Bush gives secret order for covert war with Iran

Intelligence officials leaked to the Blotter that President Bush has given a classified order to the CIA allowing them to wage covert war in Iran:

The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert"black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current andformer officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter onABCNews.com.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of thesensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a"nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan thatreportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda,disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and internationalfinancial transactions.

This is analogous to the 2002 order that Bush gave the CIA prior to the official start of war in Iraq.

For the last four years, Ahmadinejad has used the U.S. war in Iraq as means to create a nationalist reaction in Iran.  Doing that has distracted public attention away from the Iranian economy, which is in shambles.  In fact, earlier today the Iranian government raised the price of gasoline in their country by 25% -- one of the largest state-sponsored gasoline increases since petroleum was discovered in mass.  The Iranian public is angry, to put it mildly.  What better way to divert attention away from those economic issues than by scaring the Iranian public into thinking that the U.S. is going to attack?  This CIA order is a blessing in disguise for president Ahmadinejad because it gives him yet another excuse to consolidate power and purge his government of dissent.