The Smoking Guns You Aren't Hearing About

By Ryan Mauro

Ever since the failure to find WMDs in Iraq, the American public and the media have demanded a nearly unreachable standard of proof before indicting a foreign government. When someone calls Iran a state sponsor of terrorism, proof that they are “linked” to al-Qaeda is demanded. Once al-Qaeda's refuge in Iran is offered as a counterpoint, proof that the regime knows of their presence and that the group isn’t merely working with “rogue elements” of the government, but the government as a whole, is required. Then, inevitably, the topic is diverted to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arguing that whatever base of support the group has in Iran pales in comparison to those theaters, and besides, the Shiite Iranian government would never want to risk Western retaliation by being so dumb as to support its Sunni arch-nemesis al-Qaeda! In the world of intelligence, it is extremely rare to come by the “smoking gun” now commonly requested. Luckily, several such smoking guns have emerged, but now we encounter a new problem - the fact that the media won’t report on them. [more...]