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COPYRIGHT 2008 Voxant, Inc.
Original Source: CNN NEWSROOM
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. commandos in Iran. A reporter says the White House is pushing the buttons on secret missions, and the consequences could be serious.
CNN Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is live in Washington now with more on this.
Hi there once again, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Heidi.
You know, it's not at all clear what the U.S. is doing in Iran, but one thing does seem certain, it seems that it's more than the U.S. government is publicly acknowledging.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The allegation that U.S. Special Ops commandos have been conducting covert operations into Iran through from southern Iraq drew a quick and unequivocal denial from the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad.
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I can tell you flatly that U.S. forces are not operating across the Iraqi border into Iran, in the south or anywhere else.
MCINTYRE: But investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, whose "New Yorker" magazine article claims the efforts are part of a $400 million covert campaign to destabilize Iran's government, argues the operations are so super secret, Ambassador Crocker may be out of the loop.
SEYMOUR HERSH, "NEW YORKER": He may not know the extent to which we're operating deeply with commandos, not so much with our Special Forces inside Iran. So it's possible, because he's not somebody -- he'll spin it, but he's not somebody who won't say something he doesn't believe.
MCINTYRE: It's not the first time Hersh has reported the U.S. has spies inside Iran. And senior Pentagon officials have hinted to CNN that CIA and other highly classified operations are conducted from time to time in the Islamic republic, but they have never confirmed it.
In a statement, the CIA said, "... as a rule, it does not comment on allegations regarding covert operations." But some members of Congress were not so quick to dismiss the idea of the U.S. working secretly in Iran to stop its meddling in Iraq.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: I think we should be doing whatever we can to let the Iranians know they can't continue this and not expect to us take some action against them on this basis.
MCINTYRE: Hersh says some of the U.S. forces in operating in Iran may be coming from the other border, Afghanistan. And he suggests their mission is in part to gather intelligence about Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, possibly to lay the groundwork for a military strike.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: The kind of operation that Pentagon officials just don't talk about, not even on the deepest background. The kind of information we do get, Heidi, comes from winks and nods and hints, and those indications are that the U.S. is involved in some way in Iran trying to support the forces that it believes might help destabilize the government there -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, thank you.
Paying for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this morning President Bush signed legislation that includes $162 billion to help pay for fighting both wars until the next president takes office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They volunteer to deploy in distant lands, far from their families, far from their homes, and far from comfort of America. And every day they risk their lives to defeat our adversaries and to keep our country safe. We owe these brave Americans our gratitude, we owe them our unflinching support, and the best way to demonstrate that support is to give them the resources they need do their jobs and to prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The bill also provides a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits, a doubling of the GI bill, and more than $2 billion in emergency flood relief for the Midwest.
Let's take a look at where the presidential candidates stand now on Iraq.
Democrat Barack Obama opposed the use of military force in Iraq. He voted for a war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March of this year. He supports a phased redeployment of U.S. combat troops at a pace of one or two brigades a month. He also opposed President Bush's plan to send additional troops to Iraq. Republican John McCain voted for the use of military force in Iraq and was an early proponent of sending additional American troops to Iraq. He also supported President Bush's veto of a war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March of this year.
The Iraq war five years and counting. This morning, President Bush signed that legislation paying for the war into early next year, when a new president takes over. It's a big focus driving a lot of our coverage today on CNN, with updates on the violence, the funding and the troops.
The Iraq war perhaps the most important foreign policy issue in the 2008 election. We want to hear from those of you directly affected by the war.
Tell us the most important thing the next president needs to know about the war. If you had the chance, what would you show the next president about the war? Share your stories and your photos at ireport.com/iraq.
Skyrocketing oil prices and supply worries on the agenda at the World Petroleum Conference in Spain this week. OPEC ministers meeting with major oil company officials. The focus, how to stabilize the market. The International Energy Agency will release it's oil market forecast tomorrow.
Record oil prices are feeling a runup at the gas pump. AAA reporting another record today. The average price for a gallon of regular now almost $4.09.
Senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi, now with some reasons behind the surge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oil was up about $140 when it closed to Friday, and then this morning it surged past $142, then past $143, up to $143.67. Now there was some news behind this, and that is that in Nigeria, there was an attack on a Shell Oil facility. After a few hours it was sort of learned that no oil would be -- you know, no production would be stopped, so oil was actually settled down a bit, but we're still above $142.
Nigeria is very important. It's a major oil producer in the world and, in fact, it is the fourth largest producer of oil or supplier of oil to the United States after Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. It's a much bigger supplier than Venezuela is.
We have some real issues...
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