Weiner, Tim. "U.S.
Plan to Oust Iran's Government Is an Open Secret." New York Times,
26 Jan. 1996, A1, A5 (N).
As conceived by Speaker Gingrich, an $18 million CIA "covert" operation to "change the nature of the Government of Iran" is provided for in the FY 1996 intelligence authorization bill. Iran has announced plans to mount a $20 million counter-campaign.
Hersh, Seymour M. "Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration Steps Up Its Secret Moves against Iran." New Yorker, 7 Jul. 2008. [http://www.newyorker.com]
According to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources, Congress late last year "agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran." These operations, for which the President sought up to $400 million, "were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership.... Clandestine operations against Iran are not new." U.S. Special Operations Forces "have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year.... 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."
Joby Warrick, "U.S. Is Said to Expand Covert Operations in Iran: Plan Allows Up to $400 Million for Activities Aimed at Destabilizing Government," Washington Post, 30 Jun. 2008, A2, reports that Hersh's article "drew a sharp reaction from administration officials, who denied that U.S. forces were engaged in operations inside Iran."
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