Turkish Columnist: Another Two Iranian Military Commanders Missing; Fingers Pointing at U.S., IsraelIbrahim Karagul, a columnist with strong anti-U.S. views who writes for the Islamic Turkish daily Yeni Safak, which is the unofficial mouthpiece of Turkey's AKP government, has stated that since the disappearance of former Iranian deputy defense minister Ali Reza Asghari, two more Iranian commanders have been "kidnapped." He added that the espionage games being played by the U.S. and Israel, with Istanbul as their playground, are making Turkey look suspicious.
In his column, Karagul wrote that while the mystery of Asghari's disappearance is still unsolved, Iranian Col. Amir Muhammad Shirazi and Gen. Muhammad Sultani are missing.
He added that fingers in Iran are pointing at U.S. and Israeli intelligence services, and wrote, "It is said that five Iranians left Iran on Friday, March 16, and entered Turkey at midnight on March 17, and that they were handed over to CIA and Mossad agents on March 18. Whether Col. Shirazi and Gen. Sultani were among these five is not clear."
He warned, "If the U.S. keeps kidnapping Iranian officials, a big storm will erupt, because Iranian circles are warning that they have the capability and manpower to kidnap or strike at any U.S. or Israeli target, any time and anywhere in the world."
The very moment an American is confirmed as abducted by the Iranians, an Iranian submarine should be made to disappear, if one can be found at sea. If not, then some dreadful accident should befall a ship in port or a vital oil facility. Unlike , say, the Taliban or the Anbar insurgents, the Iranians have a lot of valuable assets that might as well have big targets painted on them. They also have a lot of assets in Europe and other parts of the world that are not beyond the reach of even private citizens, if the latter are sufficiently well informed and financed. Finally, their propaganda agents are also vulnerable and these vermin should not be off the table if the Persians really want to start a war of assassins. Bush isn't Jimmy Carter.