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The key to the U.S. government’s case against two Iranian-born men charged Tuesday with plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington is an anonymous member of a Mexican drug cartel who has been charged with narcotic-related offenses and is currently on the payroll of the U.S. government.
One anonymous source is not considered the basis of credible news story but “CS-1,” as he is identified in court papers, appears to be the linchpin to the U.S. government’s five-count indictment of Mansoor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Gholam Shakuri, allegedly an Iranian intelligence officer. The Obama administration has seized on the indictment to mobilize the U.S. government worldwide to a more confrontational stance against Tehran, something advocates of U.S. military action against Iran have long sought.
Within hours, the indictment revived talk of war betweeen the United States and Iran. The Wall Street Journal called the indictment ”a sobering wake-up call” for those opposed to military action. The Iranian government called the charges a threat to “the peace and stability in the Persian Gulf region.”
While indictment has provoked skepticism among independent observers, and ridicule from Salon’s Glenn Greenwald, the critical role of an anonymous informant in the government’s case has been drawn less attention. Virtually all of the overt acts alleged in the indictment took place in the presence of the informant or in response to his offer to carry out violent acts. His account of the alleged terror plot is driving U.S. foreign policy yet his veracity is far from established.
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