I was sure that Rummy said as much, shortly after the fall of Baghdad, but I can`t find a link now

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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Marx (G.)

there an Iraqi Resistance Group that was on the list of Terror Organizations until the Iraqi invasion?

I will try to find that story...

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"Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet."

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US, Israel linked to missing Iranian
Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem
March 07, 2007

THE disappearance of a former senior Iranian defence official in Turkey has raised speculation that he has defected or been snatched by the CIA or Mossad. General Alireza Asghari, who served as deputy Iranian defence minister for eight years until 2005, went missing in Istanbul on February 7 after arriving from Damascus and checking into a hotel. There was no official Iranian comment on the affair until this week when Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran had asked the Turkish Government for information on the disappearance.

If General Asghari has gone over to the West, or been abducted, he would be a major source of information on Iran's nuclear program and a host of other security matters. Before serving as deputy defence minister he had been a general with the elite Revolutionary Guard. Apart from strategic matters, General Asghari is reportedly privy to information about two affairs, one of great interest to Israel and the other to the US.

Debkafile, an Israeli website dealing with intelligence matters, reported this week that the CIA was interested in General Asghari because he was allegedly involved in the abduction two months ago of five US soldiers from a compound in Karbala, Iraq. The five were subsequently executed.

Their seizure was reportedly ordered by Iran in order to obtain the release of Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers taken prisoner in Iraq shortly before by the Americans. According to the website, the US soldiers were seized by a commando team belonging to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry whose members, of various nationalities, had studied in America and were able to penetrate the protected compound because they spoke English.

According to Israeli sources, General Asghari was also commander of the Revolutionary Guard serving in Lebanon in the 1980s, liaising with Hezbollah when a downed Israeli navigator, Ron Arad, was sold by a Lebanese militia commander to the Iranians. The Israeli airman was never heard from again. Israeli officials have long contended that the key to his fate lies in Iran. Baztab, an Iranian website linked to the Revolutionary Guards, reported last week that a reservation for three days had been made for General Asghari in Istanbul's luxurious Ceylan Hotel by two non-Turkish men who paid cash. But when the Iranian arrived in Istanbul the next day, he checked into the more modest Ghilan Hotel. "Clearly the reservation at the Ceylan was made to mislead," a Turkish police officer was quoted as saying.

Baztab recently reported that General Asghari was one of 20 persons associated with the Revolutionary Guard whose names appeared on what it said was a CIA hit list. Iran sent a delegation to Turkey last week to investigate the incident and has also reportedly asked Interpol to open an investigation.

The general's disappearance was first reported last week in the Saudi newspaper al-Watan. "In a meeting held by Turkish security officials with an Iranian delegation, the possibility was raised that the Mossad and the CIA were involved in the disappearance," the paper said. It quoted a Turkish official as saying that border control posts showed no record of General Asghari leaving the country. But, the official said: "Given his sensitive job and the important information he possesses regarding the Iranian nuclear program, the possibility that he left Turkey using a fake passport and an alias is being examined."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...01-601,00.html
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Hey PF mods, can this thread be moved to the warfare section instead? The Pals and Israelis pretty much own the ME section imo... they need a place to hash out their umm... diffrences

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

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Ex-Iranian commander defects, U.S. source says
By Dafna Linzer
The Washington Post
Posted March 8 2007

WASHINGTON – A former Iranian deputy defense minister who once commanded the Revolutionary Guard has left his country and is cooperating with Western intelligence agencies, providing information on Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the organization, according to a senior U.S. official.

Ali Rez Asgari disappeared last month during a visit to Turkey. Iranian officials suggested Wednesday that he may have been kidnapped by Israel or the United States. The U.S. official said Asgari is cooperating of his own free will. He did not divulge Asgari's whereabouts or specify who is questioning him but made clear that the information Asgari is offering is available to U.S. intelligence.

..snip...

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, quoted the country's top police chief, Brig. Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam, as saying that Asgari was probably kidnapped by agents working for Western intelligence agencies. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Asgari was in the United States. Another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied that report and suggested that Asgari's disappearance was voluntary and orchestrated by the Israelis. A spokesman for President Bush's National Security Council did not return a call for comment. The Israeli government denied any connection to Asgari. "To my knowledge, Israel is not involved in any way in this disappearance," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nat...,0,82041.story
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Better than a Tom Clancy book. Now Raytri just needs to write the script and Rebellion to come up with production investors... then we can have a movie made.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

U.S. escalating covert operations against Iran - report
Reuters - U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.
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This needs a soundtrack.

Putting out the fire with Gasoline... by David Bowie.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

Judging from the reactions in this thread.. Hey everyone look *secret*
..seems like a lot are surprised.


Maybe the people of the USA should be paying more attention to what their federal govt is up to overseas so that next time they won't be so surprised.

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"When I'm in command, every mission is a suicide mission!" -Capt. Zapp Branigan
The United Church of the Latter Day Tangential Tarts

The US Congress approved a 400 million dollar package to carry out covert operations within Iran in order to destabilise the Iranian government.

'sthe word used for these sorts of things again? Let me think for a minute. I know!

According to the definition given in the US military manuals, this sort of covert activity is called STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM