U.S. officials put together a package of material to support the Bush administration's claims

there's two extraordinarily telling lines in the following ap article written by steven hurst... the first is the one i used as the post title... see if you can spot the second one...

U.S. military officials on Sunday accused the highest levels of the Iranian leadership of arming Shiite militants in Iraq with sophisticated armor-piercing roadside bombs that have killed more than 170 troops from the American-led coalition.

[...]

The presentation was the result of weeks of preparation and revisions as U.S. officials put together a package of material to support the Bush administration's claims of Iranian intercession on behalf of militant Iraqis fighting American forces.

Senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad said the display was prompted by the military's concern for "force protection," which, they said, was guaranteed under the United Nations resolution that authorizes American soldiers to be in Iraq.

Three senior military officials who explained the display said the "machining process" used in the construction of the deadly bombs had been traced to Iran.

The experts, who spoke to a large gathering of reporters on condition that they not be further identified, said the supply trail began with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, which also is accused of arming the Hezbollah guerrilla army in Lebanon. The officials said the EFP weapon was first tested there.

so, didja spot it...? wasn't too hard was it...? now, please tell me why the "experts" would only speak on the condition that they "not be further identified...?" after reading juan cole last night, i simply can't read something like this without experiencing a gag reflex... they are trying to lead us down the garden path - again! - and our sad, pathetic, traditional media are falling for it - again...!

[UPDATE]

from the wapo...

The officials said they would speak only on the condition of anonymity, so the explosives expert and the analyst, who would normally not speak to the news media, could provide information directly. The analyst's exact title and full name were not revealed to reporters. The officials released a PowerPoint presentation including photographs of the weaponry, but did not allow media representatives to record, photograph or videotape the briefing or the materials on display.

ain't. buyin'. it.

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