Bush sanctions 'black ops' against Iran

Intelligence sources revealed this week that President Bush has given the CIA approval to launch covert "black" operations to achieve regime change in Iran. Bush signed an official document endorsing CIA plans for a propaganda and disinformation campaign intended to destabilize, and eventually topple, the theocratic rule of the mullahs. Under the plan, pressure will be brought to bear on the Iranian economy by manipulating the country's currency and international financial transactions. A security source in the US told The Sunday Telegraph that the presidential directive, known as a "non-lethal presidential finding", would give the CIA the right to collect intelligence on home soil -- an area that is usually the preserve of the FBI -- from the many Iranian exiles and emigrés within the US. "Iranians in America have links with their families at home, and they are a good two-way source of information," he said. The CIA will also be allowed to supply communications equipment which would enable opposition groups in Iran to work together and bypass internet censorship by the clerical regime. Authorization of the new CIA mission, which will not be allowed to use lethal force, appears to suggest that President Bush has, for the time being, ruled out military action against Iran. Bruce Riedel, until six months ago the senior CIA official who dealt with Iran, said: "Vice-President [Dick] Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike, but I think they have concluded that a military strike has more downsides than upsides." However, the CIA is giving arms-length support, supplying money and weapons, to an Iranian militant group, Jundullah, which has conducted raids into Iran from bases in Pakistan. Iranian officials say they captured 10 members of Jundullah last weekend, carrying $500,000 in cash along with "maps of sensitive areas" and "modern spy equipment." According to intelligence sources who spoke with ABC News, the entire plan has been blessed by Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams in particular. 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 efforts to destabilize the Nicaraguan Sandinista government, known as the Iran-Contra affair. Abrams was later pardoned by Bush Sr. in December 1992.