Bush Authorizes Secret CIA Action in Lebanon
President Bush has authorized the CIA to take covert action in Lebanon against Hezbollah, according to a secret presidential finding obtained by The Daily Telegraph. As part of the policy, the CIA and other intelligence groups will subvert Hezbollah's influence by funding activists who are supportive of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government. (h/t: Largest Minority)President Bush has authorized the CIA to take covert action in Lebanon against Hezbollah, according to a secret presidential finding obtained by The Daily Telegraph. As part of the policy, the CIA and other intelligence groups will subvert Hezbollah’s influence by funding activists who are supportive of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government.
Telegraph:
The Central Intelligence Agency has been authorised to take covert action against Hizbollah as part of a secret plan by President George W. Bush to help the Lebanese government prevent the spread of Iranian influence. Senators and congressmen have been briefed on the classified “non-lethal presidential finding” that allows the CIA to provide financial and logistical support to the prime minister, Fouad Siniora.
The finding was signed by Mr Bush before Christmas after discussions between his aides and Saudi Arabian officials. Details of its existence, known only to a small circle of White House officials, intelligence officials and members of Congress, have been passed to The Daily Telegraph.
It authorises the CIA and other US intelligence agencies to fund anti-Hizbollah groups in Lebanon and pay for activists who support the Siniora government. The secrecy of the finding means that US involvement in the activities is officially deniable.
The Bush administration hopes Mr Siniora’s government, severely weakened after its war with Israel last year, will become a bulwark against the growing power of the Shia sect of Islam, championed by Iran and Syria, since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
TD Interview
The director of “JFK” on the Kennedy cover-up, why he was killed, and what the country—and the world—suffered as a result.
Ear to the Ground
Reports of rampant sexual abuse pile up at Langley headquarters.
TD Interview
How Kissinger and the CIA bolstered the regime of Augusto Pinochet for years—until they couldn’t.
TD Original
A comprehensive review of the U.S. role in the 1973 coup of Salvador Allende and its aftermath.
A closer look at the Trump administration's agreement with the Taliban reveals all the president's concerned with is bragging rights.
In a new episode of "On Contact," the Truthdig columnist argues that Britain and the U.S. are "mocking the very concept of the rule of law."
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.