Oops, Wrong Country?

Remember that Daily Telegraph story about the sniper rifles, made in Austria and exported to Iran, that ended up in Iraq? The story spread like wildfire and I've been unable to find a single mention of these guns that didn't give the Telegraph as the original source.

Well, no-one from either the British or American governments has asked either the Austrian government or the manufacturer to verify serial numbers - even though that's standard practise in such cases.

And the US CentCom website still has nothing about any seizure of Austrian .50 calibre sniper rifles from Iran, even though you woould think that in the present climate they would be yelling it from the rooftops.

Nor do Secretary Gates or General Pace seem to know anything about any Austrian rifles, as was revealed at a Defense Dept. Media Roundtable meeting yesterday.

Q Mr. Secretary, on -- (inaudible) -- there are reports that not only Iranian IEDs but also sniper rifles that have been delivered from Austria, sold to the Iranian police in huge quantities, showed up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents. Are these reports correct?

SEC. GATES: I don't know.

GEN. PACE: I have heard those reports. I do not know whether or not we have the factual data to claim that as a fact. We can find out. I just don't know.

Then there's this:

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Insurgents in Iraq are using high- powered sniper rifles from Iran to kill U.S. troops, according to General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pace declined to say whether the Iranian government was directing the supply of the Chinese-made weapons. Evidence of this traffic is part of a review by the U.S. military in Iraq of Iran's effort to supply weapons to Iraqi insurgents.

The administration has repeatedly accused Iran of allowing the shipment of arms across its border into Iraq, including explosive charges capable when made into roadside bombs of piercing the strongest U.S. armor.

Pace was asked about the snipers during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 6. ``Some of their snipers have been very effective. They've received weapons from outside the country that have helped in that effectiveness.''

Pace stopped short of identifying Iran as the source of the rifles. Asked by a reporter after the hearing if that was the case, he said, ``Yes, that's what I was referring to.''

Asked how serious was the threat, he said, ``Anything that gives them additional firepower is serious.''

Pace declined to discuss the number of rifles supplied or the number of U.S. troops killed or wounded by the weapons.

Is it possible that the Daily Telegraph got the nation of manufacture wrong? If so, then their timeline of 45 days from import to first death is also wrong, and that was the bit that everyone was citing as circumstantial proof of Iranian government complicity.

I've emailed the folks at Jane's Middle East desk to see if they've heard anything about the alleged Austrian sourced guns that wasn't derived from the Telegraph as primary source. I'll update if they get back to me.

Update Yesterday the AP added fuel to the fire with a report that Austria planned to export 30,000 Glock handguns to Iran. Those with an anti-Iranian axe to grind immediately began asking how quickly those guns would end up in Iraqi hands.

The answer is....as soon as they arrive.

VIENNA, Austria: In stories Feb. 16 and Feb. 17 about weapons sales, The Associated Press, citing Austrian news media reports, erroneously reported that Austrian authorities approved the export of 30,000 handguns to Iran. The weapons were sold to Iraq, not Iran.

Thus is born another part of the "narrative as its own evidence", because you know the correction will go mostly un-noticed while the story becomes part of the Right's "what we know to be true".