BACHMANN TELLS OF IRAN’S SECRET AGREEMENT
02/23/2007
Brian Melandez
DFL Headquarters
ST. PAUL (2/23/07) – Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann revealed that Iran has a secret agreement already in place to partition Iraq and take control of one-half of the country. It will be called something approximating the “Iraq State of Islam” and be used as a training ground for terrorists. Bachmann revealed her knowledge of the plan in a podcast with the St. Cloud Times.
“While we’re surprised that Representative Bachmann has chosen to reveal this secret information, we’re concerned that she refuses to reveal how she came across it,” Minnesota DFL spokesperson Jess McIntosh said. “President Nixon once had a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. Now it appears that Representative Bachmann is privy to Iran’s secret plan for post-war Iraq. Perhaps Minnesota is just lucky to have such a junior member of Congress who is valued enough to receive exclusive information about our enemy’s foreign affairs.
“We know that Senator Norm Coleman strongly supports sending more American troops to Anbar province in Iraq. Has he taken his position because he knows about Iran’s secret agreement? Has Representative Bachmann shared her information with the rest of the Minnesota delegation?”
Bachmann’s comments:
“And half of Iraq, the western, northern portion of Iraq, is going to be called…. the Iraq State of Islam, something like that. And I’m sorry, I don’t have the official name, but it’s meant to be the training ground for the terrorists. There’s already an agreement made.
“They are going to get half of Iraq and that is going to be a terrorist safe haven zone where they can go ahead and bring about more terrorist attacks in the Middle East region and then to come against the United States because we are their avowed enemy.” [Star Tribune, The Big Question, 2/23/07]
In a statement today, Bachmann claimed her comments were “misconstrued.”
“I am sorry if my words have been misconstrued…
“In the case of Iran, there are multiple reasons to believe they would seek to expand their territory to include Shi'a Iraq - namely, their natural cultural ties, the long history of Iran and Iraq wars, and regional security. A fourth and powerful reason is that success in Iraq for the West could threaten the future of the current Iranian leadership and its Islamic Revolution. There is already a strong antagonism against the ruling regime in Iran and a successful, democratic Iraq could pose trouble for Iran.
“Although it is difficult to ascertain Iran's intentions toward Iraq, they are clearly not in the U.S. interest - for example, the Iranian weapons that have fallen into the hands of insurgents. If Iran is allowed to freely operate in Iraq and continues to thwart the U.S. and the Iraqi government, then we may very well see a de facto partition in which the western Anbar province continues to house and develop terrorists.” [Bachmann statement, 2/23/07]
“Apparently Representative Bachmann is trying to backtrack from her earlier revelations of the secret plan,” McIntosh said. “Either she realized the secrecy of the information, or she was fear-mongering in her district and hoping no one would notice. Despite her contradictory statement today, serious questions remain. Is there a secret agreement already in place as she explicitly told the St. Cloud Times? And if so, who is the agreement with? Will the United States soon take action against the other party to the agreement? Why haven’t Senator Coleman, the Bush Administration or other senior members of Congress informed the American public of the plot?
“If true, this secret agreement is a major development in the escalating war in Iraq. Representative Bachmann needs to come forward with more information. Contradicting her previous statements does nothing to clarify the situation.”