Iran Killing Coalition Troops - For Years Now

This weekend the US military in Baghdad presented more evidence that Iran is arming the insurgency in Iraq with advanced anti-armor weapons - directly responsible for killing over 170 coalition troops in the last two years. Sources also report that Iran is providing surface to air missiles to insurgents in Iraq - potentially responsible for some of the helicopter downings that have killed dozens of US troops in recent weeks.

But this is not a new story - in August 2005 Secretary Rumfeld said, "I see intelligence reports and we know that we're finding Iranian weapons inside the country."

In fact, it's a really old story since Iran has been helping to kill US troops for years now. This article appeared in TIME magazine in August 2005 -

"The U.S. Military's new nemesis in Iraq is named Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, and he is not a Baathist or a member of al-Qaeda. He is working for Iran. According to a U.S. military-intelligence document obtained by TIME, al-Sheibani heads a network of insurgents created by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps with the express purpose of committing violence against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. Over the past eight months, his group has introduced a new breed of roadside bomb more lethal than any seen before; based on a design from the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hizballah, the weapon employs "shaped" explosive charges that can punch through a battle tank's armor like a fist through the wall. According to the document, the U.S. believes al-Sheibani's team consists of 280 members, divided into 17 bombmaking teams and death squads. The U.S. believes they train in Lebanon, in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite Sadr City district and "in another country" and have detonated at least 37 bombs against U.S. forces this year in Baghdad alone."

Iran denies any involvement.