In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around
the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same
for Iran.

http://amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article3.html

August 1, 2005 Issue

The American Conservative

Deep Background


In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around
the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same
for Iran.

http://amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article3.html

August 1, 2005 Issue

The American Conservative

Deep Background
THIS IS A SPECIAL CONFIDENTIAL REPORT ON THE SECRET SPECIAL REPORT
DISCLOSED PUBLICLY ONLY ON THE NEWS SHEETS SUPERVISED BY CHENEY AND OTHERS
LIKE THE FBI, SSS, JJJ AND OTHER SECRET ORGANIZATIONS.

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around
the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same
for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President
***** Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command
(STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in
response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States.
The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both
conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more
than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected
nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are
hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by
conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq,
the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the
act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air
Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the
implications of what they are doing-that Iran is being set up for an
unprovoked nuclear attack-but no one is prepared to damage his career
by posing any objections.

* * *

A CIA internal review of the agency's performance prior to 9/11 is
harshly critical of former CIA Director George Tenet, former Director
of Operations James Pavitt, and the former chief of the
Counterterrorist Center, Cofer Black, for not doing everything possible
to confront terrorism. Pavitt, who was reluctant to take on risky
missions against bin Laden encouraged by the National Security Council
during the second term of President Bill Clinton, is particularly
criticized. The report, completed by CIA Inspector General John
Helgerson, is especially acerbic regarding the failure of the agency to
stop two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar,
as they entered the United States. Black did not share information on
the two men with the FBI agents assigned to the Counterterrorist Center
at the CIA and also turned down a request for a formal memorandum to be
sent to FBI Headquarters. The report will be finalized and given to
Congress after those criticized in it add their own comments. Pavitt,
as head of the Operations Directorate, has publicly accepted full
responsibility for the agency's failure, but Black has not
acknowledged any deficiencies in his performance. Tenet has not yet
responded.

* * *

There is increasing evidence that the Iraqi police forces, now under
Shi'ite control, are carrying out systematic revenge killings against
Sunnis in Baghdad. The bodies now showing up at the morgue have obvious
signs of handcuffing and blindfolding and evidence of being tortured
before death. U.S. sources indicate that the suspicious killings have
reached the rate of almost 700 per month. The police are supervised by
the Shi'ite-run Ministry of Interior, which claims that the killings
are being carried out by insurgents wearing stolen police uniforms. But
American intelligence sources disagree, noting that many of the killers
appear to be actual policemen carrying the expensive standard-issue
Glock automatics and driving official Toyota Land Cruisers.

_____________________________________________________



Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro
Associates.

http://amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article3.html

August 1, 2005 Issue

The American Conservative

Deep Background

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around
the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same
for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President
***** Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command
(STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in
response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States.
The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both
conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more
than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected
nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are
hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by
conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq,
the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the
act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air
Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the
implications of what they are doing-that Iran is being set up for an
unprovoked nuclear attack-but no one is prepared to damage his career
by posing any objections.

* * *

A CIA internal review of the agency's performance prior to 9/11 is
harshly critical of former CIA Director George Tenet, former Director
of Operations James Pavitt, and the former chief of the
Counterterrorist Center, Cofer Black, for not doing everything possible
to confront terrorism. Pavitt, who was reluctant to take on risky
missions against bin Laden encouraged by the National Security Council
during the second term of President Bill Clinton, is particularly
criticized. The report, completed by CIA Inspector General John
Helgerson, is especially acerbic regarding the failure of the agency to
stop two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar,
as they entered the United States. Black did not share information on
the two men with the FBI agents assigned to the Counterterrorist Center
at the CIA and also turned down a request for a formal memorandum to be
sent to FBI Headquarters. The report will be finalized and given to
Congress after those criticized in it add their own comments. Pavitt,
as head of the Operations Directorate, has publicly accepted full
responsibility for the agency's failure, but Black has not
acknowledged any deficiencies in his performance. Tenet has not yet
responded.

* * *

There is increasing evidence that the Iraqi police forces, now under
Shi'ite control, are carrying out systematic revenge killings against
Sunnis in Baghdad. The bodies now showing up at the morgue have obvious
signs of handcuffing and blindfolding and evidence of being tortured
before death. U.S. sources indicate that the suspicious killings have
reached the rate of almost 700 per month. The police are supervised by
the Shi'ite-run Ministry of Interior, which claims that the killings
are being carried out by insurgents wearing stolen police uniforms. But
American intelligence sources disagree, noting that many of the killers
appear to be actual policemen carrying the expensive standard-issue
Glock automatics and driving official Toyota Land Cruisers.

_____________________________________________________

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro
Associates.