U.S. Diplomat: Iran Sending Weapons to Taliban... Yeah, and Saddam Funded Osama

This is yet another claim by the Bush Administration that is so completely outrageous, that anyone with basic knowledge of the Muslim world would be able to refute it. Just as it was basic knowledge prior to the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were bitter enemies, it is basic knowledge today that Iran and the Taliban are enemies as well. This claim by the Bush Administration attempts to capitalize on general ignorance of subtle differences between Muslims in order to build a stronger case to attack them.

From the International Herald Tribune:

A senior U.S. diplomat, lobbying world powers for tougher sanctions against Iran, accused Tehran on Wednesday of violating international law by arming its once-bitter foe — Afghanistan’s Taliban — and of trying to destabilize the Middle East.

If true, the claim by Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns that Iran is supplying weapons to the Taliban could mark a disturbing escalation in Iran’s efforts to resist U.S. policy on multiple fronts, from Iraq to Afghanistan. Tehran is violating a recent Security Council resolution barring it from weapons exports, Burns said.

Read more:

• U.S. official says Iran violating U.N. rules by sending weapons to Afghanistan's Taliban

New York Times: Afghans Say U.S. Airstrikes Killed 21 Civilians

Afghan officials said Wednesday that airstrikes called in by American Special Forces against Taliban fighters in Helmand Province had killed 21 civilians, the latest in a series of claims of noncombatant casualties that have strained relations with the Afghan government.

Read more:

• New York Times: Afghans Say U.S. Airstrikes Killed 21 Civilians