The U.S. Secret Service nearly shot Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit to the United Nations in New York City in 2006, according to a new book.
"Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry" by Marc Ambinder and D.B. Grady says a background memo delivered to several senior Bush staffers asserts that a Secret Service agent accidentally discharged a shotgun in the direction of Ahmadinejad while re-positioning a weapon attached to a car belonging to President George Bush’s motorcade.
The memo was included as part of the daily presidential intelligence briefing and began, “A U.S. Secret Service agent, in an apparent accident, discharged his shotgun as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was loading his motorcade at the InterContinental Hotel yesterday.”
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According to a staffer, “I just closed my eyes…everyone just stopped. The Iranians looked at us and we looked at the Iranians. The agent began to apologize. Ahmadinejad just turned his head and got into his car.”
The incident reportedly caused several Bush officials to reconsider Ahmadinejad’s position as a pure reactionary tactician, in favor of a more cautious strategic form of play. In the wake of the incident, the Iranians never mentioned the event again.
However, the Islamic Republic continues to be a major and turbulent force, particularly while Ahmadinejad remains in office.
"This is a man who is determined to become a nuclear power,"
former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said recently. "…he's obviously a killer, a murderer, I think a maniac…In many ways, he'd like to see the destruction of the United States of America."
Iran continues to work toward weaponizing and deploying a nuclear device.
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“It’s not when Iran gets a nuclear weapon, but when we know they are capable of getting a nuclear weapon (that’s the issue),” said Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at a recent meeting at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference.
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