Last autumn UK troops in Iraq had suffered the loss of 10 troops in their zone to explosions and the government quickly hyped the deaths as being directly connected to Iran, raising the level of tension between the US/Europe and Iran. After the pre-war hype against Iraq, many have been alarmed at the anti-Iran noise out of Washington and London, fearing yet another invasion. Now, for unknown reasons the UK government has backed off of Iranian intervention in these deaths and has left families of the deceased wondering what happened. It's always smear, fear and lies.
Government officials now acknowledge that there is no evidence, or even reliable intelligence, connecting the Iranian government to the infra-red triggered bombs which have killed 10 British soldiers in the past eight months.
The twist comes three months after British officials first made strong assertions, widely reported in the media, of an Iranian hand in killing British soldiers. The highly publicised allegations emerged as America was locked in tense confrontation with Iran over its nuclear policy. It led to a major row and the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, warned Tehran of the consequences of continuing interference in Iraq.
Pte Hewett's [one of the UK soldiers who was killed in Iraq] mother, Sue Smith, 44, said: "They don't like Iran and they are using this for sympathy towards their attitudes, claiming that they were involved in the murder of our sons. I had the impression from the moment they made that statement that it was purely bully-boy tactics against Iran. It makes me really angry. They should be dealing with the people who killed our sons and not using it as a weapon. The way I look at it, it was just an excuse for another invasion. They have a foothold in the Middle East and they want to go further."
