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02.14.07 -- 12:13PM
By Josh Marshall

We're going to have an extensive report momentarily, with video, on the accusations the president made this morning regarding Iranian complicity in the transfer of arms used to kill Americans.

Let me briefly explain how it looks to us.

The president is intentionally dodging the key issue of whether the arms in question are going to people killing Americans because of decisions by the Iranian government or its agents or whether they are getting there through black market transfers. If you listen to what the president says the statement is intentionally crafted to ignore this issue while seeming to address it. This wording is not off-hand.

What the president wants people to think is that the only remaining question is whether the orders are coming from the highest eschelons of the Iranian government or whether an arm of the Iranian government is freelancing. CNN at least seems to have been taken in by the dodge, reporting that the president is saying the same thing as Gen. Pace. That's not our understanding. Again, the president's statement today was intentionally misleading. We'll have more to unpack it shortly.

Late Update: Here's our update.

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