Bush authorizes CIA to go after Hizbollah in Lebanon

Yesterday the London Telegraph reported that in late December, Bush authorized the CIA to provide covert funding and logistical support to anti-Hizbollah groups in Lebanon in effort to help the Lebanese government thwart the group's growing influence in the country. Hizbollah is believed to be a proxy of Iran. This was described as a "non-lethal presidential finding" which presumably means the CIA is not authorized to assassinate anybody as part of this plan.

Bush reportedly made the decision after meeting with Saudi officials. Saudi Arabia, along with other Sunni states, in particular, Jordan and Egypt, and Israel are all growing increasingly alarmed about the possiblity Iranian hegemony in the region.

Prince Bandar, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington, is, according to the Telegraph's sources, understood to have been a key force in the decision.

"There's a feeling both in Jerusalem and in Riyadh that the anti-Sunni tilt in the region has gone too far," an intelligence source is reported as saying. "By removing Saddam, we've shifted things in favour of the Shia and this is a counter-balancing exercise.

Prince Bandar, now the Saudi national security adviser, is supposed to have met with Elliot Abrams, the senior Middle East official on the NSC several times to work out this plan.

Rumors swirled last month that the former U.S. ambassador, Prince Turki, resigned abruptly when he found out that Prince Bandar had been having these secret meetings in Washington.

The Telegraph says that "as a quid pro quo to the Sunni Arab states, Mr Bush and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, have agreed to work harder to re-start negotiations about a peace deal with the Palestinians."

According to the Swoop website (theswoop.net): "US officials point to the Israeli release of some tax monies owed to the Palestinian Authority as the first fruits of this approach."