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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| The botched US raid that led to the hostage crisis |
| 2007-04-03 |
| A failed American attempt to abduct two senior Iranian security officers on an official visit to northern Iraq was the starting pistol for a crisis that 10 weeks later led to Iranians seizing 15 British sailors and Marines. Early on the morning of 11 January, helicopter-born US forces launched a surprise raid on a long-established Iranian liaison office in the city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. They captured five relatively junior Iranian officials whom the US accuses of being intelligence agents and still holds. In reality the US attack had a far more ambitious objective, The Independent has learned. The aim of the raid, launched without informing the Kurdish authorities, was to seize two men at the very heart of the Iranian security establishment. Better understanding of the seriousness of the US action in Arbil - and the angry Iranian response to it - should have led Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence to realise that Iran was likely to retaliate against American or British forces such as highly vulnerable Navy search parties in the Gulf. The two senior Iranian officers the US sought to capture were Mohammed Jafari, the powerful deputy head of the Iranian National Security Council, and General Minojahar Frouzanda, the chief of intelligence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to Kurdish officials. The two men were in Kurdistan on an official visit during which they met the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, and later saw Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), at his mountain headquarters overlooking Arbil. "They were after Jafari," Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of Massoud Barzani, told The Independent. He confirmed that the Iranian office had been established in Arbil for a long time and was often visited by Kurds obtaining documents to visit Iran. "The Americans thought he [Jafari] was there," said Mr Hussein. Mr Jafari was accompanied by a second, high-ranking Iranian official. "His name was General Minojahar Frouzanda, the head of intelligence of the Pasdaran [Iranian Revolutionary Guard]," said Sadi Ahmed Pire, now head of the Diwan (office) of President Talabani in Baghdad. Mr Pire previously lived in Arbil, where he headed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Mr Talabani's political party. The attempt by the US to seize the two high-ranking Iranian security officers openly meeting with Iraqi leaders is somewhat as if Iran had tried to kidnap the heads of the CIA and MI6 while they were on an official visit to a country neighbouring Iran, such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Iran believes that Mr Jafari and Mr Frouzanda were targeted by the Americans. Mr Jafari confirmed to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, that he was in Arbil at the time of the raid. In a little-noticed remark, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister, told IRNA: "The objective of the Americans was to arrest Iranian security officials who had gone to Iraq to develop co-operation in the area of bilateral security." US officials in Washington subsequently claimed that the five Iranian officials they did seize, who have not been seen since, were "suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraq and coalition forces". This explanation never made much sense. No member of the US-led coalition has been killed in Arbil and there were no Sunni-Arab insurgents or Shia militiamen there. The raid on Arbil took place within hours of President George Bush making an address to the nation on 10 January in which he claimed: "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops." He identified Iran and Syria as America's main enemies in Iraq though the four-year-old guerrilla war against US-led forces is being conducted by the strongly anti-Iranian Sunni-Arab community. Mr Jafari himself later complained about US allegations. "So far has there been a single Iranian among suicide bombers in the war-battered country?" he asked. "Almost all who involved in the suicide attacks are from Arab countries." It seemed strange at the time that the US would so openly flout the authority of the Iraqi President and the head of the KRG simply to raid an Iranian liaison office that was being upgraded to a consulate, though this had not yet happened on 11 January. US officials, who must have been privy to the White House's new anti-Iranian stance, may have thought that bruised Kurdish pride was a small price to pay if the US could grab such senior Iranian officials. For more than a year the US and its allies have been trying to put pressure on Iran. Security sources in Iraqi Kurdistan have long said that the US is backing Iranian Kurdish guerrillas in Iran. The US is also reportedly backing Sunni Arab dissidents in Khuzestan in southern Iran who are opposed to the government in Tehran. On 4 February soldiers from the Iraqi army 36th Commando battalion in Baghdad, considered to be under American control, seized Jalal Sharafi, an Iranian diplomat. The raid in Arbil was a far more serious and aggressive act. It was not carried out by proxies but by US forces directly. The abortive Arbil raid provoked a dangerous escalation in the confrontation between the US and Iran which ultimately led to the capture of the 15 British sailors and Marines - apparently considered a more vulnerable coalition target than their American comrades. The targeted generals: * MOHAMMED JAFARI Powerful deputy head of the Iranian National Security Council, responsible for internal security. He has accused the United States of seeking to "hold Iran responsible for insecurity in Iraq... and [US] failure in the country." * GENERAL MINOJAHAR FROUZANDA Chief of intelligence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military unit which maintains its own intelligence service separate from the state, as well as a parallel army, navy and air force |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #29 Where's the "Smells like bull shit" pic? More conspiracy wrapped in an enema. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2007-04-03 19:02 |
| #28 Divide and conquer, guys... divide and conquer. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-04-03 18:59 |
| #27 Sgt. Mom, in suspecting that this is a means of peeling the Brits off from the coalition dittos, we also have enablers here in the USA willing to help the Iranians peel us off to stand alone. The demoCrap leadership and the MSM are esentially doing the same job that Patrick Cockburn is doing. Sadly any nasty stab in the back for our men and women serving or the Bush Administration is fair game for them. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2007-04-03 18:37 |
| #26 I'm with Ex-Lib, in suspecting that this is a means of peeling the Brits off from the coalition. The longer the captivity of the fifteen is milked out, the better and better it will look to the British public and political establishment to disengage. I hate to say it, but the Britian of today is not the one that my grandparents emigrated from, early in the 20th century. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-04-03 17:00 |
| #25 Isn't the whole thing designed to rally the Brit population against any MidEast/Iran/Iraq/Saudi military action PERMANENTLY? If they can clear the Brits out of the way throught the misunderstandings and bad press this situation generates, then Tehran will gain much more power in that region, and the US will be left alone in its stand against Iranian/Arab (Chinese/Russian) aggression. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2007-04-03 15:58 |
| #24 Frank, and I think Carrie Fischer believed him! lol |
| Posted by: Jan from work 2007-04-03 14:49 |
| #23 Frank: thanks, my bad; i missed it (off my meds today) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-03 14:09 |
| #22 Dear US Navy: The next time an Iranian submarine ventures into Iraqi waters, we would ever so much appreciate it, if some of your Otariidae (SEAL) gentlemen would wind about 300 feet of stout manila rope about its propeller, thus compelling it to surface. Please RSVP when and where you might be inclined to do this, so that we may greet this boat on its emergence and give our welcome to its crew. Your friends in Her Majesty's Royal Navy |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-03 13:21 |
| #21 USN ret - that was a Belushi quote from Blues Brothers.... :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-03 10:22 |
| #20 Red Dog hit the nail on the head. Cockburn is a lying marxist dog with a record of anti-American propaganda. One of his more outlandish claims is that Saddam was a CIA asset. |
| Posted by: Apostate 2007-04-03 10:08 |
| #19 You mean like this? Streicher went down kicking and fully conscious, and struggled violently at the end of the rope until the hangman, master sergeant John C. Woods, went into the concealed interior of the scaffold and "did something" that put a stop to the groans and brought the rope to a standstill. Presumably Woods grabbed Streicher by the legs and pulled down hard in order to break his neck. Except without the assist? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-03 10:07 |
| #18 Iran was likely to retaliate against American or British forces such as highly vulnerable Navy search parties in the Gulf Only British ROE and a ministry level decision to over-rule the local commander rendered that search party vulnerable. If the Iranians had tried to do the same to the Americans they would have encountered a radically different response. It is, of course, precisely the views of the Independent which put those sailors and marines at risk in the first place. As has already been said of Julius Streicher: The Independent editorial board should share his fate. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-04-03 09:41 |
| #17 Frank: How could you overlook blaming the dog ( he of homework eating fame?) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-03 09:40 |
| #16 “The two men were in Kurdistan on an official visit during which they met the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani…” “Mr. Jafari himself later complained about US allegations. "So far has there been a single Iranian among suicide bombers in the war-battered country?" Uhemmm…that’s called a Diplospeak “non-denial”. They tend to say that kind of stuff when the visiting dignitaries are by their side. This article is a rather sloppy piece from an author and publication that has honed their skills at slanted journalism. One gets the impression they were intoxicated when cobbling this article together. The five-paragraph break in contextual background is a dead give away. Even the greenest interns at Al-Jizz will recognize this as propaganda 101. What should be interesting to see is which US media picks this up first. Look for the teaser headline before they go to break. Is the US to blame? |
| Posted by: Waldemar Croluper3514 2007-04-03 09:35 |
| #15 Sick... just sick. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-04-03 09:01 |
| #14 Tried and true drive by media formula - "It's Bush's Fault!" |
| Posted by: doc 2007-04-03 07:58 |
| #13 Even the lowly New York Times would be embarrassed to put out a story/editorial (same thing in these liberal rags) blaming the coalition forces for Iran's hostage taking. |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2007-04-03 07:56 |
| #12 The radio report this morning suggested this "botched attempt" (which everyone knew about, because it did net five minor players), should have tipped people off that Iran might try a retaliatory snatch. I swear I read that somewhere. Like here. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-03 05:45 |
| #11 Patrick Cockburn Has worked for The Independent & Financial Times since 1979. Robert Fisk also works for The Independant. Month to Month sales seem to be going down! hehehe, 3.69%. He's right up there with the best haters of America, ---> Robert Fisk, Peter Arnett, George Galloway, Osama bin Lying about etc. Rantburgers check this huge list, each with a link for the whole article. Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, "Palistine" all proove this guy is a world class asshat. Patrick Cockburn'S Articles a selection of his titles. **2 April 2007: How the war on terror made the world a more terrifying place **26 February 2007: 'Exodus' of Iraq's ancient minorities **22 February 2007: The retreat from Basra **31 January 2007: US 'victory' against cult leader was 'massacre' **25 January 2007: Inside Baghdad: A city paralysed by fear **Iraq is a Vast, Blood-Drenched Human Disaster **November 2006: Baghdad is under siege Patrick Cockburn is a fellow travler of Peter Arnett and Both stayed on in Baghdad during the Gulf War. IIRC, CNN cut a deal with Saddam in order to stay in Iraq during the Gulf War festivities and I believe that the Independant did too.. The terms were such that CNN had to submit each article/script to an Iraqi Minder who veted each report BEFORE it went on the Air. If the Iraqi censor didn't like the report it was shit-canned or sent back for a Saddam re-do. In addition the "deal" included a tidy sum from CNN to Supremo Saddam for the privilage of having a Saddam Minder with them at all times while in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2007-04-03 03:24 |
| #10 This story sounds totally unbelievable if for no other reason that I have no doubt but that the Kurds would have helped us nail them if we had wanted them to. They know where their bread is buttered. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-04-03 03:09 |
| #9 The attempt by the US to seize the two high-ranking Iranian security officers openly meeting with Iraqi leaders is somewhat as if Iran had tried to kidnap the heads of the CIA and MI6 while they were on an official visit to a country neighbouring Iran, such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. Ummmm ... no. We were going after known criminal terrorist facilitators. In Iran's position, they merely would be starting a war. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-03 01:55 |
| #8 Prolly in Kurdistan 'cos it's the only place in Iraq you can get any work done. It's quiet, no car bombs, no gangs of kidnappers, reliable wireless, no Marine snipers. The food's good and the 'lectricity stays on more often than not. Top brass the world 'round likes its creature comforts |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-04-03 01:11 |
| #7 This is "The Independent", or as AC so very rightly calls it "Al Independent". It is the home of Robert Fisk and he gets front page coverage almost continuously. It's a joke 'newspaper'. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2007-04-03 01:07 |
| #6 I'm more interested in the possibility that these two were actually in Kurdistan. If so, why? |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2007-04-03 01:05 |
| #5 Al Independent is the global headquarters of the Hate America cult, and home paper of the despicable liar and antisemite Robert “hit me again” Fisk. These arrogant monsters need to be reminded of their predecessor, Julius Streicher. Follow his path, share his fate. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-04-03 00:48 |
| #4 The Independent at its clueless, pro-fascist, pro-terrorist, pro-criminal worst. Oh, the US was "escalating" by going after people who have been murdering hundreds or thousands of Coalition soldiers, Iraqi soldiers, and civilians with their various illegal interventions across international borders? Right. Their attempt at an analogy is utterly absurd. THIS is what passes for journalism today. Folks oughta know that if the Independent were as it is today and around in 1944, they'd be snarking incessantly against American bombing raids and portraying the Waffen SS as legitimate players in occupied Europe. Moral and general imbecility combined. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-04-03 00:40 |
| #3 OMG they are like children they can not even take responsibility for there own people getting taken, they have to blame the USA. Damn. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2007-04-03 00:38 |
| #2 Britain: No I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD. It was the Merkins! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-03 00:30 |
| #1 DELTA FORCE can capture them at any time - theres no need to capture these personages whom by this article were already on an "official visit", unless by "official" mean ilegal incognito to a non-IGA/CENTCOM-sanctioned "armed local office" ala Vietnam-era COSVN, WHICH ONLY SHOWS THAT IRAN SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH DOES CONSIDER IRAQ ITS [FUTURE?] TERRITORY = NK-style TRIBUTARY/VASSAL/ PEON-SLAVE STATE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-04-03 00:26 |