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US Troops Raid Iran Consulate
US raids Iran consulate after Bush warning
Correspondents in Washington
January 12, 2007
US troops raided Iran's consulate in northern Iraq yesterday, arresting five staff, hours after US President George W. Bush vowed to cut off Iranian and Syrian support to "terrorists" in Iraq.
Outlining his new strategy for Iraq, Mr Bush accused Iran and Syria of supporting elements intent on attacking US troops in the war-torn, country and left open the way for US attacks on the two countries.
His threat appeared to have been carried out with the raid on Iran's consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil.
"In this attack, five of the consulate staff have been arrested by the American troops. They have also taken some documents and properties," the Iranian newsagency Fars quoted an official as saying.
"In the US occupiers' attack on Iran's general consulate in Arbil, the raiders have broken the gate of the office."
The US military said its forces made six arrests in Arbil, but did not confirm if any were Iranians.
During his address, the President took the blame for strategic blunders. "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people, and it is unacceptable to me," Mr Bush said. "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."
In a rare admission of failure, Mr Bush pointed to the past efforts to secure Baghdad, and said not enough US and Iraqi troops had been deployed.
He said the Iraqi Government had placed politically driven restrictions on who could be targeted and how. Under the new plan, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to reinforce Baghdad security with up to 12,000 Iraqi troops and made clear that rogue armed groups in the city would be targeted.
"Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure it addressed these mistakes," Mr Bush said in a national address aimed at selling his new strategy for the war. "They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work."
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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21046772-601,00.html
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Since Consulates are considered Foreign soil, does that mean
we are now at war with Iran??
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Wahoo, this raises some very interesting questions of...
International law. Iraq is responsible under these laws protecting embassies/counsulates for such within their borders.
Does Iran now have to protest to the Iraqi govt. for failure to protect their sites? Or does Iran declare war on the US?
Or does Iran suddenly remember the US Embassy in Tehran some years back.
Should be interesting for historians to watch how this one plays out.
Documents and puters were taken by US personnel. Several threads over at DU on this.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
This is interesting and deeply disturbing.
Georgie refuses to speak with Iranian leaders,
but will order troops to attack their embassies with no hesitation.
Do both countries, Iraq and the US, take responsibility
for this?
Is he asking for WWIII?
What exactly is his long range goal in this?
Iran shoots down US Spy Drone
Submarine USS Wahoo ss238
Iran shoots down U.S. spy drone amid growing U.S. military pressure
Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival --the United States.
The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders "during the last few days," Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying.
The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that "the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then."
SECOND U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The announcement came amid reports that the United States is increasingly flexing its muscles to counter Iran's growing regional assertiveness and put more pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programs.
It was reported Tuesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, will arrive in the Middle East in about one month, the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003 that the United States will h
http://english.people.com.cn/200701/17/print20070117_341962.html