Fairfield Republicans

I am maintaining this blog page in an effort to provide information on activities and events to conservatives in Fairfield, Ohio and surrounding areas. This page will feature items of interest and links to information from the Butler County Republican Party and from the City of Fairfield. It is my hope that by utilizing this forum, we will be able to share ideas and information that will make our Party, our City, and our Neighborhoods better than ever!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Iranian Weapons Arm Iraqi Militia

from abc news
http://abcnews.go.com/International/IraqCoverage/story?id=2688501

Hezbollah Training Also Linked to Iraq Violence

By JONATHAN KARL AND MARTIN CLANCY
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006

U.S. officials say they have found smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories. According to a senior defense official, coalition forces have recently seized Iranian-made weapons and munitions that bear manufacturing dates in 2006.

This suggests, say the sources, that the material is going directly from Iranian factories to Shia militias, rather than taking a roundabout path through the black market. "There is no way this could be done without (Iranian) government approval," says a senior official.

Iranian-made munitions found in Iraq include advanced IEDs designed to pierce armor and anti-tank weapons. U.S. intelligence believes the weapons have been supplied to Iraq's growing Shia militias from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is also believed to be training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran.

Evidence is mounting, too, that the most powerful militia in Iraq, Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, is receiving training support from the Iranian-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.

Two senior U.S. defense officials confirmed to ABC News earlier reports that fighters from the Mahdi army have traveled to Lebanon to receive training from Hezbollah.

While the New York Times reported that as many as 2,000 Iraqi militia fighters had received training in Lebanon, one of the senior officials said he believed the number was "closer to 1,000." Officials say a much smaller number of Hezbollah fighters have also traveled through Syria and into Iraq to provide training.

U.S. intelligence officials believe the number of Al-Sadr's Mahdi army now includes 40,000 fighters, making it an especially formidable force.