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CQB0316
06-16-10, 06:23 PM
The United States has ordered a major escalation of clandestine military operations in Iran and other parts of the Middle East, according to a secret directive.

The classified order, approved last September, represents a significant escalation of the covert military activities ordered by George W Bush at the height of the War on Terror.

It also reveals that the Obama administration has embarked on a contingency plan for possible military action in Iran if the impasse over its nuclear programme is not resolved through diplomacy or international sanctions.

The seven-page directive was signed by Gen David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command. Widening the scope of previous such operations, it orders US special forces to launch intelligence gathering missions in both friendly and hostile nations across the Middle East.
Al-Qaeda and its growing international network of affiliates are clearly the main focus of the order, with special forces being instructed to "penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy" Islamic terror groups.
But the directive also permits reconnaissance to prepare the way for military strikes against Iran, according to officials quoted by The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/25military.html?hp), which first exposed the existence of a "Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force Executive Order".
The missions authorised for Iran are believed to include gathering intelligence its nuclear programme and establishing relationships with dissident groups who could play a role in a future military offensive.
In public at least, the United States and its allies remain committed to dealing with Iran's nuclear programme through peaceful mechanisms.
A US-backed draft resolution imposing new sanctions on Iran is expected to be presented to the UN's Security Council within a few weeks.
Yet even if the resolution is adopted, some Western officials and academics say they doubt whether sanctions will convince Iran to curtail its nuclear ambitions, leaving only the use of force as a last resort.
Gen Petraeus's directive, which would have had the blessings of the White House, suggests Barack Obama has deviated little in the military handling of the war on terror from his predecessor, George W Bush – despite concerns in Conservative quarters that he would prove a softer touch.
The order calls on small groups of special forces not just to disrupt terrorist activities but to "prepare the environment" for targeted assassinations of al-Qaeda operatives and military strikes against terrorist bases.
Since it was signed in September, the United States has already made its presence increasingly felt in countries where al-Qaeda affiliates have grown stronger.
The US military was involved in missile strikes on al-Qaeda positions in Yemen last December.
American special forces subsequently stepped up their presence in the country after a Nigerian man with links to extremist groups in Yemen tried to bring down an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives concealed in his underpants.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7764187/US-orders-escalation-in-secret-operations-in-Middle-East.html

Zulu 36
06-16-10, 08:10 PM
So much for clandestine if the UK media is writing about it.