Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
from ABCnews.com
May 22, 2007 6:29 PM
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.
GOP Candidates Criticize ABC News Report on CIA Iran plans
Two Republican presidential candidates today criticized the ABC News report Tuesday about the CIA's covert plan to destabilize the Iranian regime.
"I was shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action in Iran," Mitt Romney said as he opened a session with reporters in Tulsa, Okla.
Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., called for an investigation into who leaked the information and "condemned" ABC News for "running the story which could jeopardize American lives."
The ABC News story reported that President Bush had given the CIA authorization to conduct a nonlethal covert action against Iran involving propaganda, disinformation and the manipulation of Iran's international banking transactions.
"The reporting has the potential of jeopardizing our national security. To put it quite plainly, it has the potential of affecting human life, we may never know," Romney said.
Romney said he had called ABC News president David Westin to register his concerns.
(Continued here.)
May 22, 2007 6:29 PM
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.
GOP Candidates Criticize ABC News Report on CIA Iran plans
Two Republican presidential candidates today criticized the ABC News report Tuesday about the CIA's covert plan to destabilize the Iranian regime.
"I was shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action in Iran," Mitt Romney said as he opened a session with reporters in Tulsa, Okla.
Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., called for an investigation into who leaked the information and "condemned" ABC News for "running the story which could jeopardize American lives."
The ABC News story reported that President Bush had given the CIA authorization to conduct a nonlethal covert action against Iran involving propaganda, disinformation and the manipulation of Iran's international banking transactions.
"The reporting has the potential of jeopardizing our national security. To put it quite plainly, it has the potential of affecting human life, we may never know," Romney said.
Romney said he had called ABC News president David Westin to register his concerns.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Couple of thoughts.
First, since the WH and DOD did not object to the ABC story when given six days to comment, I have to wonder if they wanted the information out there to flaunt it to Iran.
Second, many of the items in the ABC piece were widely believed to be happening already – some overt and some covert. The money/banking situation is well known as the Treasury Department has announced that over 40 international banks have either cut off or cut back business with the Iranian government or private sector. The Iranians have countered by no longer using the USDollar as a trading mechanism. That said, Iran still seems to be functioning fine (maybe Coleman should start another investigation ala Oil-for-Food to see why UN SC resolution 1747 isn’t working.) Remember on January 7th when Bush addressed the nation, he said “Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria.” The media has been asking for a long time, if the US has sent forces into Iran. The only aspect of the ABC story that was significant was the statement of Bush signing a directive.
Third, a question. Why was Rep. Walz the only Minnesota Democrat who joined with the Republicans in defeating amendment 187 to H.R.1585 (DOD Authorization FY2008) which prohibits military action against Iran without specific authorization from Congress unless there is a `national emergency created by an attack by Iran upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its armed forces' ?
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