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Twice in the past few days important media outlets have aired the claim -- for which there is apparently no evidence -- that Iran was behind the downing of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan over the weekend which killed 38.

First, this item appeared on Sunday in Mike Allen's daily Playbook email newsletter:

EMAIL DU JOUR: "My immediate reaction is which foreign intelligence agency is training and equipping the Taliban to do this. I suspect Iran."

I asked Allen about this Sunday, and he emailed that the next day's would have "an alternative view." This appeared in Monday's edition:

EMAIL DU JOUR, responding to yesterday's EDJ, on the insurgents' strike on the SEALs: "Wow someone is trying to blame Iran! Iran had nothing to do with this. It happened in Wardak. Like 99% of fighters and weapons there likely all came from Pakistan. I know everyone wants to hate on Iran. But the enemy in Afghanistan is Pakistan, not Iran."

The alternative view was helpful. But it's still not clear why it's worthwhile (or responsible) to air this sort of inflammatory, and baseless, claim in the first place.

We heard the claim again on CNN Monday night, this time from the paperback thriller author Brad Thor, who was for some reason invited on as a foreign affairs analyst. He told host John King:

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