Tight Coordination between Tel-Aviv and Washington

Seymour Hersch has assembled proof that the attack on Lebanon was planned in collaboration with the White House. "Earlier this summer, before the Hezbollah kidnappings, the U.S. government consultant said, several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, ’to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear.’ The consultant added, ’Israel began with Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of his office and the Middle East desk of the National Security Council.’ After that, ’persuading Bush was never a problem, and Condi Rice was on board,’ the consultant said."

Seymour Hersch thus relates, in a long article published in the New Yorker dated 14 August, his conversations with Mossad agents (Israeli military secret agents), with agents of the CIA, and of the departments concerned (Defense, State) to establish with what objective the White House had given a green light to the Israeli government to launch its bombers against Lebanon.

Seymour Hersch is known for his revelations obtained from espionnage circles. It was he who made known the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1969. Two years ago, he revealed the systematic torture practiced by the American army in the Iraq prison Abou Ghraib. Last April, he revealed that a plan of attack against Iran, involving the use of nuclear weapons, had been put together with Israel’s cooperation. See l’Humanité of April 15 : Bush prepares for war against Iran, a translation of Bush prêt à la guerre en Iran, and US Threats Against Iran : A Strategy Elaborated Months Ago, a translation of Une stratégie élaborée depuis des mois, and also the editorial Bras de fer nucléaire.

The exchange of information between Israel and the United States exists already for such a long time that it has become "routine", says one of his informants. A Pentagon consultant notes that the frontier incidents were a frequent occurrence on both sides. "The Hezbollah attacked every two or three months".

An expert on international questions confides that "while the State Department thought that such an operation would reinforce the Lebanese government, the White House had its eyes on the Hezbollah missiles, because if they intend to maintain a military option against the iranian nuclear installations, they will have to eliminate the arms that the Hezbollah can use in reprisal. Bush wanted both.

"This last spring", a military affairs specialist makes clear, "the commanders of the two air forces prepared, under pressure from the White House, a war plan to strike the nuclear installation in Iran. Lebanon was a laboratory experiment for the extension of the war to the Middle East."

This version of the facts was disclaimed, as was the case with previous revelations, by the White House.

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