[Marinir] Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran

[Yap Hong Gie]

Quote 1.:
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" 
operation to destabilize the Iranian government, ----End quote.
= Perintah (rahasia) resmi diturunkan oleh lembaga Kepresidenan.


Quote 2.:
CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, 
disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international 
financial transactions. ----End quote.
= Untuk lembaga intel sekaliber itu, aksi kegiatan mereka akan mencakup 
wilayah operasi yang luas, menggunakan jaringan dan tangan-tangan pihak ke-2 
& ke-3.



Quote 3.:
The "nonlethal" aspect of the presidential finding means CIA officers may 
not use deadly force in carrying out the secret operations ----End quote.
= Baca: CIA officers; tidak menutup kemungkinan untuk aksi-aksi dari pihak 
ke-2 & ke-3.


Mari kita ikuti bersama apakah Iran akan mengalami "Destabilization" seperti 
kita sembilan tahun lalu, dimana Presiden Mahmoud Ahmadinejad akan mengalami 
nasib yang sama seperti Pak Harto .....



====================================

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/bush_authorizes.html


Published on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 by ABC News
Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
by Brian Ross / Richard Esposito

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.