Several candidates referred to the Iranians killing American soldiers, an allegation that has been around for some months and is clearly becoming the focal point for efforts to create a consensus that Iran must be stopped, no matter the costs or consequences.
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One thing that all the stories about Iranian involvement have in common is their lack of substantiating detail. There are no names, dates, places, or corroborating information, and most rely on anonymous government sources or bald assertions that are presented as fact. Photos of alleged captured ordnance have been unconvincing. Further, the presence of the weapons, even if true, cannot be traced back to any official Iranian government body or policy through documentary or other evidence. In March 2006, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that there was no evidence to back up the claims of direct Iranian involvement in the development of the more effective IEDs, referred to as explosively formed projectiles (EFPs). The United Kingdom media has reported that the EFP is, in fact, a British design that was inadvertently given to the IRA in a sting operation that went horribly wrong in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s. It is not an Iranian innovation or something that is unique to Tehran’s arsenal.
A widely advertised Pentagon briefing in Baghdad in February 2007 was supposed to provide stacks of documents and examples of hardware that would make the case for Iranian involvement. The press conference turned out to be a bust, with little more than fragments of ordnance actually on display. When questioned, a senior Defense Department analyst admitted that there was no “smoking gun.”
Other sources familiar with the weapons themselves and with Asian weapons markets in general have noted that Iraqis hardly need instruction or assistance in constructing the IEDs and EFPs, as they have become the real experts in their design and deployment. The Iraqi army of Saddam Hussein had many specialists in ordnance design working in its armories, most of whom have been unemployed since 2003. The sources also note that Iraq is well supplied with all the artillery shells and bombs it could possibly need to construct huge and highly sophisticated roadside weapons, all accomplished without any need for Iranian assistance. One British Defense Ministry source estimates that the Iraqis have enough high explosives on hand to continue IED attacks at the current level for the next 274 years. When Iranian-origin weapons do show up, many can be traced to illegal and quasi-legal arms markets that exist throughout central Asia.
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Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
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