Iran - Again

NPR is back to being a rebroadcaster for anti-Iran propaganda from the Pentagon. Tonight Mike Shuster reports on the Pentagon's return to its hollow claims of blaming Iran for arming and training Iraqi insurgents.

Shuster gives unchallenged airtime to Major Marty Webber who, blaming Iran, claims, "This is the stuff that has been coming into this country since coalition forces have - you know - come in and liberated Iraq." Liberated?

Then Shuster introduces Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell: "He called any Iranian involvement in Iraq outside interference." Outside interference, from a general who happens to be about 9000 miles from home; I'll give Shuster credit for getting that one out without a snort!

Caldwell's voice then comes in: "The death and violence in Iraq are bad enough without this outside interference. Iran and all of Iraq’s neighbors really need to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and allow the people of this country the time and the space to choose their own future." Wow! How can you even begin to unpack this nonsense.

It's telling how much time and attention is given to this unsubstantiated "news," while the other Iranian news of note was the likely truth of the claims made by the recently freed Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi. Given the long and sordid history of US (and Iraqi security forces) torture practices in Iraq over the last four years, you might think that NPR would give some serious airtime to Sharafi's claims that he was tortured with US complicity - especially since today Sharafi allowed himself to be physically examined by a Red Cross representative and an Iraqi ambassador.

Maybe we'll hear about it on Morning Edition tomorrow - or maybe not.