[chottala.com] US 'escalates covert Iran missions'

Seymour Hersh On Covert Operations In Iran [Fresh Air from WHYY] Fresh Air from WHYY Listen to Monday's show · June 30, 2008 add all to playlist     World Seymour Hersh On Covert Operations In Iran In the upcoming issue of the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh writes that the United States may be closer to armed conflict with Iran than previously imagined.   Alex Wong Seymour Hersh writes about covert military operations in Iran in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker. [Getty Images] Fresh Air from WHYY, June 30, 2008 · Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh believes that the United States may be closer to armed conflict with Iran than previously imagined. He writes about Congress' funding of covert military operations in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker. A regular contributor to The New Yorker, Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a series of articles published in the magazine early in 2005. During the Vietnam War, Hersh was the first to report on the My Lai massacre. He has been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, five George Polk Awards, two National Magazine Awards, and a dozen other prizes. He is also the author of eight books, including Chain of Command about Abu Ghraib.   Related NPR Stories April 10, 2006 Article Outlines U.S. Plans to Bomb Iran Jan. 26, 2005 Iraq, Seen Through Pakistani Eyes Dec. 4, 2006 Iran's Nuclear Ambitions http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92025860   Video: US 'escalates covert Iran missions' AlJazeeraEnglish - 3 hours ago Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry talks to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh about his latest article in New Yorker magazine, claiming that US congressional ... Show video Election Season Wild Card: Covert Operations Against Iran, al Qaeda U.S. News & World Report, DC - 8 hours ago With 18 weeks to go before the presidential election, two news reports today serve as vivid reminders that a foreign crisis could still erupt before the ... US 'escalates covert Iran missions' Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been captured by US forces, the article said [AP] US congressional leaders have agreed to a presidential request for up to $400 million in funding for covert operations against Iran, according to a report in the New Yorker magazine. Previous cross-border operations have included the capture of Iranian security officers and the backing of anti-Tehran armed groups, said the report by Seymour Hersh, the investigative reporter. The operations have been taking place since last year, the article said. Bush's request, made through a Presidential Finding document, was approved by US congressional leaders, including Democrats, late last year, the report said. Cross-border US operations against Iran include seizing members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taking them across the border to Iraq for interrogation, the report said. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the CIA, have now been significantly expanded, the New Yorker said, citing current and former officials. Armed Sunni groups Hersh says he believes the US is planning a possibe strike on Iran [GALLO/GETTY] The operations also include providing support to armed Sunni Muslim groups opposed to the Iranian government, which is Shia. Among groups inside Iran benefiting from US support is the Jundallah, also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, according to Robert Baer, a former CIA officer cited by the article. Vali Nasr, an Iran analyst, told Hersh that the group was a vicious organisation suspected of links to al-Qaeda. The article said US support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene. US denial Ryan Crocker, the US amabassador to Iraq, told the CNN news channel that he had not read the article, but denied the allegations of cross-border operations. "I'll tell you flatly that US forces are not operating across the Iraqi border into Iran, in the south or anywhere else," he said in an interview from Baghdad on Sunday. Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. An April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested "regime change" in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal. Iran maintains that its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes only.  Election battle Hersh told Al Jazeera that he believed the US was planning for a possible strike against Iran, something that was being pushed by Bush and Dick Cheney. "The president and the vice-president truly believe that the Iranians have [nuclear]bombs or will have them soon, no matter what their own intelligence says." In December, a joint report by US intelligence agencies found that Iran was less determined to develop nuclear weapons than was previously thought. Hersh said he also believed a strike was more likely if Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, became favourite to win November's presidential poll. Howeever Hersh said he thought that Bush and Cheney believed their policies would be safe in the hands of John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate.  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies US 'escalates covert Iran missions' Aljazeera.net, Qatar - 9 hours ago US congressional leaders have agreed to a presidential request for up to $400 million in funding for covert operations against Iran, according to a report ... IRAN: Word of Bush's alleged covert war hits Tehran Los Angeles Times, CA - 10 hours ago New Yorker magazine investigative journalist Seymour Hersh's article this week alleging a major upping of American campaign to fund and back covert ...

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