the
credentials of the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

During his 40 minute lecture, Hayden said China was likely to be a political
and economic competitor by the middle of the century but should not be
treated as an "inevitable enemy" of the United States.

He warned, however, that China likely would be viewed as an adversary if
Beijing uses its growing global influence in support of its own narrow
interests at the cost of peace and economic stability.

"If Beijing begins to accept greater responsibility for the health of the
international system — as all global powers should — we will remain on a
constructive, even if competitive, path. If not, the rise of China begins to
look more adversarial," he said.

China's military buildup, which is intended both to counter U.S. military
capabilities and to intimidate an independence-minded Taiwan, is as much
about projecting an image of strength and "great power status" as it is to
gain a tactical or strategic military advantage, he said.

"After two centuries of perceived Western hegemony, China is determined
to flex its muscle," Hayden said.

He also predicted continued tension between the United States and Europe,
an old alliance now strained by different views about terrorism.

"It is not yet clear when or if the United States and Europe will come to
share the same views of 21st-century threats — as we did for the last half of
the 20th century — and then forge a common approach to security,"
Hayden said.

The United States considers itself a nation at war, in pursuit of terrorists
wherever they are, he said.

"In much of Europe, terrorism is seen differently: primarily as an internal,
law enforcement problem, and solutions are focused more narrowly on
securing the homeland," Hayden said.

Sharp population growth over the coming decades, particularly in Asia,
Africa and the Middle East, will strain resources, increase immigration and
could result in an increase in violent extremism and civil unrest, he said.

The populations of Afghanistan, Liberia, Niger and the Democratic Republic
of Congo are expected to triple in 40 years, and those of Ethiopia, Nigeria,
and Yemen will more than double, he said.

Demographic changes, a rising China, and the evolving trans-Atlantic
alliance will shape American security and foreign policy through the middle
of this century, Hayden said. He called on Americans to learn the languages
and cultures needed to meet the new challenges, in the same way the
United States developed its Soviet expertise during the Cold War.

"Large parts of the world — including those that will hold more sway in the
future — do not share all of our ideas," Hayden said. "While we cherish and
live our own values, we must know and appreciate those of others."

Associated Press writer Pamela Hess contributed to this report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19851.htm

US officials: Decision On Confronting Iran Up To Iraq

By The Associated Press

01/05/08 "AP" -- - WASHINGTON -- Iraqi leaders have been given the latest
U.S. evidence of Iranian support for militias inside Iraq, and Baghdad will
decide what to do about it, two senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, director of strategy, plans and policy for the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki possesses the
evidence, which other officials said contradicts Tehran's stated commitment
to stop providing arms, weapons technology and training to Shiite militias
inside Iraq.

"It's in Prime Minister al-Maliki's hands right now, the evidence as to
whether or not he's been lied to -- bald-faced lied to -- by the Iranian
government," Sattler told a Pentagon news conference.

"The evidence inside Baghdad has been shared with the Iraqi leadership,
and that's where it stands right now," he added.

The Iraqi leaders are hoping to pressure Iran to stop aiding militias by
presenting Tehran with the latest evidence, another senior defense official
said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the information, said it's not clear whether the Iranians have
agreed to meet to discuss the evidence. But the official said the Iraqis want
to press the Iranians to stop.

CIA Director Michael Hayden said Wednesday that Iran's policy is to help kill
Americans in Iraq. Hayden made the statement in response to a student
question while speaking at Kansas State University.

"It is my opinion, it is the policy of the Iranian government, approved to
highest level of that government, to facilitate the killing of Americans in
Iraq," Hayden said.

U.S. military officials have said its evidence that Iran is aiding Iraqi militias
includes caches of weapons that have date stamps showing they were
produced in Iran this year. The weapons include mortars, rockets, small
arms, roadside bombs and armor-piercing explosives -- known as
explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs -- that troops have discovered in
recent months, according to another senior military official who spoke on
condition of anonymity because the evidence has not yet been made public.

According to one official, plans for U.S. officials to publicly present the
evidence of Iranian support for the militias have been delayed to give the
Iraqis time to speak directly to Tehran about the problem.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other U.S. government officials have
asserted that Iranian-trained Iraqi Shiite militiamen are carrying out attacks
in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq -- using weapons supplied by Iran -- that
are killing not only Iraqis but U.S. troops as well.

Appearing with Sattler at the Pentagon was the Joint Chiefs' operations
chief, Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, who said the Iraqis will play "a leading
role" in determining how to deal with the problem.

"The government of Iran ... made a commitment to stem the flow of
fighters and material from Iran into Iraq," Ham said, adding that U.S.
military commanders in Baghdad "have stated that they're not seeing
evidence that that is, in fact, the case. I think it now is a matter for the
government of Iraq."

Asked more directly what the U.S. government intends to do about the
Iranian actions in Iraq, Ham replied, "Clearly the Iraqis have a leading role,
but it is necessarily an international effort to which the United States clearly
is a significant factor in this."

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week
that U.S. officials in Baghdad planned to publicly release evidence of
continuing lethal Iranian assistance to militias inside Iraq. That plan is on
hold to give the Iraqis time to speak directly to Tehran about the problem,
one official said.

Gates said Tuesday that the U.S. is not laying the groundwork for an attack
against Iran.

Addressing the same issue, Sattler said he knows of "no order or stepped-
up effort to plan" for military action against Iran, adding that in his position
as head of planning for the Joint Chiefs, he would know.

The U.S. briefly had two Navy aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf this week
-- a move that Gates said Tuesday could be seen as a "reminder" to Iran.
The Pentagon has routinely said that moving ships to the Gulf is a way of
showing countries there that the U.S. remains committed to the region.

The USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Gulf in a normal rotation of forces,
and the USS Harry Truman and its battle group began heading toward
their home base at Norfolk, Va., officials said. Ham said the two carriers
were together in the Gulf for only a day, and that they conducted joint air
exercises in the northern Gulf.