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Is the Administration's new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism?
By Seymour M. Hersh
The New Yorker
Saturday 03 March 2007 Issue
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A Strategic Shift
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.
To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its
priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has cooperated with Saudi Arabia's government, which is
Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran.
The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these
activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to
America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
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