Just when you thought Bush could do no more evil, it’s only getting worse. It has been reported yesterday in the New Yorker that Bush has done it again. But this time, he may be in a bit of real trouble if this story turns out to be true. Sy Hersh, an investigative reporter for the New Yorker has uncovered a clandestine operation that is funneling “secret” money to the Sunni jihadists (video w/ Blitzer and Hersh included after article)–you know the same ones with ties to Al Qaeda and the same ones killing US troops in Iraq. This, of course, is a covert operation that follows the same ugly undertones of the iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration. For those of you who may not remember the Iran-Contra scandal of the 80s, it basically went like this — Reagan’s men were selling arms to Iran to fund the anti-communist Contras of Nicaragua.

So, here we go again, except this time it’s Bush’s men diverting huge sums of money (possibly part of the unaccounted billions of dollars in cash shipped to Iraq) to the Sunni jihadists in Lebanon so that they can fight the enemy — the Shiites or Hezbollah - you know, the same Shiites we are backing in Iraq and the same Shiites we are trying to start a war with in Iran. And, it gets even more insane…

The report stresses the uneasiness and tension across the whole Middle East with Saudi Arabia particularly concerned. The report reveals that Cheney’s visit to Saudi Arabia secretly was about working with them in these covert operations to counter the increasing influence of Iran and the Shiites in the region. Here’s what it says:

The Saudis are driven by their fear that Iran could tilt the balance of power not only in the region but within their own country. Saudi Arabia has a significant Shiite minority in its Eastern Province, a region of major oil fields; sectarian tensions are high in the province. The royal family believes that Iranian operatives, working with local Shiites, have been behind many terrorist attacks inside the kingdom, according to Vali Nasr. “Today, the only army capable of containing Iran”—the Iraqi Army—“has been destroyed by the United States. You’re now dealing with an Iran that could be nuclear-capable and has a standing army of four hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.” (Saudi Arabia has seventy-five thousand troops in its standing army.)

Also, included in this highly destabilized region is a worried Israel who is reportedly working behind the scenes with Saudi Arabia — certainly strange bedfellows here. The only thing the Saudis are worried about is if the U.S. bombs the f#@k out of Iran, then they would be blamed. So, they would rather that Israel do it… what a mess, and Bush supporters think Bush is making the world safer (see image “hat tip” to Quintessential Ramblings)?

The report also reveals that John Negroponte’s decision to step down from his National Intelligence Directorship to become a Deputy Secretary of State was because he didn’t want to go along with Cheney’s highly questionable if not illegal plans. Here is what the report reveals:

The former senior intelligence official also told me that Negroponte did not want a repeat of his experience in the Reagan Administration, when he served as Ambassador to Honduras. “Negroponte said, ‘No way. I’m not going down that road again, with the N.S.C. running operations off the books, with no finding.’ ” (In the case of covert C.I.A. operations, the President must issue a written finding and inform Congress.)

The importance of this report is that this is evidence of a clandestine operation that has no Congressional control or oversight with money being spent without approval on recognized enemies of the U.S. This could be the one smoking gun that gets Bush impeached. In effect, what Bush is doing is having the U.S. fight enemies by secretly funding (future) natural enemies. The dangerous consequences are that the entire region is further destabilized (if that’s possible) and torn apart by increased sectarian violence and competition for dominance in the region. Could it get any worse? Probably…stayed tuned.

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