A few words about Seymour Hersh seem called for. He has what may courteously be called a mixed record as a reporter. On one hand, there is My Lai and Abu Ghraib. On the other hand, there is… well, almost everything else. I do not take his work, too, too seriously when it cannot be replicated by other reporters. Especially when it comes to Iran.

Covert operations of some variety involving Iran are not too difficult to imagine. But covert operations running to “hundreds of millions of dollars”? That’s very hard to imagine.

Now, as for the second comment above. Even Hersh does not go so far:

In recent months, according to the Iranian media, there has been a surge in violence in Iran; it is impossible at this early stage, however, to credit JSOC or C.I.A. activities, or to assess their impact on the Iranian leadership.

In truth, separatist and/or terrorist violence have been a problem in Iran going back to the early days of the revolution and beyond. It’s in the clear interest of IRI officials to lay the blame at the doorstep of the U.S., but there’s no good reason for anyone else to believe it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090529/wl_afp/iranmosqueblastus_20090529074059

Iran official says mosque bombers hired by US

“The suicide attack during Thursday evening prayers at the Shiite Amir al-Momenin mosque in Zahedan, the restive capital of Sistan-Baluchistan, killed 23 people and wounded 125 others, Iranian officials said.”

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh
Preparing the Battlefield
The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.