Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran

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Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
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.

Click Here to See Photos of the Players in Another Iran Operation -- the Iran-Contra Affair: Where Are They Now?

A National Security Council spokesperson, Gordon Johndroe, said, "The White House does not comment on intelligence matters." A CIA spokesperson said, "As a matter of course, we do not comment on allegations of covert activity."

The sources say the CIA developed the covert plan over the last year and received approval from White House officials and other officials in the intelligence community.

Officials say the covert plan is designed to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program and end aid to insurgents in Iraq.

"There are some channels where the United States government may want to do things without its hand showing, and legally, therefore, the administration would, if it's doing that, need an intelligence finding and would need to tell the Congress," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official.

Current and former intelligence officials say the approval of the covert action means the Bush administration, for the time being, has decided not to pursue a military option against Iran.

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"Vice President Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike," said former CIA official Riedel, "but I think they have come to the conclusion that a military strike has more downsides than upsides."

The covert action plan comes as U.S. officials have confirmed Iran had dramatically increased its ability to produce nuclear weapons material, at a pace that experts said would give them the ability to build a nuclear bomb in two years.

Riedel says economic pressure on Iran may be the most effective tool available to the CIA, particularly in going after secret accounts used to fund the nuclear program.

"The kind of dealings that the Iranian Revolution Guards are going to do, in terms of purchasing nuclear and missile components, are likely to be extremely secret, and you're going to have to work very, very hard to find them, and that's exactly the kind of thing the CIA's nonproliferation center and others would be expert at trying to look into," Riedel said.

Under the law, the CIA needs an official presidential finding to carry out such covert actions. The CIA is permitted to mount covert "collection" operations without a presidential finding.

"Presidential findings" are kept secret but reported to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other key congressional leaders.

Check out the Brian Ross Webcast: More on CIA's 'Black' Operation in Iran

The "nonlethal" aspect of the presidential finding means CIA officers may not use deadly force in carrying out the secret operations against Iran.

Still, some fear that even a nonlethal covert CIA program carries great risks.

"I think everybody in the region knows that there is a proxy war already afoot with the United States supporting anti-Iranian elements in the region as well as opposition groups within Iran," said Vali Nasr, adjunct senior fellow for Mideast studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"And this covert action is now being escalated by the new U.S. directive, and that can very quickly lead to Iranian retaliation and a cycle of escalation can follow," Nasr said.

Other "lethal" findings have authorized CIA covert actions against al Qaeda, terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

Also briefed on the CIA proposal, according to intelligence sources, were National Security Advisor Steve Hadley and Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams.

"The entire plan has been blessed by Abrams, in particular," said one intelligence source familiar with the plan. "And Hadley had to put his chop on it."

Abrams' last involvement with attempting to destabilize a foreign government led to criminal charges.

He pleaded guilty in October 1991 to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress about the Reagan administration's ill-fated efforts to destabilize the Nicaraguan Sandinista government in Central America, known as the Iran-Contra affair. Abrams was later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush in December 1992.

In June 2001, Abrams was named by then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to head the National Security Council's office for democracy, human rights and international operations. On Feb. 2, 2005, National Security Advisor Hadley appointed Abrams deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for global democracy strategy, one of the nation's most senior national security positions.

As earlier reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com, the United States has supported and encouraged an Iranian militant group, Jundullah, that has conducted deadly raids inside Iran from bases on the rugged Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan "tri-border region."

U.S. officials deny any "direct funding" of Jundullah groups but say the leader of Jundullah was in regular contact with U.S. officials.

American intelligence sources say Jundullah has received money and weapons through the Afghanistan and Pakistan military and Pakistan's intelligence service. Pakistan has officially denied any connection.

A report broadcast on Iranian TV last Sunday said Iranian authorities had captured 10 men crossing the border with $500,000 in cash along with "maps of sensitive areas" and "modern spy equipment."

A senior Pakistani official told ABCNews.com the 10 men were members of Jundullah.

The leader of the Jundullah group, according to the Pakistani official, has been recruiting and training "hundreds of men" for "unspecified missions" across the border in Iran.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/bush_authorizes.html
 
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Because we're at war, and in war, I'd prefer that the bad guys die so the good guys can stay alive.

My question to you: why would you want more Americans dead?

That question is disgusting. The leadership of this country is concocting this aggressive behavior. Coupled with the stupid blank check Congress gave the idiots a lot of Americans have be damaged and many killed already because of their scheme. Now you question why we would want more dead? That kind of twisting discourse is precisely why we are in the mess we are in.
 
That question is disgusting. The leadership of this country is concocting this aggressive behavior. Coupled with the stupid blank check Congress gave the idiots a lot of Americans have be damaged and many killed already because of their scheme. Now you question why we would want more dead? That kind of twisting discourse is precisely why we are in the mess we are in.

This "aggressive behavoir" is the only thing that will secure long-term security. Appeasement doesn't work. It didn't work in 1938 ("Men of Munich") and it won't work in 2007. You have to go to the root of the problem and kill it there. The root of Islamic Fascism is in Iran and Syria. We're just seeing the limbs of the tree in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Americans are dying every day in the "war" field. Why don't you know that?

Oh I know that better than any of you guys. Those, however, are Americans that put themselves in a position, knowing the danger, to protect those who are incapable or unwilling to protect themselves.

As one Marine Corps motto goes: "Marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives on...."

Everyone dies. Some men die as Marines in the field of battle, defending their country. Others die slowly in a hospital bed being fed through tubes for 6 months.
 
Oh I know that better than any of you guys. ???? Those, however, are Americans that put themselves in a position, knowing the danger, to protect those who are incapable or unwilling to protect themselves. That's just a bit too simple.

As one Marine Corps motto goes: "Marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives on...." That's a pretty sick motto. "We are here to die." Sounds like all marines want to commit suicide.
Everyone dies. Some men die as Marines in the field of battle, defending their country. Others die slowly in a hospital bed being fed through tubes for 6 months. There many more ways than 2 to die.
,,,..
 
Oh I know that better than any of you guys. Those, however, are Americans that put themselves in a position, knowing the danger, to protect those who are incapable or unwilling to protect themselves.

As one Marine Corps motto goes: "Marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives on...."

Everyone dies. Some men die as Marines in the field of battle, defending their country. Others die slowly in a hospital bed being fed through tubes for 6 months.

Yea you're right USMC. My friend who used to be an ambulance driver died a dishonorable death because she was killed by a drunk driver while she was trying to save somone's life.

My grandfather who died of lung cancer after serving in the navy for 20 years must really be shameful to you.

People serve in our military sacrifice certain rights and they do put themselves in harms way but they do it with the gurantee from the American people and government that we will only send them into danger if we have exhausted all other options. You keep describing our enlisted men and women as pieces of meat to send into the grinder. You of all people should know that you don't stop being human because you join the service.

Also most people (unlike you apparently) did not join to get killed. They joined to dedicate their time and effort to their country. My friend in the navy is an air traffic controller, and her job is to make sure that our planes are moving in and out efficiently so that the pilots can cover your ass. Do you think it's dishonorable that she has no intention of ever getting near combat?

Or my friend in the air force who is learning Farsi in order to become a translator?

They didn't join to die. They joined to serve.
 
I don't think you fully got my point. I'm not saying they join to die, though I see how you got that message. I'm saying that we join, being fully aware of the danger we are putting ourselves into.

Of course no one wants to die (especially the military, our greatest Americans), but we have the military there to die so civilians don't have to. That's our purpose.

Remember how this conversation started...
 
I don't think you fully got my point. I'm not saying they join to die, though I see how you got that message. I'm saying that we join, being fully aware of the danger we are putting ourselves into.

Of course no one wants to die (especially the military, our greatest Americans), but we have the military there to die so civilians don't have to. That's our purpose.

Remember how this conversation started...
This just isn't true. There are many great Americans that are not military.
 
This "aggressive behavoir" is the only thing that will secure long-term security. Appeasement doesn't work. It didn't work in 1938 ("Men of Munich") and it won't work in 2007. You have to go to the root of the problem and kill it there. The root of Islamic Fascism is in Iran and Syria. We're just seeing the limbs of the tree in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Islamic Fascism is akin to the former mighty Nazi was machine? Syria and Iran, two of the few democracies in the Middle East, are going to get us? Get a grip.

When are we going to grow up, take the counsel of George Washington and butt out? The entire mess in that area for the United States was a direct result of our interference in that region, our one-sided unjust alliance with Israel and the how we ally ourselves with brutal regimes over the common people.
 
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Islamic Fascism is akin to the former mighty Nazi was machine?

In many ways, yes, especially in the way they rise to power.

Syria and Iran, two of the few democracies in the Middle East, are going to get us? Get a grip.

Neither Syria or Iran are democracies, and yes, if either got their hands on a nuke, that's one short jump away from al Qaeda possessing nuclear capabilities.

When are we going to grow up, take the counsel of George Washington and butt out? The entire mess in that area for the United States was a direct result of our interference in that region, our one-sided unjust alliance with Israel and the how we ally ourselves with brutal regimes over the common people.

You can thank FDR for this one.
 
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