While I have been engaged in a number of other things:

Andante of Collective Sigh has had a birthday;

Pissed Off Patricia of Morning Martini had her first blogiversary™;

Watertiger of Dependable Renegade had her second blogiversary™; and

Julia of Sisyphus Shrugged had her fifth blogiversary™.

First off, I was wrong about the Iranians not using English. Dave Bell, in comments, has found the export division of the Iranian arms industry that does indeed use English and provided a link to their export 81mm Mortar Round which is the bomb on the right. The “CTG M43A1” tells Dave what he needs to know before he drops it on the tube.

Dave then demonstrates a knowledge of mortars, noting that the round is designed for a WWII M-1 81mm mortar and talks about why the markings are important.

Talking Points Memo provides the PowerPoint slides from the Baghdad briefing which is the source of the picture of the 81mm Mortar Round on the left.

[Aside: this is why it is important to have comments, so others with specific knowledge can clear up questions, and it isn’t painful to admit you were wrong about something.]

As Dave points out, there isn’t enough information on the mortar bomb the Americans displayed. I would point out that it is printed on the bottom and lacks the clear contrast of the Iranian bomb. Oh, the American exhibit uses a serif font, while the Iranians apparently use sans serif. [Hey, if it was good enough to get a CBS news team fired and net a “blogger of the year” for the wingers, I might as well go for it.]

Regarding the RPG-7 munitions in the American exhibit, the Iranian site doesn’t list the ordnance in their catalog, although they sell the launcher. The labeling “P.G.7-AT-1” and “LOT:5-31-2006” don’t seem military, there’s too much punctuation. The round pictured is generally labeled “PG-7V” and requires a launch charge to be useful.

You have to wonder if the reason this was done in Baghdad was because of the US law against the government spreading propaganda and misinformation in the United States. It didn’t convince the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs, so why should anyone else buy this?