Mossad spies posed as American agents in order to recruit terrorists to kill Iranian scientists...

[shaayecanaan]

Quite a story, really:-

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/13/false_flag

Buried deep in the archives of America's intelligence services are a series of memos, written during the last years of President George W. Bush's administration, that describe how Israeli Mossad officers recruited operatives belonging to the terrorist group Jundallah by passing themselves off as American agents. According to two U.S. intelligence officials, the Israelis, flush with American dollars and toting U.S. passports, posed as CIA officers in recruiting Jundallah operatives -- what is commonly referred to as a "false flag" operation.

The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization. Jundallah, according to the U.S. government and published reports, is responsible for assassinating Iranian government officials and killing Iranian women and children.

In short:-

a) Mossad spies posed as the CIA during the years of the Bush administration in order to recruit members of the al-Qaida linked terrorist group Jundallah, presumably on the basis that no self-respecting Islamic terrorist would ever take orders from Israel;

b) the Mossad apparently made fradulent misuse of American passports in order to do so and;

c) quite openly, apparently - Pakistan was quite peeved at the US in particular for apparently sponsoring the group;

d) further, Jundallah are quite an unsavoury bunch of characters - suicide bombings, killing women and children and so forth;

e) while Bush was apparently furious, Israel was indifferent to the American reaction, figuring (probably accurately) that it would not serve the political interests of any US leader to get into a serious stoush with Israel;

f) it was only when Obama took office that action was taken, in particular by drastically revising intelligence cooperation with the Israelis.

Well worth a read, basically.

[Scurrilous]

1. K & R

[Cali_Democrat]

2. K&R

Important information.

[azurnoir]

3. K&R

the article does give some light as to why the current Israeli government so dislikes Obama

[shira]

4. Israeli official: Report of Mossad agents posing as CIA spies 'absolute nonsense'

A senior Israeli government official has called "absolute nonsense" a Friday report in Foreign Policy that Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran.

Quoting U.S. intelligence memos, Foreign Policy's Mark Perry reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the U.S. government, and infuriated then U.S. President George W. Bush.


Perry quoted a number of American intelligence officials and claimed that the Mossad agents used American dollars and U.S. passports to pose as CIA spies to try to recruit members of Jundallah, a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization that has carried out a series of attacks in Iran and assassinations of government officials.

Israel generally refrains for responding to reports on alleged Mossad activities. However, in the wake of Perry's report as well as the official U.S. condemnation of the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran earlier this week, Israeli officials were quick to issue a complete denial of the report.

The concern was that leaving Perry's report without a response would revive tensions that existed between the U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities following the Jonathan Pollard affair in the 1980s. Pollard was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison after being convicted of spying for Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-official-report-of-mossad-agents-posing-as-cia-spies-absolute-nonsense-1.407285

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Israeli officials have about as much credibility as Iranian officials

Maybe even less.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. Because if it were true they would be expected to admit it.

[shaayecanaan]

7. Interesting article...

'The concern was that leaving Perry's report without a response would revive tensions that existed between the U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities following the Jonathan Pollard affair in the 1980s. Pollard was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison after being convicted of spying for Israel.'

As I recall, Israel denied that Pollard ever spied for them either - for more than ten years, in fact. I don't know if that did anything to reduce tensions between the CIA and Israel - perhaps another strategy is in order.

[shira]

8. Ex-Arafat Advisor Mark Perry and the 'False Flag' Story

Mark Perry, the former advisor for Yasir Arafat and an advocate of U.S. engagement with Hamas and Hezbollah whose interpretation of General David Petraus' statements concerning U.S.-Israeli relations were discredited by Petraus himself, is at it again. Ha'aretz reports:

A senior Israeli government official rushed to denounce a report Friday which alleged Mossad agents had posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistan-based terror group to commit assassinations and attacks in Iran.

The Israeli official called the Foreign Policy article "absolute nonsense." Quoting U.S. intelligence memos, journalist Mark Perry's story reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the U.S. government and infuriated then U.S. President George W. Bush.

Ha'aretz's description of Perry, the former advisor to Arafat whose foray into the Petraus affair was discredited, as simply a "journalist" is as unconscionable as Ynet referring to anti-Israel activist Richard Silverstein as simply a "U.S. blogger." (And Ynet was back in the act on this last week.)

http://blog.camera.org/archives/2012/01/exarafat_advisor_mark_perry_sp.html

[shaayecanaan]

9. richard silverstein has a good article on the topic

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/14/israeli-intelligence-source-denies-jundallah-false-flag-story/

Exactly how does advocating US engagement with Hezbollah make someone less credible? I myself am in favour of US engagement with North Korea. That doesn't mean that I support north korea or any given action that they take. Even by the usual standards of hasbarado oppo, this is pathetic.

[shira]

10. Silverstein doesn't mention the bogus story Perry wrote about Petraeus

Mark Perry, the former advisor for Yasir Arafat and an advocate of U.S. engagement with Hamas and Hezbollah whose interpretation of General David Petraus' statements concerning U.S.-Israeli relations were discredited by Petraus himself, is at it again.

The above makes Perry less credible.

It's not just being an advisor to Arafat or Hezbollah, but also partaking in the demonization/defamation campaign. I suspect you'd take issue with a former advisor of Meir Kahane writing defamatory crap about the Palestinians. Such a person would be a Kahanist in your view, right?

[shaayecanaan]

11. Speaking of defamation...

he was never an advisor to Hezbollah. He was an informal adviser to the PLO, after they had pledged to enter into talks with Israel. As such your comparison to Meir Kahane is ludicrous.

[shira]

12. You're right, he wasn't an advisor to Hezbollah. My bad...

Of course, that wasn't intentional. It was sloppy on my part.

OTOH, there's Perry who deliberately fabricates malicious lies against Israel while being a propagandist for terror organizations. No better than a Kahane apologist.

[shaayecanaan]

13. So you do not believe that the memoranda referred to in the article exist?

Presumably that is what you mean when you contend that the article is a "malicious lie"?