Officials: White House Holding Back
Report Detailing Iran's Meddling in Iraq

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  A plan by the Bush administration to release detailed and possibly damning specific evidence linking the Iranian government to efforts to destabilize Iraq have been put on hold, U.S. officials told FOX News.

Officials had said a "dossier" against Iran compiled by the U.S. likely would be made public at a press conference this week in Baghdad, and that the evidence would contain specifics including shipping documents, serial numbers, maps and other evidence which officials say would irrefutably link Iran to weapons shipments to Iraq.

Now, U.S. military officials say the decision to go public with the findings has been put on hold for several reasons, including concerns over the reaction from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — as well as inevitable follow-up questions that would be raised over what the U.S. should do about it.

***

Not in Front of the Kids, Honey
Jules Crittenden

Fox reports the Bush administration had planned to release a detailed dossier on Iran’s interference and support for terrorism in Iraq.

[...]

The report goes on to detail exactly how much the Democratic Congress does not what to deal seriously with Iran.  I suspect the concerns are not so much with how Ahmadinejad will react or what the U.S. will do about it, but rather how Congress will react, and how it will try to prevent the U.S. from doing anything about it.

The grownups can’t talk about ugly truths in front of the kids, because the kids aren’t ready to handle it. ...

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 2007.01.30.22:27

Pentagon investigating Iran's Qods Force role in Karbala attack
Bill Roggio (Hat tip: Michelle)

On Friday, we reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods Force was very likely behind the attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, which resulted in the kidnapping and execution of four U.S. soldiers. Five soldiers total were killed in the operation, and three others wounded. We noted, based on multiple sources in the military and intelligence community, that the attack was far too sophisticated for Shia militias (particularly the Mahdi Army) and it was unlikely al-Qaeda in Iraq carried out the operation. We also noted the attack and kidnapping may have been revenge for the Baghdad and Irbil raids on Iranian diplomatic missions. Today, CNN is reporting the Pentagon is seriously investigating Iran's involvement in the attack, and the Irbil raid was likely a motive for the Qods Force operation:

[...]

The United States had planned to detail Iran's involvement in supporting the Shia death squads, as well as the Sunni insurgency, al-Qaeda in Iraq and Ansar al-Sunnah during a press briefing with Major General Bill Caldwell on Wednesday at 7:00 am Eastern. The briefing was purported to have detailed "specifics including shipping documents, serial numbers, maps and other evidence which officials say would irrefutably link Iran to weapons shipments to Iraq."

The Bush administration has decided to put the briefing "on hold for several reasons, including concerns over the reaction from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — as well as inevitable follow-up questions that would be raised over what the U.S. should do about it," according to FOX News.