Homeland Security Leader » Iran

Dangerous and Getting More Dangerous: The Delicate Situation between the United States and Iran by Sam Gardiner, Colonel, USAF (Ret.),

Michael Ostrolenk — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:59:32 +0000

Reluctant in its waning months to launch a full-frontal assault on Iran but convinced of its leaders’ incorrigibility, the Bush administration has advanced, and its allies in Congress have proposed, a variety of escalating pressures against the Islamic republic. Among them, argues Col. Sam Gardiner in a new paper for The Century Foundation, are covert operations through proxy groups inside Iran. How well matched are U.S. goals to the various means planned or in place? And how do these new pressures expand or limit the choices of new leaders taking office in Washington—and perhaps Tehran—in winter and spring 2009.

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FBI Agent Missing In Iran

HSLEADER — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:56:24 +0000

From FBI Release

FBI Seeking Information about Missing Retired Special Agent Robert Levinson

Retired FBI Special Agent Robert Levinson has been missing since March 2007 and is believed to be in Iran. As Mr. Levinson is a retired Special Agent, the FBI has an interest in his disappearance. Through the FBI’s legal attaché offices worldwide, the FBI is working with the Department of State to gather information regarding his safety and whereabouts.

The FBI has obtained information that Mr. Levinson arrived on Iran’s Kish Island on March 8, 2007, had several meetings at the Maryam Hotel, and then checked out the next day. However, Mr. Levinson did not fly to Dubai on a previously scheduled flight. There is no record of Mr. Levinson leaving Kish Island. Nor is there any record of Mr. Levinson using his passport or credit cards after March 9, 2007.

“This is a matter of great concern for the FBI. Bob had a long and distinguished FBI career, and he has a wife, four daughters, three sons, one grandchild, and another on the way, all awaiting his return. Plain and simple, our goal is to bring Bob home to his family,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr., Washington Field Office.

Anyone with information about Mr. Levinson’s disappearance should contact their local FBI field office, or if outside the U.S., the legal attaché at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit information on the web at www.fbi.gov.

Ten Reasons Why Conservatives Should Oppose War with Iran

Michael Ostrolenk — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:52:23 +0000

One … Conservatives believe that war is a “last option” that should only be initiated when there is a direct and imminent threat to the United States. Iran does not currently pose such a threat.

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PREPARING THE BATTLEFIELD:The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.

Michael Ostrolenk — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:56:45 +0000

From New Yorker by Seymour M. Hersh

L ate last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations.

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America Already In Covert War Against Iran

HSLEADER — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:15:15 +0000

From TheNewYorker.com, by Seymour M. Hersh

Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.

Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed. But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature.

Under federal law, a Presidential Finding, which is highly classified, must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees—the so-called Gang of Eight. Money for the operation can then be reprogrammed from previous appropriations, as needed, by the relevant congressional committees, which also can be briefed.

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