Full Release - IRmep

o
Douglas 1. Feith, the unders~cretary for policy, were among the first in the immediate aftermath
ofthe Sept. 11 attacks to urge military action to topple the regime ofSaddam Hussein in Iraq, an
approach favored by Aipac and Israel.
Mr. Wolfowitz and Mr. Feith were part ofa larger network ofpolicy experts inside and out ofthe
Bush administration who forcefully made the case that the war with Iraq was part ofthe larger
fight against terrorism.
The Pentagon group circulated its own intelligence assessments, which have since been
discredited by the Central Intelligence Agency and by the independent Sept. 11 commission,
arguing that there was a terroristalliance between the Hussein regime and Al Qaeda.
The group has also advocated that the Bush administration adopt a more aggressive policy
toward Iran, and some ofits ~embers have quietly begun to argue for regime change in Tehran.
The administration has not yet adopted that stance, however, and the Pentagon conservatives
have been engaged in a debate with officials at the State Department and other agencies urging a
more moderate approach·to Iran.
To Israel, Iran represents a grave threat to its nation~l security. Pushing the United States to adopt
a tougher line on Tehran is one ofits major foreign policy objectives, and Aipac has lobbied the
Bush administration to support Israel's policies.
Mr. Franklin was an expert on Iran in the office ofMr. Feith and among the material he is
suspected ofturning over to Aipac is a draft presidential policy directive on Iran, which would
have provided a glimpse at the Bush administration's.earIy plans.
But skeptics ofthe case have said that the United States and Israel routinely share highly
sensitive information on military and diplomatic matters under an officially sanctioneq
understanding. In addition, most ofthe contents ofpolicy drafts ilffecting either country are well
known to people outside the government who follow American-Israeli affairs.
As a result, some ofMr. Franklin's associates regard his efforts as an attempt to obtain Aipac's
help to influence the Bush administrationrather than an effort to provide Israel with information.
They believe the case is the latest in a series ofassaults by intelligence and Jaw enforcement
agencies, who they believe are determined to diminish the influence ofconservative civilians at
the Pentagon.
In their view, there have been other attempts to embarrass them. In May, American officials said
that Ahmed Chalabi, the leader ofthe Iraqi National Congress and a longtime ally ofthe
Pentagon conserva~ives, had told Iranian intelligence officials that the Unit~d States had broken
Iran's communications codes.
The F.B.I. began a still-open investigation to determine who in the government had told Mr.
Chalabi about the secret code-breaking operation. The investigation, which has included the use
ofpolygraph examinations, has focused on Defense Department employees who both knew Mr.