Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffdown plays claim that Iranian government giving arms to Iraqi fighters

USA TODAY

The remarks by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contradicts claims by U.S. military and administration officials of high-level Iranian involvement on behalf or Iraqi insurgents fighting American forces.

The U.S. military presentation in Baghdad on Sunday was the result of weeks of preparation and revisions as U.S. officials put together a package of material to support the Bush administration's claims of Iranian intercession on behalf of militant Iraqis fighting American forces.

The Joint Chiefs chairman is the senior military adviser to the president, but he commands no troops and is not in the chain of command that runs from the president to the defense secretary to commanders in the field.