Last month (in June) fifteen Americans were killed in Iraq, the deadliest month for U.S. personnel serving in Iraq in more than two years. Yet, the number two U.S. military commander in Afghanistan would not say publicly that the amount of Iranian weapons in Afghanistan was spiking.
“That level is just about the normal level of arms and ammunition that crosses borders in this volatile region each year, said Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, Commander of International Security Assistance Joint Force Command. “And they… have not increased significantly in the past two years.”
Yet, day after day, we hear other senior US government officials, like for example Senator Lindsey Graham, during a recent visit to the region declare that “You can clearly see what they are doing in Iraq,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of Iran in an interview with Fox News. “They are supplying Shia militias in Iraq and trying to disrupt our operations there and claiming that we were driven out.
“I did receive information that weapons were coming out of Iran to help the Taliban at a crucial moment in Afghanistan,” Graham said.
One telling example of the weapons flow from Iran to Afghanistan happened in February, when British troops intercepted a large shipment of 122 millimeter rockets coming produced in Iran. The rockets have a range of about 13 miles, twice the range of what the Taliban was previously using.
I remember, watching an interview with General Abizaid (then Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle East. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops) being asked about Iranian supply of armaments to Shia Militia in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He gave a very evasive answer, almost justifying any Iranian involvement, if any!?
Now, I am sure these senior military officials have access to very high level intelligence. But what do they know, that Senator Lindsey Graham who was on active service until 1988 having served in the Gulf War, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, who as a Senator for South Carolina serves on the Armed Services Committee, Homeland Security Committee…does not know? Has he not read the same documents that these generals are reading? Has he not had the same briefings?
Why would these generals tread softly on Iran? What do they know? Who are they really defending?
