Six degrees to Ahmadinejad

[sabra]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070214-2.html

THE PRESIDENT: I can say with certainty that the Quds force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated IEDs that have harmed our troops. And I'd like to repeat, I do not know whether or not the Quds force was ordered from the top echelons of government. But my point is what's worse -- them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening? And so we will continue to protect our troops.

It all starts with a mystery man, as our primary source:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17103722/site/newsweek

<snip>

The officials zeroed in on the Qods Force as the "enabler of violence." " really report directly to the Supreme Leader," the senior defense analyst said at the briefing. This had led the U.S. military to conclude that the campaign was being orchestrated at "the highest levels of Iranian government." Recent U.S. military raids in Baghdad have nabbed top members of the IRGC. Disclosing some of the details of these raids, the briefers said that last Dec. 21, Mohsen Chizari, allegedly the No. 3 man in the IRGC, was pulled out of a compound linked to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the top Shiite party in the government. Chizari was later freed when it was proven that he had a diplomatic passport. The defense analyst told the briefing that there were no dubious ties between the Qods Force and members of the Iraqi government, but the senior defense official seemed to contradict that assertion by noting that soldiers found a long list of weapon inventories at the SCIRI compound--including sniper rifles and mortars, items that he called "offensive-type armament."

So we capture and later release the number 3 guy, who happened to by hanging out at al-Hakim's compound. The same al-Hakim who visited the WH a few months back:



But who are they?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2875127&page=1

<snip>

Baer, who has followed the movements of the al Quds as part of his work for the CIA, says it is very difficult to track the forces' movements and gather any information on them. This unit avoids traditional means of communication, shunning the use of telephones, and instead relies only on couriers to carry out orders.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2875127&page=1

<snip>

The unit was the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is now thought to be very much a part of the Iranian government and very close to the conservative mullahs that make up Iran's governing council.

Are you convinced yet?