HIGHLIGHTS: Order Includes Authority to Use Lethal Force to Capture Saddam||CIA Tells President Covert Action Should Be Viewed as Prelude for Military Action||Sources Say Economic Pressure & Diplomacy to Precede Military Strike|| STORY: The Washington Post has reported that 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. (Read photo caption)

The presidential order, an expansion of a previous presidential finding designed to oust Hussein, directs the CIA to use all available tools, including:

o Increased support to Iraqi opposition groups and forces inside and outside Iraq including money, weapons, equipment, training and intelligence information.

o Expanded efforts to collect intelligence within the Iraqi government, military, security service and overall population where pockets of intense anti-Hussein sentiment have been detected.

o Possible use of CIA and U.S. Special Forces teams, similar to those that have been successfully deployed in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Such forces would be authorized to kill Hussein if they were acting in self-defense.

The administration has already allocated tens of millions of dollars to the covert program. Nonetheless, CIA Director George J. Tenet has told Bush and his war cabinet that the CIA effort alone, without companion military action, economic and diplomatic pressure, probably has only about a 10 to 20 percent chance of succeeding, the sources said.

One source said that the CIA covert action should be viewed largely as "preparatory" to a military strike so the agency can identify targets, intensify intelligence gathering on the ground in Iraq, and build relations with alternative future leaders and groups if Hussein is ousted.

Another well-placed source said of the covert plan, "It is not a silver bullet, but hopes are high and we could get lucky."
Saturday afternoon, a CIA spokesman declined to comment.

Bush's intelligence order shows that the administration has begun to put money and resources into a policy that has publicly consisted mostly of tough rhetoric. Sources said the CIA initiative is part of a broader Bush administration plan to remove Hussein that includes economic pressure; diplomacy and what officials believe will eventually include military action on a large scale.

PHOTO CAPTION

President George W. Bush hosts the first meeting of the newly created Homeland Security Advisory Council as Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge listens June 12, 2002. Bush named 16 people to the council including former FBI and CIA director William Webster and former Defense Secretary and CIA Director James Schlesinger. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
- Jun 12 11:50 AM