Iran Did What?

In the ongoing Iran is Next shadowpuppet show going on in DC and Iraq, the other day's mummery by 'unnamed' officials of the DoD, complete with Powerpoint slide show, ranks up there with yellowcake on the dubiosity scale. Karen DeYoung in the Post (via Froomkin) write on it:

"Asked by reporters yesterday to provide more information on the charge, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, 'The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity.' He called the Baghdad presentation a 'very strong circumstantial case,' saying he was 'not going to try to embellish that briefing' and 'any reasonable person . . . would draw the same conclusions.'

"White House spokesman Tony Snow offered similar responses. 'Let me put it this way,' he said. 'There's not a whole lot of freelancing in the Iranian government, especially when it comes to something like that.'

"Pressed repeatedly, Snow answered, 'Look, the Department of Defense is doing this. What I'm telling you is, you guys want to get those questions answered, you need to go to the Pentagon.'

"A call to the Defense Intelligence Agency brought a referral to the main Pentagon press office. That office referred a caller to the Washington office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, which responded with an e-mailed copy of Sunday's briefing slides -- containing no mention of the 'highest levels' allegation and a request for questions in writing. Written questions brought no response."

Sound and fury, signifying much, but meaning, ultimately nothing.... jeez, can Jan 2009 get here soon enough? We need to run them all out of town, hopefully with a stop in the Hague for judgment.