CIA MERLIN Operation disaster – CIA gave Iran the plans for a nuclear bomb triggering device

This is actually breaking news but I chose to put it here because of the limitations with the breaking news forum. This is new information - the author has been subpoenaed for May 4th (this Tuesday). According to the author this happened in 2000.

U.S. Subpoenas Times Reporter Over Book on C.I.A.

The author, James Risen, who is a reporter for The New York Times, received a subpoena on Monday requiring him to provide documents and to testify May 4 before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., about his sources for a chapter of his book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration.” The chapter largely focuses on problems with a covert C.I.A. effort to disrupt alleged Iranian nuclear weapons research.

The book describes how the agency sent a Russian nuclear scientist — who had defected to the United States and was secretly working for the C.I.A. — to Vienna in February 2000 to give plans for a nuclear bomb triggering device to an Iranian official under the pretext that he would provide further assistance in exchange for money. The C.I.A. had hidden a technical flaw in the designs.

The scientist immediately spotted the flaw, Mr. Risen reported. Nevertheless, the agency proceeded with the operation, so the scientist decided on his own to alert the Iranians that there was a problem in the designs, thinking they would not take him seriously otherwise.

Mr. Risen described the operation as reckless, arguing that Iranian scientists may have been able to “extract valuable information from the blueprints while ignoring the flaws.” He also wrote that a C.I.A. case officer, believing that the agency had “assisted the Iranians in joining the nuclear club,” told a Congressional intelligence committee about the problems, but that no action was taken.

However, it went terribly wrong and the CIA was left with absolutely NO operatives in Iran. Chapter 9 (the only chapter they want sources for) is published on Cryptome website. From it (you can read the rest at the their website):

CIA Operation MERLIN Disaster

But this time, the ease and speed of the technology betrayed her. The CIA officer had made a disastrous mistake. She had sent information to one Iranian agent meant for an entire spy network; the data could be used to identify virtually every spy the CIA had inside Iran.

Mistake piled on mistake. As the CIA later learned, the Iranian who received the download was actually a double agent. The agent quickly turned the data over to Iranian security officials, and it enabled them to "roll up" the CIA's agent network throughout Iran. CIA sources say that several of the Iranian agents were arrested and jailed, while the fates of some of the others is still unknown.

This espionage disaster, of course, was not reported in the press. It left the CIA virtually blind in Iran, unable to provide any significant intelligence on one of the most critical issues facing the United States -- whether Tehran was about to go nuclear.

In fact, just as President Bush and his aides were making the case in 2004 and 2005 that Iran was moving rapidly to develop nuclear weapons, the American intelligence community found itself unable to provide the evidence to back up the administration's public arguments. On the heels of the CIA's failure to provide accurate prewar intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the agency was once again clueless in the Middle East. In the spring of 2005, in the wake of the CIA's Iranian disaster, Porter Goss, the CIA's new director, told President Bush in a White House briefing that the CIA really didn't know how close Iran was to becoming a nuclear power.

The Bush administration has never publicly disclosed the extent to which it is now operating in the blind on Iran. But deep in the bowels of the CIA, someone must be nervously, but very privately, wondering: Whatever happened to those nuclear blueprints we gave to the Iranians?

[edit on 2/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

Just sickening.

And this is the same administration that created a war about alleged weapons of mass destruction.

And all while Saudi Arabia might already have them.

It's all a trick, look to the left hand so you don't see the trick the right hand is doing.

This is a great example of why the CIA
needs to be disbanded. Great story and
undoubtedly true. I can see the CIA
doing this with our tax dollars. Yea boy!!!
we give millions of dollars to our government
so they can give instructions on nuclear weapons
to our enemies. Way to go dumb-a$$es.
You best be glad I'm not president,
all of them would be typing their resumes.

Originally posted by boondock-saint
This is a great example of why the CIA
needs to be disbanded. Great story and
undoubtedly true. I can see the CIA
doing this with our tax dollars. Yea boy!!!
we give millions of dollars to our government
so they can give instructions on nuclear weapons
to our enemies. Way to go dumb-a$$es.
You best be glad I'm not president,
all of them would be typing their resumes.

Yeah, just ask JFK how that'll work out. Great sentiment though.

[edit on 2/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

Originally posted by Grey Magic
Just sickening.

And this is the same administration that created a war about alleged weapons of mass destruction.

And all while Saudi Arabia might already have them.

It's all a trick, look to the left hand so you don't see the trick the right hand is doing.

Actually, we can't even blame a single administration. It is a systemic problem. This event occurred over three administrations - Clinton, Bush and now Obama.


Edit: Spelling.



[edit on 2/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

[edit on 2-5-2010 by Grey Magic]

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


S&F for sure, too bad it won't get more attention.

JFK was right on so many fronts and wrong on a few. But the few he was wrong on weren't that important to mankinds future.

Gotta love the secret societies and what they REALLY do.

just heard about this.

whatta shame!

originally posted by: Iamonlyhuman

Originally posted by Grey Magic
Just sickening.

And this is the same administration that created a war about alleged weapons of mass destruction.

And all while Saudi Arabia might already have them.

It's all a trick, look to the left hand so you don't see the trick the right hand is doing.

Actually, we can't even blame a single administration. It is a systemic problem. This event occurred over three administrations - Clinton, Bush and now Obama.

And it's continuing now that Donald Trump is our President??? (I doubt it.)

Huge flaw in the thread title, the CIA gave a bogus plan and the scientist corrected it.
Looks like most here are reacting to the thread title and not the actual story.