Chantytown

Preparing the Battlefield

The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.

by Seymour M. Hersh

L ate last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.

Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature.

Under federal law, a Presidential Finding, which is highly classified, must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees—the so-called Gang of Eight. Money for the operation can then be reprogrammed from previous appropriations, as needed, by the relevant congressional committees, which also can be briefed.

“The Finding was focussed on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” a person familiar with its contents said, and involved “working with opposition groups and passing money.” The Finding provided for a whole new range of activities in southern Iran and in the areas, in the east, where Baluchi political opposition is strong, he said.

Although some legislators were troubled by aspects of the Finding, and “there was a significant amount of high-level discussion” about it, according to the source familiar with it, the funding for the escalation was approved. In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership—Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections—were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy.

The request for funding came in the same period in which the Administration was coming to terms with a National Intelligence Estimate, released in December, that concluded that Iran had halted its work on nuclear weapons in 2003. The Administration downplayed the significance of the N.I.E., and, while saying that it was committed to diplomacy, continued to emphasize that urgent action was essential to counter the Iranian nuclear threat. President Bush questioned the N.I.E.’s conclusions, and senior national-security officials, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, made similar statements. (So did Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee.) Meanwhile, the Administration also revived charges that the Iranian leadership has been involved in the killing of American soldiers in Iraq: both directly, by dispatching commando units into Iraq, and indirectly, by supplying materials used for roadside bombs and other lethal goods. (There have been questions about the accuracy of the claims; the Times, among others, has reported that “significant uncertainties remain about the extent of that involvement.”)

Military and civilian leaders in the Pentagon share the White House’s concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but there is disagreement about whether a military strike is the right solution. Some Pentagon officials believe, as they have let Congress and the media know, that bombing Iran is not a viable response to the nuclear-proliferation issue, and that more diplomacy is necessary.

(CONTINUED Annals of National Security: Preparing the Battlefield: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker )

RK77

Isn't that WHY they voted the Iranian army a terrorist organization? The hand writing has been on the wall for a while now.

God HELP US ALL!

poetrychic

but, but, but, that bill was nothing more than a declaration...it didn't mean anything

what the hell did jd call it when he was defending hillary's vote?

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eagleclaw

Wow, Is Iran capable of threatening the Homeland of the United States?



No???




Then why all the fuss about Iran ????

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ibex

The Fascist Bushies run on a dynamic of war, they will think of anything, any lame excuse to further "democratize" the Middle East. A war with Iran would also have the beneficial effect (in their eyes) of sand bagging the presumptive Democratic nominee if he wins or establishing a continuation of their failed policy under a McCain administration, or worst of all, act as an excuse to nulify the election and declare marshal law under some phony terror threat. These fuckers aren't just evil, they're crazy too.

JeffinCO

Since when does a threat actually have to be REAL? All they need is a highly paid "expert" with no experience whatsoever, to leak a story to the barkers, that the Iranians had a covert meeting with the Boogeyman.

The fact is, Iran doesnt fit in the "new world order". They base their forign policy on eliminating outside influence in the region and persue extensive diplomatic contacts with developing and non-aligned countries. ....and of course, there is Iran's refusal to recognize Israel. Infact Israel and the US are the only countries in the UN that Iran doesnt have diplomatic relations with.

Also, Iran has it's own military industry, and a shitload of people.

The fuss is, we came in and whacked the hornets nest with a stick, oblivious to the fact that there is a much bigger, smarter, stronger nest nearby that is buzzing with fearful aggresion due to the idiot with a stick.

...also.. there is the fact that Iran has not invaded another country in over 2 centuries.

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