The AP report from the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Seville, Spain:
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.
At the same time, however, he said he was somewhat surprised that recent raids by coalition and Iraqi forces in Iraq swept up some Iranians.
Just last week, Gates said that U.S. military officers in Baghdad were planning to brief reporters on what is known about Iranian involvement in Iraq but that he and other senior administration officials had intervened to delay the briefing in order to assure that the information provided was accurate.
Speaking to reporters at a defense ministers conference here, Gates said Friday, “I don’t think there was surprise that the Iranians were actually involved, I think there was surprise we actually picked up some.”
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.
On the Afghan front, a few of our European allies pledged to increase their support for the NATO-led fight against the Taliban:
Lithuania, which already has 130 troops in Afghanistan, offered to send an unspecified number of special forces, helping to fill a key shortfall.
Germany says it will provide six Tornado reconnaissance jets but not significantly augment its 3,000 troops in the north. The Italian government said it would send a much-needed transport plane and some unmanned surveillance aircraft, but it is struggling to secure parliamentary backing for the finances needed to maintain a contingent of 1,950.
Spain also said it would send four unmanned planes and more instructors to help the Afghan army.
Why such a paltry commitment? Said German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, “When the Russians were in Afghanistan, they had 100,000 soldiers there and they did not win.” The fact that the United States was arming the mujahideen may have had something to do with that. The Taliban, on the other hand, has no superpower behind it. But six Tornado aircraft to perform reconnaissance and a handful of UAVs? Pretty pathetic, and hardly surprising.
