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COPYRIGHT 2008 Voxant, Inc.
Original Source: CNN NEWSROOM
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Journalist Seymour Hersh says the U.S. is preparing the battlefield in Iran right now. He writes in "The New Yorker" magazine, an attack could happen before President Bush leaves Washington. The State Department is basically laughing it off.
Let's talk with senior defense correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, what is your take?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I can tell you, the Sy Hersh article in "The New York" magazine has been the talk of the Pentagon today. Mostly, what we have gotten is a lot of no comments and a few denials.
Here's a little bit of what Seymour Hersh said that the U.S. was doing not just to Iran, but in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEYMOUR HERSH, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE NEW YORKER": We sent in a special task force that operates out of Afghanistan into Iran. I did notice what Ambassador Crocker said about not cross-border. And I have a lot of respect for him and I don't want to challenge him. But the fact is we're inside, but not necessarily cross-border.
We have teams inside Iran. And these include a joint special operations force, our most elite commando unit. And basically they're guys that go after high-value targets around the world. They capture them or kill them. So it's a significant increase for American potential for damage inside Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: What Seymour Hersh is referring to is a denial from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, who told CNN that U.S. forces had not crossed into Iran from Iraq, not from southern Iraq, not from anywhere in Iraq.
But Seymour Hersh is saying that there are other teams and other places, like Afghanistan, that the U.S. is operating from that Ambassador Crocker may not be aware of.
That got a mocking response today from the State Department spokesman. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM CASEY, SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: After I stop laughing, I will try and address it for you.
Look, Ryan Crocker talked about this on -- in his appearance with CNN. I would refer you to his remarks. In terms of speculation about intelligence related issues, well, you can speculate with intelligence officials about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Casey went on to say that he was -- quote -- "sure that conspiracy-minded journalists knew more than the ambassador in the country."
And, again, regarding that very specific denial from Ambassador Crocker, he may be right, but I have to tell you, Kyra, that we have gotten a few hints, winks, nods, nudges, you know, eyebrows raised that -- that tells us that something is going on inside Iran regarding U.S. forces, but it's something that's so secret, so classified that nobody here is really authorized to talk about the kind of operations that are going on.
They are apparently, though, aimed at destabilizing and undermining the Iranian regime. We have no idea how effective they might be -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, we will keep following it.
And, Jamie, I had a chance earlier to talk about the Hersh report with our military analyst retired Army Brigadier General David Grange. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And we should make the point that covert operations doesn't mean preparation for war or that the U.S. will engage in an open war with Iran.
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You're exactly right. It could be for other reasons. It could be to get some type of effect that's necessary before a negotiation, to give people the opportunity to do something within a country, whatever the case may be, not necessarily for war. That is correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And you can expect more on this story at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Another thick report on the war in Iraq says high-level failures led things astray from the very beginning.
Now, the study released today by the RAND Corporation cites failures to challenge rosy prewar assumptions, bureaucratic bungling, and a lack of adequate power to destabilize -- or to stabilize, I should say, the country at the end of major combat.
Now, the RAND report has done for the Army, which released an internal review over the weekend. Among the errors, the Army lists a lack of necessary troop strength, a dissolution of Iraq's armed forces, and a change in the chain of command that blindsided the military leadership and hampered combat efforts during the rise of Iraq's insurgency.
At the White House today, President Bush signed legislation providing $162 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress finished voting on the bill on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 to do their jobs and to prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the funding bill the president signed puts the official total for the war in Iraq at more than $650 billion.
A little bit later on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, I-Reports on Iraq, and a Baghdad bomb squad cooling its heels. Its workload is now down.
Now let's take a look at where the presidential candidates stand 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 opponent -- 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 from Iraq by March of this year.
PHILLIPS: Leading our Political Ticker: controversy on the campaign trail. Retired General Wesley Clark is drawing fire for some comments about...
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