Article

2008-06-30 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bush steps up covert action against Iran

The Bush administration has been expanding covert activities in Iran under a secret directive in the hope of toppling the country's Islamic rulers, according to a report in The New Yorker which highlights opposition to military strikes.

Another Sy Hersh exclusive ...

The magazine reveals that congressional leaders agreed to a request from President George Bush late last year for $400m (£200m) for measures described in a 'presidential finding', a highly classified document which must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way.

However, Democratic leaders appear to be troubled by the escalation of the cross-border activities inside Iran, particularly the authorisation of lethal force by US special forces as they pursue 'high value targets', which do not appear to be covered by the finding, the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reports.

The finding focused on undermining Iran's nuclear programme 'and trying to undermine the government through regime change,' by working with opposition groups inside Iran and by 'passing money'.

Clandestine activities by the US against Iran are not new, but the scale and the scope of the operations, involving the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, have now been expanded, according to current and former officials quoted by Hersh.

'Senior Democrats in Congress told me that they had concerns about the possibility that their understanding of what the new operations entail differs from the White House's,' the article says.

At a time when Israeli officials and experts have been raising the prospect of a military strike against Iran before it fully masters the technology of enriching uranium to weapons grade, The New Yorker also highlighted resistance by the US military to bombing Iran. 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose chairman is Admiral Mike Mullen, were 'pushing back very hard' against White House pressure to undertake a military strike against Iran,' the article says.

Posted by lotp 2008-06-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 So is this why I don't see squirrels lately?

Posted by bruce 2008-06-30 08:14|| 2008-06-30 08:14|| Front Page Top

#2 The noteworthy part of this is all the anti-war Democrat congressmen voting to fully fund it.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-06-30 09:14|| 2008-06-30 09:14|| Front Page Top

#3 Well those are all closed door committees arent they? They don't have to worry about kissing moveon.org ass when they are in the chambers.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2008-06-30 10:00|| 2008-06-30 10:00|| Front Page Top

#4 Covert ops reported in the New Yorker, ya say. Well, it may not be covert, but the ops part is welcome. It was probably a message, sent through a leaky Congress, to be disseminated by Hersch the Tool, to the MMs of Iran.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2008-06-30 10:58|| 2008-06-30 10:58|| Front Page Top

#5 Shhhhhhh! It's a secret.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2008-06-30 11:49|| 2008-06-30 11:49|| Front Page Top

#6 There ARE no secrets around Sy Hersch! He's a one-man full-disclosure task force!

Be interesting to see what skeletons he has tucked away in the closet himself, I think.

Posted by mojo">mojo 2008-06-30 12:14|| 2008-06-30 12:14|| Front Page Top

#7 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose chairman is Admiral Mike Mullen, were 'pushing back very hard' against White House pressure to undertake a military strike against Iran,' the article says.

Sorry, I'd have to throw the BS flag on that one.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-06-30 16:28|| 2008-06-30 16:28|| Front Page Top

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