Some documents captured in the bin Laden raid have been declassified and released along with some analysis by the Combatting Terrorism Center. They seem to think that there is no cooperation between al Qaeda and the Iranians, but base this on a small subset of the documents captured and ignoring considerable evidence that the Mullahs and AQ do a fair amount of the good work of jihad together. Tom Joscelyn considers this at the Long War Journal. The CTC's report was based on a slim release of just 17 declassified documents, and only some of those deal with Iran. Thousands of other files seized during the Abbottabad raid have been translated but were not included in the CTC's release. The CTC's broad conclusion about Iran and al Qaeda is based on a narrow set of documents that focus on the abduction of an Iranian diplomat named Hesmatollah Atharzadeh and other unspecified covert activities. Al Qaeda had pressured Iran to speed up the release of al Qaeda operatives and family members in exchange for Atharzadeh's freedom. According to senior US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal, however, the documents dealing with this tense detainee exchange present just one window on a broader relationship. Other documents from bin Laden's files that were not included in the document release point to instances of collusion between al Qaeda and Iran. So even among the documents from the raid itself there is evidence that they are working together, but the CTC says "nothing to see here move along". There is more readily available info about this cooperation as well, a lot of it from the Obama administration itself as they designated several partnerships between AQ and Iran as terrorists entities. In a letter accompanying the CTC report, General John Abizaid cautioned that the 17 declassified documents released to the public "likely represent only a fraction of the materials reportedly taken from" bin Laden's compound. Abizaid also warned that the report should not be taken as a "definitive commentary on al Qaeda's evolution or the group's current status." Abizaid continued by explaining that "analysis based on captured documents alone is fraught with risk," and the documents "are most valuable when contextualized with information drawn from other sources." The CTC's analysts proceeded to ignore these cautionary remarks and issued a strongly-worded conclusion, based on a paltry set of documents, about Iran's relationship with al Qaeda. In the process, they ignored everything - including Yasin al Suri's network and the "agreement" between Iran and al Qaeda that allows it to exist on Iranian soil - that got in the way of their apparently preconceived conclusion. A senior US intelligence official tells the Long War Journal that additional documents dealing with the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda were excluded from what the CTC was shown. Those documents are a "mixed bag," the official says, with some showing other "antagonistic" incidents and still others showing collusion. Somehow the CTC is given only a few documents which seem to show that AQ and Iran are at odds. Who could have a vested interest in making sure there is no tie between the Mullahs, who only seek nukes for peaceful means, and the world's most prolific terror franchise? I'll answer that, our Campaigner in Chief who needs to neutralize the threat a nuked-up Iran presents to his re-election. So O's national security team cherry-picks a few things from the bin Laden stash to prove that point and then tasks the CTC with evaluating them so they have an AHA document to roll up real small and poke Mitt Romney in the eye with. "See, Iran and AQ hate each other. The Mullahs would never support terror". I think the 241 dead Marines from the Beirut bombing, and many other victims of the Iranians, would beg to differ if they could. Somebody at the CTC needs to stand up and answer why they would release something that completely ignores the blisteringly obvious and easily available info about Iran and AQ. Joscelyn's piece is headlined "Analysis: Spinning Iran & al Qaeda Part 1". I will be anxiously awaiting the follow ups and a deeper look at what CTC is up to, and more importantly what the Iranians and AQ are up to.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/-U3xmMpdCz0/ctc-whitewashing-iranal-qaeda-connections.html
Posted
May 06 2012, 12:44 AM
by
BLACKFIVE