| Might be true, might be mis-direction... |
| It sounds like they don't think he'll be reelected, making it safe to publicly diss him, poor man. |
The Israeli officials actually told me a different version. They said that it was Israeli intelligence that began, a few years earlier, a cyberspace campaign to damage and slow down Iran's nuclear intentions. And only later they managed to convince the USA to consider a joint operation -- which, at the time, was unheard of. Even friendly nations are hesitant to share their technological and intelligence resources against a common enemy.
Melman, and his writing partner Dan Raviv, promise more details on Mossad - CIA cooperation in their upcoming book which is due out next month. But they do give a hint as to the timing of the New York Times article.
Yet my Israeli sources understand the sensitivity and the timing of the issue and are not going to be dragged into a battle over taking credit. "We know that it is the presidential election season," one Israeli added, "and don't want to spoil the party for President Obama and his officials, who shared in a twisted and manipulated way some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of the success of cyberwar."
There's nothing Obama won't do to be reelected. Nothing at all.
