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 XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUNDAY DEC 16 2001 9:21:59 ET XXXXX MAG: USA DEBATES NEW WAR PLAN FOR IRAQ, TROOPS; POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION OF IRAN Here he comes again! The NEW YORKER is set to unleash a new report by controversial spook J-man Seymour M. Hersh, publishing sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. Headlined "The Iraq Hawks," Hersh drops details of a new war plan for Iraq which is "now at the center of a furious debate in Washington." MORE Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress have "given the Bush Administration an updated war plan, which calls not only for bombing but for the deployment of thousands of American Special Forces troops," Hersh writes. Hersh's expose is set for December 24 & 31 editions of the magazine. There is "a second significant addition to the plan: the participation of Iran," which has agreed to permit opposition forces and their military equip ment to cross the Iranian border into southern Iraq. The Iraqi National Congress has, with American approval, opened an office in Teheran. "America's success in routing the Taliban has improved Chalabi's standing with some elements of Washington's defense community," Hersh writes. One defense analyst tells Hersh, "They believe they have found the perfect model, and it works. The model is bombing, a modest insertion of Special Forces, plus an uprising." The debate within the Bush Administration over what to do about Iraq has been sharp and personal, Hersh reports. Pentagon officials "are at odds with the State Department," in particular with Richard Ar- mitage, who signed a 1998 open letter to President Clinton that advocated American support for Iraqi insurgents but who "has now become, in private, an opponent of the revised Chalabi plan," Hersh reports. Stephen Solarz, the former New York congressman who helped draft the 1998 letter, says, "September 11th changed the whole equation. Before then, an argument could be made that deterrence worked." But many within the Administration are skeptical of Chalabi and his supporters. One senior Administration official tells Hersh that the Administration has no intention of allowing "a bunch of half-assed people to send foreigners into combat." Referring to Chalabi and his supporters in and out of government, the official asks, "Who among them has ever smelled cordite? These are pissants who can't get the President's ear and have to blame someone else. We're not going to let them lead others down the garden path." One former high-level intelligence official explains the pro-Chalabi group this way: "It's the revenge of the nerds....They won in Afghanistan when everybody said it wouldn't work, and it's got them in a euphoric mood of cockiness." The new Hersh streets on Monday. Developing... ----------------------------------------------------------- Filed by Matt Drudge Reports are moved when circumstances warrant http://www.drudgereport.com for updates (c)DRUDGE REPORT 2001 Not for reproduction without permission of the author |
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