Gill,
I've been trying to wrap my mind around the public explanation given concerning this plot and things just don't add up. According to this
NYTimes.com article, Manssor Arbabsiar is a naturalized U.S. citizen. But according to this
article from MSNBC.com, Manssor Arbabsiar is described as an Iranian-American; gives the connotation that the man has dual-citizenship. Which is correct?
A few things about the MSNBC article doesn't add up. For instance, Arbabsiar allegedly met his contact, a convicted Mexican drug dealer turned DEA informant, in Mexico. Why would a used car salesman from Corpus Cristi, TX with no arrest on drug related charges go to Mexico? The article says Arbabsiar left the country, but doesn't say where he went. What's more bizzare is the fact that although the DEA informant does say that Arbabsiar inquired about acquiring explosives to blow up the Saudi Embassy here in the U.S., he turns around and recommends to Arbabsiar upon his return to the U.S. that
HE, not Arbabsiar, could assassinate the Saudi Ambassador for $1.5 million with the help of others (four men was the number of assistance the informant said he would need)? Why wouldn't the informant just get the C-4 explosives Arbabsiar asked for instead of up-ing the antie?
And then you have this alleged Mexican cartle/Quds Force/Venezuela drug smuggling connection that doesn't make sense because nowhere in either article is there confirmation of Arbabsiar's involvement with drugs, drugs gangs, drug dealers - nothing! So, again, why is a used car salesman from Texas doing down in Mexico? And even if there's more to the relationship between Arbabsiar and this DEA informant, why have the money to carry out the assassination plot wired to a bank in New York? I could understand if both Arbabsiar and the DEA informant or even a DEA agent met up in NY after the informant received the money, but having two deposits of $100,000 each wired to NY when Arbabsiar resided in TX makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. On top of that, it wasn't even Arbabsiar who was to carry out the plot. It was the DEA informant which makes this plot stranger still.
This plot just doesn't add up. Can you say, "Wag the Dog"?