Plausible Denial

As is standard process with Seymour Hersh articles, the Pentagon is denying the central claims. I finally got around to reading the piece in full last night, and one thing did jump out at me:

Under Rumsfeld’s new approach, I was told, U.S. military operatives would be permitted to pose abroad as corrupt foreign businessmen seeking to buy contraband items that could be used in nuclear-weapons systems. In some cases, according to the Pentagon advisers, local citizens could be recruited and asked to join up with guerrillas or terrorists.

If this really is a developing plan, it's amazing that inside sources would be open about this with a journalist. I have always marvelled at Hersh's ability to get inside information, but the flip side of the coin, as people like Robert Baer and Michael Scheuer have pointed out, is that U.S. intelligence is quite leaky.