Iran's Propaganda Wing: LATimes

Read the article. Analyze the posture that the writer leaves the reader with regards to the US military, the US government and Iran.

Start here:

Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of being behind the abduction of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, but U.S. officials refused to confirm that a kidnapping had taken place as the two countries' campaign of finger-pointing was brought up another notch.

Iranian officials said Jalal Sharafi, their embassy's second secretary, had not been seen since gunmen in Iraqi military uniforms intercepted his car Sunday as he left a branch of a state-owned Iranian bank.

"They acted under U.S. supervision," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini said in a statement released in Tehran. He described the incident as a "terrorist attack."

US Supervision? I wonder how that worked? Was there a US representative guarding and guiding the Iranian diplomat? Or was he wandering around a WAR-ZONE during an especially nasty INSURGENCY that dislikes Iranian aid to one of their opponents?

The Bush administration has accused Iran of fueling the sectarian warfare in Iraq by providing Shiite Muslim extremists with weapons and explosives being used against U.S. troops and Sunni Arab targets. U.S. officials have been holding five Iranians seized last month in a raid in the northern city of Irbil. The Iranian officials are accused of planning attacks on Americans.

The seizure Sunday was another example of U.S. heavy-handedness, an official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad said. "They should release our colleague as soon as possible," he said angrily.

Right. Note that they fail to indicate that there is evidence of Iran's interference especially related to the recent attempt to kidnap five US soldiers that ended in their deaths. No evidence of Iran providing IED supplies or training to the Shia militias. Nice balance of truth here.

Neither U.S. government nor military officials in Baghdad would confirm such an incident, much less the allegation that it had been orchestrated by American forces.

"We have no record of any event that looks remotely like the described abduction," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman. The U.S. Embassy said it was "aware of the reports" and was looking into them.

Yep, they don't know anything, but the writer doesn't caveat it like she does other parts of information in the article.

Kidnappings are common in Baghdad, where high-ranking officials and ordinary merchants alike may fall prey to gangs looking to get rich by ransoming hostages. Iranian officials, however, refused to consider that Sharafi's alleged abduction was anything but another attempt by Washington to put the squeeze on Tehran. They cited the detention of the Iranians in Irbil as evidence.

"This is not the first time such a thing has happened," the Iranian Embassy official said of Sharafi's alleged abduction. "Normally, the United States is responsible."

There you go. Again giving the Iranian embassy a voice with no opposing statement from the US.

Now they move on to the proof that the US is evil. Remember this is to ensure the truth comes out.

As Iraq's violence has escalated, so too has the tension between the United States and Iran, whose leaders deny bolstering Shiite militias at work in Iraq. The diplomatic snarling has put Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in an awkward position as he tries to cultivate close relations with Iran while trying to convince American officials that he is serious about quelling violence.

A joint U.S.-Iraqi security plan announced last month has yet to produce tangible results, at least in the view of Iraqis living under constant threat of car bombs, mortar attacks, stray gunfire and street crime.

The bodies of at least 19 men, all shot to death and most showing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad on Tuesday, police and morgue officials said. In addition, at least five people died when a car bomb exploded in the east Baghdad neighborhood of Mashtal.

In the city of Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a passing U.S. military convoy instead blew up under a civilian minivan, killing a woman.

The U.S. military announced the death of a Marine in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad, bringing the number of American troops killed since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion to at least 3,103, according to the website icasualties.org, which tracks casualty figures in the war.

Note the trifecta of information. US military death, civilian deaths, and the security plan that hasn't produced results. That last is funny considering that the increase of troops is still starting and hasn't even peaked. But it's a failure. Remember that. If peace doesn't immediately descend when a plan is announced, it's a failure. God knows you can't actually get the troops in and start securing the region before results are analyzed. But, that type of analysis is what we have come to expect from the MSM as of late.

In the Shiite neighborhoods of Ur and Shaab, in northern Baghdad, residents said U.S. and Iraqi forces set up checkpoints Tuesday morning, snarling traffic for hours but doing little to reassure people of the new security plan's effectiveness.

Majid Abdullah, 42, who owns an auto parts shop in Shaab, said that most checkpoints had been dismantled by afternoon and that those remaining were manned by Iraqis, with U.S. troops only passing by occasionally.

"Frankly speaking, there doesn't seem to be anything different in their activities compared to any other days," he said. "In fact, they don't seem that enthusiastic and rarely ever search vehicles and passersby."

Abdullah complained that he had gone through the checkpoint several times in his car and had yet to be searched. "I want to be searched. We want them to be more diligent."

A resident of Ur said about 10 Strykers, hulking U.S. armored vehicles, had made their way through her neighborhood but become stuck on a narrow street. Unable to turn around, she said, the first Stryker rammed down the walls of a school and drove through it, followed by the rest of the convoy.

Another interesting way to put forward the activity. The Iraqi's are doing the checkpoints, which is part of their taking control and providing the security, but since the US isn't there it's a failure. Obviously it's the US troops faults that the Iraqi's aren't as diligent as some mechanic thinks they should be.

And you have to love the last unnamed source. I'm sure that bit of story telling was vetted as well as the MSM usually does their fact checking. It could have happened, but I doubt it. Wonder what insurgents group the "resident" belonged too?

Abdullah, however, made clear he was not optimistic.

"It's a new security plan every day, and there is all this hype about it when in fact it is not different and therefore will not make any difference," he said. "It's another disappointment."

"Every day" there's a new plan? What do you know? I could have sworn there is only the one reported a month ago. But they change every day. Can't possibly make a difference because someone without a clue thinks it doesn't matter.

No doubt this is seen as distinct proof of the new plans failure, since no doubt, the LATimes couldn't be telling a half truth or complete lie. I'm sure their readership is pleased with the results. Again, the evil empire of America has screwed it up and the unnamed sources with their clueless opinions are all that matters when reporting the truth.