It would appear so.
The investigative journalist Seymour Hersh just broke a story in The New Yorker that the Bush administration has asked for over $400 million dollars for a major escalation of covert military actions in Iran. National Public Radio has a fascinating 45 minute interview with Seymour Hersh.
The main points from the interview:
How did they receive these funds?
In order for the administration to receive funding for special operations they need to ask Congress for the funds through a “presidential finding.” This essentially is a document that outlines how the funds will be used. One specific request was that elite special operative be involved in “Defensive Lethal Activity.”
The 8 members of Congress that needed to sign off on this have signed off. These members include:
The Majority leader, Harry Reid, and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell. The speaker of house, Nancy Pelosi and her Republican counterpart John Boehner. In addition the approval of Republican and Democratic chairs of the Intelligence Committees is required.
The key point here is that the Democratic leadership has agreed to these actions. There is a political fear among Democrats to “be afraid to fight the war on terror”
What is the goal of the clandestine military operations?
The main goal is to destabilize the government. Providing money to dissident groups and a significant escalation of elite units of special operations “Hunter/Killers” lead attack on high value targets operating secretly from Afghanistan into Iran.
According to Mr. Hersch funding the “anti-government groups” would be similar to a foreign power approaching the “Sons of the Revolution” movement in the South because they appear to be anti-government Even though their views may make them appear to be anti-government most of these “fringe groups” are still closely associated with the government.
The main point of these actions is to provoke Iran into taking an action that would rally American support against them. We have been building up our arms levels in the region and are very prepared to attack, however the administration realizes that without support their hands are tied. As time moves closer to the end of their term, however this may change. “Who’s going to stop them?”
The Bush Administration believes Iran is a major threat and fears that the successive administration may not act on this threat. Will this be the last hurrah of the Bush administration? Should America prepare for an October surprise as the administration makes its last desperate attempt to assault Iran?
Common sense would rationalize that we wouldn’t actively seek another war yet Mr Hersh has some simple advice. “Listen to them.” Listen to the words they are saying. The administration believes things are going great in Iraq and now are looking to their next goal.
