Upping the Ante in Afghanistan Posted by Jeremy Broussard

The New York Times reported Wednesday that U.S. allied forces in Afghanistan intercepted an Iranian shipment of mortars and plastic explosives, allegedly bound for Taliban fighters.  If true, it would mark a significant turn of events in U.S.-Iranian relations vis-a-vis  Afghanistan.

It was the first time that a senior American official had asserted that Iranian-made weapons were being supplied to the Taliban. But Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was not clear if the Iranian government had authorized the shipment.

We have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran ,” General Pace told reporters. “It’s not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible.”

It's been lost on most people, what with all of the "axis of evil" talk of the past five years, but Iran played a crucial role during the initial invasion of Afghanistan by U.S. forces in 2001.  The Iranians shared intelligence, actively supported the Northern Alliance, and helped smooth over problems during the formation of the post-Taliban interim government.  How things have changed!

The fact that some faction of the Iranian government--the Revolutionary Guard, perhaps?--would be willing to support a group considered its nation's enemy only five years ago is astounding. But with Bush seeing everything in black and white, good vs. evil, it's no surprise that someone in Iran has concluded that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The types of weapons the Iranians tried to deliver to the Taliban could have a dramatic impact on U.S. operations and casualties in Afghanistan, similar to the way Iranian-made EFP bombs in Iraq have caused a larger loss of American vehicles and personnel.  As tensions rise over Iran's nuclear weapons program, look for more "asymmetrical" Iranian actions like this on its eastern and western front.

Comments

[Cal]

Anything's possible, but we need to be really skeptical about this report. The Taliban hate the Shiites, and even killed two Iranian diplomats back in the 90's. Iran has supported the Northern Alliance from the beginning.

Guardian:

Some western officials in Kabul treated the allegations of Taliban support with scepticism yesterday. One said Iranian weapons had been freely available on the black market since the 1990s, when Tehran shipped arms to groups fighting the Taliban. "Out of every 10 Kalashnikovs, one is Iranian," he said. "This is all a war of words. It has very little basis in reality."

American officials have also lied about the EFP's in Iraq, claiming that they could only have come from Iran, even as we've been finding EFP factories in Iraq.

Yes, Iran could be arming its enemies on both borders just to get back at us, but this administration has no credibility, and we shouldn't repeat these charges until we have independent confirmation.

[Dan Kervick]

The New York Times reported Wednesday that U.S. forces in Afghanistan intercepted an Iranian shipment of mortars and plastic explosives, allegedly bound for Taliban fighters.

No, it din't report that. It reported that allied forces captured a shipment of Iranian-made weapons. Whether these weapons were actually shipped from Iran, or whether they are Iranian-made weapons shipped from some other country, is not indicated.

Nor is there any indication in the story that the shipment, even if it did come from Iran, was authorized by any government or quasi-governmental entity in Iran. For that matter, the story gives no indication that any government, anywhere, authorized the shipment. For all we know, these are black market weapons.

Nor does the report indicate that all of the weapons in the shipment were produced in Iran. Only the plastic explosives are identified as being of Iranian manufacture.

You should get your facts straight, Jeremy.

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