Posted on 11/03/2006 12:34:25 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Last night, radio talk show host and former US Justice Department official Mark Levin shocked many listeners when he reported that President Bill Clinton gave nuclear technology to the Iranians in a harebrained scheme.
He said that the transfer of classified data to Iran was personally approved by then-President Clinton and that the CIA deliberately gave Iranian physicists blueprints for part of a nuclear bomb that likely helped Tehran advance its nuclear weapons development program.
The CIA, using a double-agent Russian scientist, handed a blueprint for a nuclear bomb to Iran, according to a new book "State of War" by James Risen, the New York Times reporter, who exposed the Bush administration's controversial NSA spying operation, claims the plans contained fatal flaws designed to derail Tehran's nuclear drive.
But the deliberate errors were so rudimentary they would have been easily fixed by sophisticated Russian nuclear scientists, the book said.
The operation, which took place during the Clinton administration in early 2000, was code named Operation Merlin and "may have been one of the most reckless operations in the modern history of the CIA," according to Risen.
It called for the unnamed scientist, a defector from the Soviet nuclear program, to offer Iran the blueprint for a "firing set" -- the intricate mechanism which triggers the chain reaction needed for a nuclear explosion.
He had been told by CIA officers that the Iranians already had the technology detailed in the plans and that the ruse was simply an attempt by the agency to find out the full scope of Tehran's nuclear knowledge.
But, contrary to orders not to open the packet, he added a note which made it clear he could help fix the flaws for money.
Risen states in his book, "It's not clear who originally came up with the idea, but the plan [to give Tehran nuclear blueprints] was first approved by Clinton."
This is just another chapter in the Bill Clinton saga of giving weapons technology to enemies of the United States. He's provided missile technology to the Chinese, which increased the accuracy of their ballistic missiles, and he provided nuclear technology to the North Koreans that eventually enabled them to develop nuclear weapons.
Risen said the Clinton-approved plan ended up handing Tehran "one of the greatest engineering secrets in the world, providing the solution to one of a handful of problems that separated nuclear powers such as the United States and Russia from rogue countries such as Iran that were desperate to join the nuclear club but had so far fallen short."
Mark Levin, director of the Landmark Legal Foundation, said that thanks to Clinton Iran was able to "leapfrog one of the last remaining engineering hurdles blocking its path to a nuclear weapon."
Ironically, Risen's New York Times has declined to cover Mr. Clinton's Iranian nuclear debacle -- concentrating instead on his book's dubious claims that the National Security Agency was first authorized to commence domestic wiretapping by President Bush, according to NewsMax and Levin.
NewsMax stated that Risen's report could also have a serious implications for Sen. Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Mrs. Clinton has been sharply critical of President Bush's handling of the Iranian nuclear crisis, complaining that a nuclear-armed Tehran would be a much more serious threat to the US than Iraq. However, NewsMax may be proven wrong about Sen. Clinton if the news media continue to ignore this story.
"Don't hold your breath waiting for the elite media to create a frenzy over this story. They will never hurt either Clintons with such a damning report," says former intelligence officer Sid Francis.
For some reason, I’m neither shocked nor surprised.
If you are a democrat president of the United States of America, you CANNOT be a traitor. If you have an R behind your name, everything you DO is illegal. Get it now?
BTW, he is only a "hero" to communists and perverts.
The hits just keep on coming out....as hard as the goon tries to hide his unbelievable treason...the more comes out...his legacy will be the most treasonous president of all time...and there just ain’t nothing he can do about it....hildabeast will remain and old hateful lesbian senator...am hoping the citizens of NY state will wake up and get rid of her...
Good point. However, I would imagine that if GHW Bush had been President when the CIA came up with this harebrained scheme, the former CIA Director might have had a second thought about it, and challenged the spooks a little more than Old Slick did.
But we do have to consider the past few years of verifiable evidence pointing to a less then effective CIA. A point is reached where a POTUS must decide if he believes the credibility of his Intel Agencies merit the risk of allowing certain things to be pulled off. We can go back in time and see quite a few royal screw ups by the CIA regardless of who was in the WH.
another fyi
It has happened already (the al Q attacks of 1990's, WTC & and the 3000+ US losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.) The legacy that just keeps on giving. But I know you're referring to a nuke attack. I think that's only a matter of time also. What a guy that Bubba.
Did you see this thread?
.
You need to correct the spelling of Reagan’s name in your tag line.
Whoops! This is from 5 years ago!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.