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Bush Authorizes New Covert
Action against Iran
By Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
05/23/07 "ABC
News" -- -- - May 22, 2007. 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.
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.
"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.
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.
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