Iran Update

I've been reading about Iran—specifically, reactions to the "senior U.S. military officials in Iraq" who "sought Sunday to link Iran to deadly armor-piercing explosives and other weapons that they said are being used to kill U.S. and Iraqi troops with increasing regularity"—for much of the day, and the reaction I find most interesting certainly has to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace's, who "declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad."

General Pace said he was not aware of the Baghdad briefing, and that he could not, from his own knowledge, repeat the assertion made there that the elite Quds brigade of Iran's Republican Guard force is providing bomb-making kits to Iraqi Shiite insurgents.

"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se (specifically), knows about this," he said. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."

Cernig, who gets the hat tip, notes, "That the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs seems to not only have been 'unaware' of the briefing yesterday and its contents but also feels himself unable to back its conclusions is, frankly, mind-boggling." Agreed.

More skepticism at The Carpetbagger Report and at Drum's place. And a very serious question is raised by The Telegraph (more from Cernig and Jill on that angle).

Meanwhile, Think Progress tracks a scary bit of saber-rattling from a professional hoodwinker, and the pres yuks it up:

At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."

"I know," President Bush answered.

"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.

President Bush chuckled and walked away.

An even more detestable lack of seriousness when you take a stroll down memory lane.