A Shaky Briefing on Iran?

Susman and Daragahi write: "With two U.S. warship groups in the Persian Gulf, the allegations raised suspicion that the Bush administration was trying to build a case for war, much as it had used intelligence reports to win support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"'That's how we got into the mess in Iraq,' Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said on CBS television. 'That's why some of us supported those resolutions, because of doctored information. So I'm very skeptical based on recent past history about this administration.'"

The hook-line-and-sinker award (print edition) goes to Jim Michaels, who writes in USA Today: "The U.S. military said Sunday that armor-piercing roadside bombs sent by Iran to Shiite extremists have killed 170 American and coalition troops in Iraq.

"U.S. military officials, who declined requests to be identified, said shipments of weapons and ammunition to Iraq's Shiite militias were being directed at the highest levels of the Iranian government.

"In a briefing, U.S. officials showed reporters part of a device they described as a sophisticated roadside bomb, along with mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades they said were made in Iran. Later, one of the officials, an intelligence analyst, said it would be impossible to find a 'smoking gun' conclusively proving Iranian government involvement."

On the other hand, Babak Dehghanpisheh writes for Newsweek: "The long-awaited Baghdad briefing had plenty of props. . . .

"But if their job was to provide proof of Tehran's involvement in Iraq's bloodshed, they're unlikely to convince the doubters with what was shown Sunday."

AFP reports: "Iran has angrily dismissed as 'baseless' propaganda US charges that its agents had smuggled armour-piercing bombs to Shiite militias in Iraq, amid mounting tensions with its arch-enemy. . . .

"'The manner of presenting this claim, in a session with reporters, without filming and recording equipment, and with unnamed officials, is a trick unacceptable to other countries,' [foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said] according to the Mehr agency."

On the Road to War?

Karen DeYoung writes in Sunday's Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates insisted again Friday that, despite persistent reports to the contrary circulating in Washington and around the world, the United States is not planning military action against Iran.

"'I don't know how many times the president, Secretary Rice and I have had to repeat that we have no intention of attacking Iran,' an exasperated Gates told reporters at a NATO meeting in Spain. In fact, he said, the administration has consciously tried to 'tone down' its rhetoric on the subject."

But Michael Hirsh and Maziar Bahari write in a Newsweek cover story: "At least one former White House official contends that some Bush advisers secretly want an excuse to attack Iran. 'They intend to be as provocative as possible and make the Iranians do something [America] would be forced to retaliate for,' says Hillary Mann, the administration's former National Security Council director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs. U.S. officials insist they have no intention of provoking or otherwise starting a war with Iran."