Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
May 23rd, 2007Via: abcnews:
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.
…
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.”
Related: Commander’s Veto Sank Threatening Gulf Buildup
Related: Zbigniew Brzezinski Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Maybe not so covert eh?
From Yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gulf_us_navy
Navy stages show of force off Iran coast
By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer
37 minutes ago
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf.
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The carrier strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes landing ships carrying members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The Navy said nine U.S. warships passed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Merchant ships passing through the busy strait carry two-fifths of the world’s oil exports.
Aircraft aboard the three carriers and the Bonhomme Richard were to conduct air training while the ships ran submarine, mine and other exercises.
The maneuvers came just two months after a previous exercise in March when two U.S. carrier groups carried out two days of air and sea maneuvers off the Iranian coast.
Before the arrival of the Bonhomme Richard strike group, the Navy maintained around 20,000 U.S personnel at sea in the Gulf and neighboring waters.
U.S. warships have frequently collided with merchant ships in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf.
You should read the ABC news blog where the “crazies” vented their poison on “traitors” who had the unmitigated gall to advertise this fact. As if mentioning another secretive murderous act would somehow discourage the “decider”.
I was just going to link to that story. So on one hand the administrations publicly shouts “covert overthrow” and on the other increases naval force to levels not seen since the outset of the Iraq invasion.
My money says the Neocons are bull-shitting about the CIA overthrow plot. They’re just taunting, hoping Iran will strike first.
Indonesia and the UK were net oil exporters until recently, now they are net oil importers. While Iran is still a net oil exporter, their oil extraction peaked under the Shah. Since then, Iranian population and domestic oil consumption has soared. Iran only has a few years left as a net oil exporter. Iran may already have passed the point of not being worth the trouble to conquer.
And so the DOD has created Africom. West Africa in particular is a much more promising spot for AngloAmerican military adventurism. The offshore fields are young, the oil quality is good and sailing distances are comparatively short through the open Atlantic.
And with no pesky middle-eastern “above ground” factors to be concerned with.
Still, as can be clearly seen with Nigeria and Sudan, Africa has its own petroleum production problems.
Jus’ a lil’ ol’ sumpting I stumbled upon while strollin’ to IKEA:
“A week ago, in a reversal of its longtime policy, the Bush administration agreed to hold face-to-face talks with Iran. This decision didn’t go over well with conservatives, who believe that negotiation is a sign of weakness, and likely didn’t go over well with hardliners within the administration for the same reason.
What to do? Answer: Prove that you’re still as tough as you ever were. Perhaps this is why we’ve seen the following in the past few days:
*An obviously planted story about plans to respond strongly to any Iranian provocation in Iraq this summer.
*A leak to ABC News about a covert program to destabilize the Iranian regime.
*The start of a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf. Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center made the connection plain: “The Americans are sending a message to Iran that they are not coming to the negotiating table weak, but with their military at Tehran’s doorstep.”
These actions are probably designed both to put the Iranians on notice and to quell conservative disquiet at home. For their part, the Iranians may be engaged in the same kind of gamesmanship, and with the same two audiences in mind. Perhaps that explains their rash of recent jailings of Iranian-Americans?”
-Excerpt from The Washington Monthly
http://tinyurl.com/2m9skh