Exclusive: The CIA’s “Operation Merlin,” which involved providing Iran with a flawed design for a nuclear weapon and resulted in an alleged whistleblower going to prison, was the perfect example of creating intelligence in order to justify operations, reports Gareth Porter.
Tag: Operation Merlin
Planting False Evidence on Iran
Prior to the U.S. intelligence community’s 2007 assessment that Iran was not working on a nuclear weapons program, there was a scramble among U.S. and Israeli officials to show that it was. The CIA’s Operation Merlin also revealed that U.S.…
A Leak Case Based on Fear and Guesses
The U.S. government based its leak case against ex-CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling on little more than circumstantial evidence that he had spoken to reporter James Risen though it was unclear about what and lots of fear-mongering about Iran and nukes,…
CIA Found No Magic in Operation Merlin
The espionage trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling has focused less on evidence that he leaked secrets about “Operation Merlin,” a CIA scheme to slip flawed nuclear designs to Iran, than on the merits of the unsuccessful covert op which…
CIA Wants Its Reputation Back
The CIA doesn’t like to be portrayed as the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, so it has been using the leak trial of ex-CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling to insist that it really can shoot straight and indeed is brilliantly protecting…