Iran questions story behind Mumbai terror

Press TV
Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the motive behind the prolonged seven-year Washington presence in Afghanistan.

“By keeping its forces in Afghanistan, the US has inflicted a heavy financial burden on its economy,” the Iranian president said in a televised interview on Tuesday.

Washington and its allies seek a long-time strategy with regards to their policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he continued.

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Seven years of occupation have not made Afghanistan any safer, as this year alone over 5,000 people have been killed and US military casualties have increased to the highest levels since the 2001 invasion.

Since the US invasion of the country, Afghanistan has also seen a phenomenal increase in the cultivation of opium, which is used to make heroin. The country now feeds the world with nearly 90 percent of its heroin.

“Their ulterior motive is to weaken India and China,” suggested the president, adding that extra-regional presence can only help create a launching ground for further problems.

President Ahmadinejad said the 60-hour assault on Mumbai which killed nearly 172 people and injured almost 300 others was also orchestrated by elements outside the region.

“The main motive behind the terrorist attacks, which were orchestrated from outside the region, was to strain relations between Indian and Pakistan,” he said.

India last week blamed Pakistani-based “elements” over the attacks across its financial capital, saying the terror bore the fingerprint of Lashkar-e-Taiba — a group blamed for previous attacks in India.

“Even if the militants are linked to Lashker-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?” commented Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in reference to his government’s operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants near the Afghan border.

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2 Responses to “Iran questions story behind Mumbai terror”

1. Mister Jimmy Says:
   December 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm

   Sooooo, the opium business picked up when the US invaded Afghanistan, huh? I got it! Since the CIA has been the world’s number one supplier of heroin for the past 40 years, is it possible they might have punched up the supply source a little bit? Just a little bit?

2. Anon. of Ibid. Says:
   December 4th, 2008 at 1:45 am

   That was the first thing I told my friends when we went into Afghanistan. I said ” Wait and watch us succeed in the faltering natural gas pipeline deal that was being stymied by the Taliban. And then watch opium production, which was then being regulated by the Taliban, jump into the waiting arms of local warlords!” Sure enough not long after we entered Afghanistan the Caspian pipeline deal sailed through with no doubt Haliburton contractors getting the deal, and reports even on mainstream media of opium flooding the West were on the news. Go Air America. ( Tom Slick cheer )