Of COURSE it does...who would be so naive as to think otherwise? B http://www.reuters.com:80/article/worldNews/idUSISL6933820070717 U.S. says Iran knows its weapons reaching Taliban
KABUL (Reuters) - Iranian arms are entering Afghanistan and reaching Taliban insurgents in such quality and quantity that the Tehran government must know about it, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul said on Tuesday. The charge is similar to that made by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates a month ago, rejected by Tehran as "baseless and illogical". But it comes as Iran signaled on Tuesday there was a "high possibility" it would hold a second round of talks with the United States on Iraqi security in the "near future". "There are clearly some munitions coming out of Iran going into the hands of the Taliban," said Ambassador William Wood. "We believe that the quantity and quality of those munitions are such that the Iranian government must know about it," he told reporters. "Beyond that we really can't go." The United States accuses Iran of stoking instability in the Middle East by arming insurgents in Iraq, aiding militants in Lebanon and Gaza and trying to build a nuclear arsenal. Iran denies the charges and says the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Washington's support for Israel is the source of instability in the Middle East. U.S. officials said for several months this year they had evidence of Iranian weapons entering Afghanistan, but until Gates spoke a month ago, stopped short of linking the arms to the Iranian government. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said relations with Iran have never been better and said his government does not have any evidence of Iranian arms reaching the Taliban. Afghanistan has seen a rise in Taliban suicide and roadside bombs in the last two years, but the 50,000 NATO and U.S.-led forces say they have largely thwarted a much-heralded Taliban spring offensive. "For the most part what we have seen has been terroristic violence rather than insurgent violence," said Wood. "The security situation is better, but it doesn't feel better." Iran was at odds with the Taliban government for most of the time it held sway in neighboring Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and massed troops on the Afghan border on 1998 after 11 of its diplomats were killed there. It then armed Northern Alliance factions that helped U.S.-led forces overthrow the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks. But political and security analysts based in Kabul say Iran may have an interest in destabilizing Afghanistan so as to discredit U.S. attempts to foster democracy there. [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: osint@yahoogroups.com 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/
