Bush orders CIA to oust Iraqi leader
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - President Bush early this year signed an intelligence order directing the CIA to undertake a comprehensive, covert program to topple Saddam Hussein, including authority to use lethal force to capture the Iraqi president, according to informed sources.
The presidential order, an expansion of a previous presidential finding designed to oust Saddam, directs the CIA to use all available tools, including:
Increased support to Iraqi opposition groups and forces inside and outside Iraq including money, weapons, equipment, training and intelligence information.
Expanded efforts to collect intelligence within the Iraqi government, military, security service and overall population where pockets of intense anti-Saddam sentiment have been detected.
Possible use of CIA and U.S. Special Forces teams, similar to those deployed in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Such forces would be authorized to kill Saddam if they were acting in self-defense.
