Don’t Bomb Iran

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060104/pl_afp/usirannuclearcia

CIA gave Iran nuclear design in botched plot : new book

Wed Jan 4, 4:26 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The
CIA, using a double-agent Russian scientist, may have handed a
blueprint for a nuclear bomb to
Iran, according to a new book which has ruffled the US national
security establishment.

“State of War” by James Risen, the New York Times reporter who
exposed the Bush administration’s controversial domestic 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.

According to Risen’s book, the agent, posing as a greedy Russian
scientist keen to steel secrets, delivered to plans as instructed by the
CIA to Iran’s mission to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

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.

The CIA declined to comment in detail on the book’s claims on Iran –
but issued a vigorous condemnation of Risen’s work and methods.

“Readers deserve to know that every chapter of State of War contains
serious inaccuracies,” said Jennifer Millerwise, CIA Director of Public
Affairs.

“The author’s reliance on anonymous sources begs the reader to trust
that these are knowledgeable people. As this book demonstrates,
anonymous sources are often unreliable.

“It is most alarming that the author discloses information that he
believes to be ongoing intelligence operations, including actions as
critical as stopping dangerous nations from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“Setting aside whether what he wrote is accurate or inaccurate, it
demonstrates an unfathomable and sad disregard for US national
security and those who take life-threatening risks to ensure it.”

In the same chapter, Risen also claimed that a CIA officer once
mistakenly sent a message to an agent, who turned out to be a
turncoat, in Iran exposing the US spy network in the country.