The Redirection

Sy Hersh with a bombshell report. (Truthout)

In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated,
the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations,
has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The "redirection," as some
inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United
States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region,
propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni
Muslims.


Martin Indyk, a senior State Department official in the Clinton
Administration who also served as Ambassador to Israel, said that "the Middle
East is heading into a serious Sunni-Shiite Cold War." Indyk, who is the
director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings
Institution, added that, in his opinion, it was not clear whether the White
House was fully aware of the strategic implications of its new policy. "The
White House is not just doubling the bet in Iraq," he said. "It's doubling the
bet across the region. This could get very complicated. Everything is upside
down."

Flynt Leverett, a former Bush Administration National Security Council
official, told me that "there is nothing coincidental or ironic" about the new
strategy with regard to Iraq. "The Administration is trying to make a case that
Iran is more dangerous and more provocative than the Sunni insurgents to
American interests in Iraq, when - if you look at the actual casualty numbers -
the punishment inflicted on America by the Sunnis is greater by an order of
magnitude," Leverett said. "This is all part of the campaign of provocative
steps to increase the pressure on Iran. The idea is that at some point the
Iranians will respond and then the Administration will have an open door to
strike at them."

C&L has video of a Hersh interview.