Tuesday, May 25, 2010

US Expands Special Operations in Iran – New York Times

A report published by The New York Times today indicates that the US military has expanded special operations in the Mideast region, including inside Iran. The Times reports that the Special Operations troops in Iran are to gather intelligence and conduct reconnaissance for possible future military strike if tensions over the country’s nuclear program escalate.

“The Defense Department can’t be caught flat-footed,” a Pentagon official told the Times, justifying the Special Ops inside Iran.

The directive authorizing specific operations in Iran, the Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force Execute Order, was signed by CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus last September, the Times reports.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The three "hikers" enjoying Iranian hospitality currently were more likely part of this scenario, testing soft spots on the Iranian frontier. PJAK, MKO and the now largely castrated Jundollah are part of this strategy as well.

Covert ops against Iran have been going on since 1979 and escalated after the Iraq invasion as Seymour Hersch has pointed out in the New Yorker on many occassions. The US like all dying empires will just keep on escalating its wars and progression towards eventual collapse.

Mark Pyruz said...

“The Defense Department can’t be caught flat-footed,” a Pentagon official told the Times, justifying the Special Ops inside Iran.

This is precisely what IRGC General Jafari and VEVAK have been warning against for some time now, particularly in reference to the potential threat of "opposition groups" as identified by General Petraeus in this military order. So it looks as though Iran itself hasn't been caught "flat-footed", now that this American military policy is out in the open and the Iranian security countermeasures justified.

Anonymous said...

The order is focused on gathering intelligence in the target countries "by American troops, foreign businesspeople, academics or others" and forge "persistent situational awareness," the Times said citing the document.

While the directive echoes moves by the administration of former president George W. Bush to expand security military operations outside of warzones, the new directive is designed to be a more longterm approach, according to the daily.

The expansion in clandestine operations may strain US ties with allies in the region such as Washington-friendly governments in Saudi Arabia or Yemen, Pentagon officials warn, said the Times.

The daily also noted activities under the Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force Execute Order, as the military directive is named, does not need as much oversight -- such as White House approval for operations, and reporting to Congress -- as required with activities undertaken by the CIA.

Such ventures under the order are meant to be for activities that "cannot or will not be accomplished" by the regular military apparatus or other US spy agencies, officials told the Times, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Anonymous said...

This is why Iran should have a zero tolerance policy on groups like pjak,mko and jundollah.

Anonymous said...

its just BS coming from a frustrated General, lost in a strange country...

Irans and the US special teams have been fighting each others interests for a decade now...and in 10 years from now the US shall retreat with no gains at all.



Bless Iran

Schmedlap said...

The NY Times story doesn't make sense. The approval authority for such an action is not that of the CENTCOM commander. If Petraeus signed such an order, it was merely the implementation of an order handed down to him. Odd that the paper would characterize it as a Petraeus initiative.

Oh, and for the conspiracy theorists who showed up - Iran opted to hang the brother of the Jundallah leader, so I guess "our Special Operations" in Iran just took a hit?

Anonymous said...

Rigi the US sponsored Jundollah "leader" is singing like a canary and has been a great bonanza for Iranian intelligence and COIN forces. The US really has very few options left in the region as it being bled to death in both Iraq and Af-Pak. The situation in Afghanistan is about to get much worse for the occupation forces as the resistance is now spreading amongst all three major ethnic groups; Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. Pakistan itself today is perhaps the most anti-American country in the whole world thanks to daily US drone attacks and destabilization. US days in the region are surely numbered. Iran has been around for 3000 years and will remain so till eternity while the commuter foreign invaders will be long relegated to the dustbin of history from the Greeks to Mongols. The US is merely 200 years old a blip on the Iranian horizon.

Anonymous said...

Teams of American special forces have been authorised to conduct spying missions intended to pave the way for a military strike on Iran in case President Obama orders one, US government sources have confirmed.

The military units would penetrate Iranian territory to reconnoitre potential nuclear targets and make contact with friendly dissident groups, according to a secret directive written by General David Petraeus. The document’s existence was disclosed for the first time yesterday.

It authorises an expansion in the use of US special forces throughout the Middle East, US officials said. However, it is the possibility of American troops operating covertly inside Iran that has the greatest potential to destabilise regional security.

General Petraeus, the most senior American commander in the Middle East and Central Asia, relied on special forces to ensure the success of the US troop surge in Iraq in 2007. His order to increase the use of Delta Force, Navy Seal and Army Ranger units for intelligence gathering and combat missions could jeopardise US relations with allies in the region while intensifying a long-running turf war between US military intelligence and the CIA.

Anonymous said...

Think for a minute that the New York Times a pro Zionist and Likud newspaper would print something truthful as this. This is a con to get the authorities to be more draconian as it is!

Anonymous said...

its 1- a disinformation.. and 2 special operation this..(guess what i am holding)

Anonymous said...

to last anon

AAAAAMIN

Anonymous said...

Well remember what happened in Tabas in the rescue of American hostages. That did not go very far. Besides the operation being aborted, Iranian security forces arrested loads of these so called special operatives in Iran. That was when Iran was in turmoil. They have had thirty years to put their plans in Iran and obviously they have not gone far!