Skeptics Doubt U.S. Evidence on Iran’s Actions in Iraq

[cal04]

Three weeks after promising it would show proof of Iranian meddling in Iraq, the Bush administration has laid out its evidence — and received in return a healthy dose of skepticism.

The response from Congressional and other critics speaks volumes about the current state of American credibility, four years after the intelligence controversy leading up to the Iraq war. To pre-empt accusations that the charges against Iran were politically motivated, the administration rejected the idea of a high-level presentation, relying instead on military and intelligence officers to make its case in a background briefing in Baghdad.

Even so, critics have been quick to voice doubts. Representative Silvestre Reyes of Texas, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, suggested that the White House was more interested in sending a message to Tehran than in backing up serious allegations with proof. And David Kay, who once led the hunt for illicit weapons in Iraq, said the grave situation in Iraq should have taught the Bush administration to put more of a premium on transparency when it comes to intelligence.

“If you want to avoid the perception that you’ve cooked the books, you come out and make the charges publicly,” Mr. Kay said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/world/middleeast/13weapons.html?hp&ex=1171342800&en=807e1132fc3d3585&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Union Thug]

1. Anyone with a functioning brain doubts the so called 'evidence'

Only a dim-witted 'moran' would believe the lying buckets of snot that comprise BushCo's corporate minions.

[Briar]

2. Seems to me the NYT

could do with being a lot more sceptical! It's stories have been credulously helpful to the administration's war mongering.

[maddezmom]

3. AP:Pace says no evidence Iran arming Iraq (Tuesday in Jakarta)

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A top U.S. general said Tuesday there was no evidence the Iranian government was supplying Iraqi insurgents with highly lethal roadside bombs, apparently contradicting claims by other U.S. military and administration officials.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hunting down militant networks that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and that some of the material used in the devices were made in Iran.

"That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this," Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. "What it does say is that things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers."

His remarks might raise questions on the credibility of the claims of high-level Iranian involvement, especially following the faulty U.S. intelligence that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_us_iraq;_ylt=ApsqSMfYJ4MWQlsnSvPyJbhvaA8F