http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL11243670
In two recent cases, he said, 46 Iranian rockets were found ready and aimed at a U.S. operating base and several more were discovered near a U.S. patrol post. US military says finding more Iranian arms in Iraq Sun Nov 11, 2007 10:11am EST By Paul Tait BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The quantity of Iranian bomb-making components being found in Iraq is increasing despite a fall in attacks and 20 Iranian-trained agents are still operating south of Baghdad, a top U.S. general said on Sunday. Extensive Iranian influence in Iraq remained evident, said Major-General Rick Lynch, despite signs of a possible easing of tensions between Washington and Tehran over security in Iraq. "Iranian influence is dominant at many levels," said Lynch, whose area of command extends from Baghdad's southern suburbs south through Sunni Arab insurgent strongholds to the major Shi'ite cities of Kerbala and Najaf. Lynch said his troops were chasing 20 "targets" he identified as Iraqi Shi'ites who were agents for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps's (IRGC) elite Qods Force. "They were trained in Iran and they're conducting operations in our battle space," Lynch told reporters. "They're Iraqis but they're IRGC surrogates and they're still out there." Lynch said in August that military intelligence suggested there were about 50 IRGC troops in southern Iraq training Shi'ite militias in the use of mortars and rockets. His latest comments came despite an apparent softening of rhetoric by U.S. officials in Baghdad towards Iran. Washington accuses Tehran of arming, training and funding Shi'ite militias in Iraq, charges Iran denies, but U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker late last month noted several positive developments in Iran's involvement in Iraq. These included a sharp drop in mortar attacks on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, many blamed on Shi'ite militias using Iranian weapons, and the Mehdi Army militia ceasefire ordered in August by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. On Friday, the U.S. military released nine Iranians, including two it accused of links to the Qods Force. Falls in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian casualties in the past two months have been attributed to a "surge" of 30,000 extra U.S. troops, which was completed in mid-June, and tribal sheikhs organising "concerned citizens" into local police units. Lynch said there had been a 59 percent fall in roadside bomb attacks in his area including "explosively formed penetrators" -- arming-piercing bombs known as EFPs -- since July 1. "The number of EFP attacks are on the decline but the number of EFP munitions we're finding has indeed increased," he said. "We've come across weapons caches with large numbers of EFP components all traceable back to Iran based on tool markings." Lynch said he did not know whether these components were being found more often because more were coming in or whether his troops were conducting more searches. He said he was also troubled by the number of Iranian rockets being found. In two recent cases, he said, 46 Iranian rockets were found ready and aimed at a U.S. operating base and several more were discovered near a U.S. patrol post. (Editing by Matthew Tostevin) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
