Monday, March 05, 2007

Notes From the Margin

An Iranian General has disappeared and is rumored to be seeking US asylum, according to ABC News Blotter.

"One respected analyst with sources in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard says Gen. Ali Reza Asgari has defected and is now in a European country with his entire family, where he is cooperating with the U.S."

"This is a fatal blow to Iranian intelligence," said the source, explaining that Asgari knows sensitive information about Iran's nuclear and military projects. Iran called tens of its Revolutionary Guard agents working at embassies and cultural centers in Arab and European countries back to Tehran out of fear that Asgari might disclose secret information about their identities, according to the analyst.

13 Comments:

Blogger allen said...

joe buzz,

I also was concerned initially about the publication. Given the summit meeting in Baghdad, though, this disclosure could pose real problems for the Iranians. Voluntarily or involuntarily given, the General's disclosures could cripple any Iranian hope of posturing. Moreover, if (and it could be a big “if”) Senator Levin’s change of heart is a consequence, Iranian hopes for a divided American government are shattered.

Again, this could all be a pipe dream; but at this point, why not hope for the best?

3/05/2007 06:14:00 PM  
Blogger lewy14 said...

wretchard... d00d... read yer second to last sentence again... you meant "Obama", right?

3/05/2007 06:48:00 PM  
Blogger Utopia Parkway said...

There was no chance that this would be kept under wraps. The Iranians will notice when one of their generals disappears. They've already blamed both CIA and Mossad for his disappearance. We can only hope that it's true, and that he's defected.

The Israeli news has said that this guy was a key figure in the case of captured IAF navigator Ron Arad.

3/05/2007 07:22:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

"Yoni the Blogger" has further details on the missing general.
Israel involved in Iranian general's disappearance?

***

3/05/2007 07:41:00 PM  
Blogger showhank said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

3/05/2007 09:07:00 PM  
Blogger showhank said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

3/05/2007 09:09:00 PM  
Blogger Jeff said...

The production values of the ad apear high because the "creators" superimposed Hillary's image into the famous Apple 1984 ad (which can be seen in its original form here: (http://www.uriahcarpenter.info/1984.html)

3/05/2007 10:44:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

jeff,

Great catch. Will update.

3/06/2007 02:39:00 AM  
Blogger Pyrthroes said...

Typos et.al. are misfortunate, but Wretchard can do no wrong. We have spoken.

3/06/2007 07:20:00 AM  
Blogger Utopia Parkway said...

A brief update on the kidnapped Iranian general story is here.

If the general had defected he would have taken his family with him and the Iranians would know this. I haven't seen any mention of his family in the news reports I've read.

It needs to be considered that this could be an Iranian provocation. If the Iranians can blame Isreal and the US for kidnapping one of their generals they can attack Israel and the US in some manner with a kind of legitimacy. The news report above mentions that the Israelis have tightened up security on their govt representatives that are abroad to prevent any kind of Iranian retaliation.

3/06/2007 08:45:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

utopia parkway,

re: It needs to be considered that this could be an Iranian provocation.

While in no way suggesting you are incorrect, the Buenos Aires bombings were unscrupulous as to pretext, for example.

3/06/2007 09:11:00 AM  
Blogger TM Lutas said...

One thing to keep in mind. The general disappeared in early February. He's been gone a month. This has been kept under wraps as long as was reasonable. If he's defected, what's time critical has been transmitted and now it's all psychological warfare to try to get the Iranians to break cover and reveal what they have been keeping hidden.

3/06/2007 02:16:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

tm lutas,

Why have the Iranians broken cover?

3/06/2007 02:54:00 PM  

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