One of the primary arguments used by the Bush administration to drum up support for a war against Iran is that "Iran" is supplying Iraqi militias with weaponry used to kill U.S. troops. For instance, a year ago, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made his case this way:
Serial numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide "pretty good" evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted Friday.
Offering some of the first public details of evidence the military has collected, Gates said, "I think there's some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found," that point to Iran.
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He and other U.S. officials have said for some time that Iranians, and possibly the government of Iran, have been providing weapons technology, and possibly some explosives to Iraqi insurgents.
Okay. Iranian serial numbers. Got it.
After hearing different versions of this same argument all year long, we then get this in the Chicago Tribune just last month:
Recent U.S. discoveries of Iranian weapons caches have fueled suspicions that Iran is continuing to funnel weapons to the militants, though the U.S. military has not intercepted any weapons crossing the border.
All right. More Iranian weapons.
As you can see, the Bush administration has been peddling this logic for quite a while. The idea is that if Iranian weapons are in the hands of Iraqi insurgents, then they must have been provided by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself. And if that's the case, then we have no choice but to go to war.
However, unless your name is Michael Goldfarb, that's the stupidest fucking argument possible. Even if the government of Iran is supplying Iraqi militias, it's still a ridiculous argument to make in the absence of any further proof. Serial numbers? Weapons caches? Please.
Look at it this way: Iraqis kill American troops every month with Russian-made Ak-47s, but nobody ever says anything. I don't hear the Bush administration screaming bloody murder about how the Russians are fueling the insurgency. To highlight just how asinine the "serial number" line of thinking is, imagine if the weaponry were reversed:
Fake News Agency, Washington, D.C. -- As the wars drums beat louder today, the U.S. administration has asserted that Russia, like Iran, is now supplying the Iraqi insurgency with one of its deadliest weapons--the so-called Ak-47. U.S. officials stated this morning that they believe this weapon is responsible for over 1/3 of all U.S. fatalities in Iraq.
When asked how they could be sure the weapons were indeed being supplied by Russia, an administration official had this to say: "In our after action reviews of combat in Iraq, we have consistently captured these weapons and parts of these weapons, the overwhelming majority of which had serial numbers indicating they were produced in Russia."
"We believe this is the final proof that the Russian government is supporting the various insurgent groups," said the anonymous Bush administration official. "We can find no other reason that so many Iraqi insurgents would have access to this same weapon--a weapon with markings and serial numbers that undoubtedly link it to not only the Russian military, but also the Russian government."
He said the U.S. government was now working to find the actual method by which these "Ak-47s" were finding their way into the hands of Iraq's insurgents. U.S. officials stress that this weapon represents the greatest threat to U.S. troops because of its versatility, its sturdiness, and its seeming availability.
Stupid.
In reality, this is more likely what happens: A weapons dealer goes to Iran. He buys a load of new stuff from another Iranian arms dealer who gets his stuff from a corrupt member of the Iranian military. Then the original weapons dealer smuggles the stuff into Iraq and sells it for a profit to insurgent groups.
Just because it was made in Iran, doesn't mean the Iranian government is enabling it or even approving of it. I have an assault rifle made in China. That doesn't mean the communist Chinese government gave it to me specifically to undermine American democracy.
Honestly, I have no idea whether the Iranian government is deliberately supplying the Iraqi insurgency with weaponry. Perhaps they are. But whether they are or they aren't, the Bush administration has offered absolutely no proof that the government of Iran is involved at any level with this transfer of weaponry. Thus, finding Iranian weapons in Iraq cannot be used as a legitimate reason to go to war.
If, in fact, the Bush administration were to use serial numbers and "Iranian technology" as a reason to attack, this would ultimately go down in history with "mobile bio-weapons labs," "aluminum tubes," and "yellow cake" as a one of the stupidest reasons to go to war--ever. |
