Why the "condition of anonymity" with the claims against Iran?

[Emit]

Anybody else find this curious? I caught this story on NPR this morning, and it was mentioned several times in the audio (at link) that the folks giving the slide show making claims against Iran spoke anonymously. Why?

U.S. Says Iran Supplying Weapons to Iraq Militias
by Jamie Tarabay


All Things Considered, February 11, 2007 · U.S. officials say they have evidence that Iran is supplying weapons to Iraqi extremist groups. They also say they have proof showing that orders to these militant groups come from the highest levels in Iran's government.

The American officials spoke on condition of anonymity. No recording devices were allowed at the briefing, but those speaking said they were comfortable with their claims.

There was a slideshow depicting three main routes from Iran into Iraq which, the officials maintain, are used to smuggle in weapons and weapons parts. Some weapons parts were also on display in the briefing room including the mortar round parts that an explosives expert says was manufactured in Iran. The expert also presented a particular brand of rocket-propelled grenade that he said was manufactured only in Iran.

But the U.S. officials focused mainly on a deadlier version of the improvised explosive device: the explosively formed penetrator. It's a tin-can-shaped explosive covered with a lid of copper that turns into molten rock and pierces through armored vehicles. The officials said the use of this weapon has nearly doubled since it was first introduced in May 2004. More than 170 coalition forces have been killed by it, they said, and more than 620 have been wounded.

Iran was operating in Iraq through extremist groups, the officials claim. They said that among those groups were radical elements of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

~snip~

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7361046

[deutsey]

1. Why, they're just such humble joes, of course.

Always avoiding the limelight.

:eyes:

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Cuz they saw what happened to Powell.

They don't want to have to deal with the same shit when their lies are exposed after the attacks they caused.

[jobycom]

3. Bush and Cheney refused to give their names? How odd.

I'd be more surprised if someone did take credit for these lies. Who would they cite to give credibility? Bush, Cheney, Lieberman, the US intel departments? Who has any credibility now?

[malaise]

4. Because it is one more lie n/t

[sabra]

5. Foreign media sources have named Gen. Caldwell as the one

leading the press conference: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x185857

[Emit]

10. Thanks for that, sabra. Seems Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV serves as senior military

Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV serves as senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:JKMW_C2rh1sJ:www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2003/n07222003_200307221.html+William+Caldwell&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/depsecdef_bio.html

[Emit]

11. Ooops -

2nd link is bad, and, I see from your other thread that others already posted that info.

[uppityperson]

6. Won't say who they are, or show us proof, but they are "comfortable w/claims" so trust them?

bull puckey.

Why by anonymous: They are afraid or they are lying. Or both.

[Emit]

7. Could the anonymous sources relate to these folks?

I happened upon this just the day before yesterday when doing some searches on line. Found it curious and wondered if it would somehow relate to the present war drums beating against Iran:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:yhdFSFYIL20J:www.spcwashington.com/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D250%26Itemid%3D26+Abu+Mustafa+Shaybani+network+Us+support&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Statement by
Alireza Jafarzadeh
President, Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc.
Author, The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis
National Press Club
Washington, DC
January 5, 2007



Good Day Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank General Thomas McInerney, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Iran Policy Committee; Professor Raymond Tanter, IPC president; and Mr. Bruce McColm who is chairing this press conference, for inviting me today.


I would like to share with you the information I have obtained from my sources inside the Iranian regime—sources associated with Iran's main opposition, the Mujahedin-e Khalq—about Iran's stepped up terrorism, and sponsorship of sectarian violence in Iraq.


Since 2003, the Iranian regime has spent billions of dollars in Iraq, has mobilized vast governmental resources and has unleashed the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in order to impose its authority in Iraq.


However, the information I have received from my sources in Iran suggests a sharp increase in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism and sectarian violence especially in the past few months. The Qods Force secretly builds, trains, finances, and arms an extensive terrorist network in Iraq. Iran’s goal is to create insecurity in Iraq and compel the coalition forces to leave in order to establish an “Islamic Republic” in Iraq.

Much more at link.

Also related, check out more about the Iran Policy Committee here:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/3280

edited: clarity

[Emit]

12. This MEK group says it Advises Congress, various Executive Branch agencies, etc.

I'm still curious if this is where Bush & Co. are getting their info -- from the MEK? I know Perle supported the MEK and participated in an effort to get the MEK off the US Terrorist list some time ago. Here are some old threads on MEK -- check out some of robertpaulsen's posts about Feith and MEK on the 2nd link, around post #31:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=577982#578273
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=923696&mesg_id=923696
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2570340&mesg_id=2570340

Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc. (SPC)
Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc. (SPC) is an independent firm, whose purpose is to provide expert advice and analysis on geopolitical developments in the Middle East. SPC serves as a valuable consultant in researching, developing and deploying solutions to the problematics of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and Islamic Fundamentalism, particularly with respect to these issues in Iran and Iraq.

SPC specialties include:
• Advising Congress, various Executive Branch agencies, and non-governmental organizations;

• Offering speakers for seminars, conferences, briefings, Congressional hearings, and university lectures;

• Providing incisive commentary to the media;

• Anticipating, assessing, and helping to disrupt threats to world peace;

• Informing a wide range of clients from senior policymakers to all-source analysts about the strengths and weaknesses of policies addressing key issues;

• Researching the evolution of sensitive topics of concern.

SPC experts will give counsel on international policy matters, conflict resolution, and regional & international crisis management.

Our consultants will provide comparative analyses of the various strategies proposed as solutions to the tough challenges of the Middle East, especially as they arise in Iran and Iraq.

We have experience, knowledge, unmediated information and a proven record in areas crucial to global security, peace and human rights.

SPC has effectively combined insight and knowledge of global issues to meet ever-changing international and regional challenges.

http://spcwashington.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=39


On Jafarzadeh, he was the Washington spokesman for the National Council of Resistance, a front organization for the MEK/MKO:

Launched in 2005, IPC's main modus operandi is to hold a press conference, typically at the National Press Club, at which it releases the findings of its latest “white paper.” On January 11, 2007, a day after President George W. Bush announced his “surge” strategy for Iraq, IPC held a press conference at the National Press Club to announce the release of its latest paper, “How to Make the Surge Work: A Complementary Political-Military Plan for Iraq.” Arguing that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki would be unlikely to meet important political milestones in quelling the violence in that country because of Tehran's supposed meddling, the IPC paper maintains that the Bush administration should find a role for “the Iranian opposition in Iraq to build a national compact among the Iraqi factions.” For the IPC, the “Iranian opposition in Iraq” is represented by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a group that has been identified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/3280

The MKO operates in Washington out of a small office in the National Press Building under the name the National Council of Resistance of Iran. According to the State Department, the National Council of Resistance is a "front" for the MKO; in 1999, the National Council itself was placed on the State Department terrorist list. But National Council officials adamantly deny their group has earned the terror label and have aggressively portrayed itself to Washington lawmakers as a "democratic" alternative to a repressive Iranian regime that itself is one of the world's leading sponsors of terrorism. "You're talking about a really popular movement," says Alireza Jafarzadeh, the National Council's chief Washington spokesman, who insists that the MKO "targets only military targets."

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:2ct7hA-JtlAJ:www.truthout.org/docs_02/09.30B.nswk.bagdad.htm+National+Council+of+Resistance+of+Iran+Alireza+Jafarzadeh&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&gl=us

Prior to becoming a contributor for FOX News Channel, and until August 2003, Jafarzadeh acted for a dozen years as the chief congressional liaison and media spokesperson for the US representative office of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Jafarzadeh earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, and his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas, in Austin.

http://www.spcwashington.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=49

[Jacobin]

8. they saw what happened to Colin Powell when he was used

and they don't want to suffer his fate.

[Rex]

9. That is code for the BFEEs ability to plant 'information' to fit their agenda.

Anytime it is 'anonymous' or 'an unnamed WH source', it should be a red flag for false flag operations.

If the BFEE starts a war with Iran, we are all FUCKED and no Dem senator or rep will be able to get us out of a new world war.