Counterpunch‘s Andrew Cockburn reports today that six weeks ago, Bush signed a new Iran “finding” that expands US aid to opposition groups to the Tehran regime:
Bush’s secret directive covers actions across a huge geographic area – from Lebanon to Afghanistan – but is also far more sweeping in the type of actions permitted under its guidelines – up to and including the assassination of targeted officials. This widened scope clears the way, for example, for full support for the military arm of Mujahedin-e Khalq, the cultish Iranian opposition group, despite its enduring position on the State Department’s list of terrorist groups.
Chasing down such a potentially explosive report on one of Washington’s first balmy Friday afternoons is a challenge. Asked if the report sounded plausible, one Hill source contacted indicated, no, it does not. A second responded, “I have no information to support or refute this article. However, [the report’s] credibility is undermined by the notion that a ship commander, during a moment of crisis that only is of several minutes duration, would have the time and luck to reach the CENTCOM head to solicit his advice and feedback during this short window of time.”
Will keep chasing. Stay tuned.
