Gates describes Iraq evidence against Iran

Explosives have been a leading killer of U.S. forces in Iraq, where more than 3,000 U.S. troops have died in the nearly 4-year-old war.

In Iraq on Friday, the military reported three more American soldiers killed in combat, pushing the U.S. death toll to 33 in the first eight days of the month.

Separately, U.S. helicopters targeting insurgents mistakenly killed at least five allied Kurdish militiamen in the northern city of Mosul early Friday.

Gates: Briefing delayed to ensure accuracy
Last week, Gates said that U.S. military officers in Baghdad had been planning to brief reporters on what was known about Iranian involvement in Iraq but that he and other senior officials had delayed the briefing to assure the information was accurate.

On Friday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said such information would come from U.S. officials in Iraq, though she did not say when.

“There has been discussion about how to detail out some of that evidence,” she told reporters. “Decisions on that are being made out of Baghdad.”

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Friday that officials hoping to publicly release the information face another problem as well.

He said, “Under the circumstances and given the attention that this has gotten, we want to make sure that we provide you the best information possible but do so in a way that doesn’t compromise sources and methods, that doesn’t make it harder for us to deal with the situation that’s there.”

Gates also told reporters that he was surprised that raids last month by coalition and Iraqi forces in Iraq swept up some Iranians.

Iran ‘very much involved’
“I don’t think there was surprise that the Iranians were actually involved, I think there was surprise we actually picked up some,” he said.

He and other U.S. officials have said for some time that Iranians, and possibly the government of Iran, have been providing weapons technology and perhaps some explosives to Iraqi fighters.

Gates, who attended his first NATO defense ministers meeting in Seville this week before flying to Munich for a security conference, said Iran is “very much involved in providing either the technology or the weapons themselves for these explosively formed projectiles.”

He acknowledged the Iranian weapons are not a large percentage of the roadside bombs used in Iraq, but he said, “They’re extremely lethal.”

Gates said the recent raids combined with the movement of an additional U.S. aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf have created a stir, but he said the Bush administration had no intention of attacking Iran.

Asked about the Defense Department inspector general’s report criticizing the Pentagon’s use of prewar intelligence, Gates said he hadn’t yet read it.

But, he added, “based on my whole career, I believe that all intelligence activities need to be carried on through established institutions, and where there is appropriate oversight. And if the intelligence isn’t adequate, then changes need to be made in these institutions to improve the intelligence.”

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