[Anyone] bushco supports terroists:

[Thos Myers]

Hersh: Bush Funneling Money to al Qaeda-Related Groups
ThinkProgress.com

Sunday 25 February 2007

New Yorker columnist Sy Hersh says the "single most explosive" element of
his latest article involves an effort by the Bush administration to stem
the growth of Shiite influence in the Middle East (specifically the
Iranian government and Hezbollah in Lebanon) by funding violent Sunni
groups.

Hersh says the U.S. has been "pumping money, a great deal of money,
without congressional authority, without any congressional oversight" for
covert operations in the Middle East where it wants to "stop the Shiite
spread or the Shiite influence." Hersh says these funds have ended up in
the hands of "three Sunni jihadist groups" who are "connected to al Qaeda"
but "want to take on Hezbollah."

Hersh summed up his scoop in stark terms: "We are simply in a situation
where this president is really taking his notion of executive privilege to
the absolute limit here, running covert operations, using money that was
not authorized by Congress, supporting groups indirectly that are involved
with the same people that did 9/11." Watch it:

Hersh added, "All of this should be investigated by Congress, by the way,
and I trust it will be. In my talking to membership - members there, they
are very upset that they know nothing about this. And they have great many
suspicions."

Transcript:

Blitzer: Near the end of your article, you have this explosive point in
there about John Negroponte, who is now going to be the deputy secretary
of state, as opposed to the head of U.S. intelligence.

 You write this: "I was subsequently told by the two government
consultants and the former senior intelligence officials that the echoes
of Iran-Contra were a factor in Negroponte's decision to resign from the
National Intelligence directorship and accept the position of deputy
secretary of state."

 Explain what you were hearing, because that is obviously a very explosive
charge.

Hersh: Yes. It is probably the single most explosive, if you will, or
depressing - or distressing sort of thing I discovered in the last few
months, which is simply this. This administration has made a policy
change, a decision that they are going to put all of the pressure they can
on the Shiites, that is the Shiite regime in Iran, the Shiite - and they
are also doing everything they can to stop Hezbollah - which is Shiite,
the Hezbollah organization from getting any control or any more of a
political foothold in Lebanon.

So they essentially, I quote the - I saw Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah,
and he described it this way, as "fitna (ph)," the Arab word for "civil
war." As far as he is concerned, we are interested in recreating what is
happening in Iraq in Lebanon, that is Sunni versus Shia. And in looking
into that story, and I saw him in December, I found this. That we have
been pumping money, a great deal of money, without congressional
authority, without any congressional oversight, Prince Bandar of Saudi
Arabia is putting up some of this money, for covert operations in many
areas of the Middle East where we think that the - we want to stop the
Shiite spread or the Shiite influence.

They call it the "Shiite Crescent." And a lot of this money, and I can't
tell you with absolute certainty how - exactly when and how, but this
money has gotten into the hands - among other places, in Lebanon, into the
hands of three - at least three jihadist groups. There are three Sunni
jihadist groups whose main claim to fame inside Lebanon right now is that
they are very tough. These are people connected to al Qaeda who want to
take on Hezbollah. So this government, at the minimum, we may not directly
be funneling money to them, but we certainly know that these groups exist.

My government, which arrests al Qaeda every place it can find them and
send - some of them are n Guantanamo and other places, is sitting back
while the Lebanese government we support, the government of Prime Minister
Siniora, is providing arms and sustenance to three jihadist groups whose
sole function, seems to me and to the people that talk to me in our
government, to be there in case there is a real shoot-'em-up with
Hezbollah and we really get into some sort of serious major conflict
between the Sunni government and Hezbollah, which is largely Shia, who are
basically - or as you know, there is a coalition headed by Hezbollah that
is challenging the government right now, demonstrations, sit-ins.

There has been some violence. So America, my country, without telling
Congress, using funds not appropriated, I don't know where, by my sources
believe much of the money obviously came from Iraq where there is all
kinds of piles of loose money, pools of cash that could be used for covert
operations.

All of this should be investigated by Congress, by the way, and I trust it
will be. In my talking to membership - members there, they are very upset
that they know nothing about this. And they have great many suspicions.

We are simply in a situation where this president is really taking his
notion of executive privilege to the absolute limit here, running covert
operations, using money that was not authorized by Congress, supporting
groups indirectly that are involved with the same people that did 9/11,
and we should be arresting these people rather than looking the other
way...

Blitzer: And your bottom line, Sy...

Hersh: ... and could lead to a real mess...

Blitzer: Your bottom line is that Negroponte was aware of this, obviously,
and he wanted to distance himself from it? That is why he decided to give
up that position and take the number two job at the State Department?

Hersh: He - that is one of the reasons, I was told. Negroponte also was
not in tune with Cheney. There was a lot of complaints about him because
he was seen as much of a stickler, too ethical for some of the operations
the Pentagon wants to run.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022607A.shtml