Iran reportedly training Sunni insurgents. In related news, government is full of it.

Blogs spend a lot of time critiquing the media. Much of that is deserved, some isn't, and a significant amount is misunderstood as partisan bickering. Most of the criticism, at the most fundamental, is about news outlets either 1) getting things wrong or 2) reporting questionable information as fact. (In reality, these two often overlap for news consumers -- e.g., when I read about the Middle East I can usually tell when something is definitely wrong, whereas for a non-expert it might just seem dubious; for me, on the other hand, I sometimes read health care reporting that seems off though I'm not sure why but, say, Ezra knows -- and can explain why -- it's utter crap.)

All of which is to introduce, in a roundabout fashion, the stunningly obtuse articles now being posted on administration claims that Iran is helping Sunni insurgents in Iraq. Basically the military is saying that Sunni groups are now using weapons provided -- and being trained in their use -- by Iranian intelligence operatives. Regular readers of this blog (and sentient beings everywhere) know that Iran is a Shia fundamentalist state and Sunni insurgents are mostly secularists with some jihadist, fundamentalist Sunnis as well. Iran overwhelmingly supports the religious Shia government in Iraq, hates (Sunni) Baathists (from when they, y'know, fought an eight year war with Iran in the 1980s), and recognizes that Sunni insurgents often attack the Shia government (and population) in Iraq. So . . . why on earth would they supply Sunnis with advanced weapons and training?

Now, here's the thing: it's possible. Everything is possible, right? I can't definitely say that the military statements are wrong. What I can absolutely, positively say is that the claims should be treated with some skepticism! In none of the articles I've read thus far (and, to be fair, later versions of the stories may be more complete) is there any mention of the demographic realities of the situation, let alone the fact that this kind of information helps further the administration goal of brinkmanship with Iran.

In several articles, reporting jumps back and forth between talking about "Sunni" or "Shia" extremists with "insurgents" in general, which further confuses the issue (and the reader), and in none is there a quote from an outside expert or any evidence of journalistic efforts to reconcile the paradox of claiming a fundamentalist Shia government would support insurgents against a neighboring government it fully supports. There are pretty basic issues, and they're being profoundly obscured. One would think that reporters would understand at this point that just because the administration says something doesn't make it true, and on Iraq in particular, the claims are quite often totally false and worth at least exploring and challenging before parroting.