Top officials fear administration reached secret deal with Iran

WorldTribune

Leading and former U.S. officials have expressed concerns that President Bush has quietly come to an agreement with Iran for the U.S. military to withdraw from Iraq. In a series of meetings between U.S. officials and Iranian and pro-Tehran Iraqi representatives in late 2007, sources close to the administration say that Bush relayed assurances to the Iranian leadership that the United States had no intentions to attack the Islamic regime or stop Tehran's civilian nuclear program.

"It's close to zero percent chance that the Bush administration will authorize military action against Iran before leaving office," said former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, last week.

The sources said the release of the National Intelligence Estimate in December, which they claim was decided by Bush, was deemed as the biggest signal to Iran of U.S. intentions. The NIE said that Tehran has halted its nuclear weapons program--at least for the time being. For his part, sources say that Bush won Iran's commitment to prevent Shiite violence in what would enable the U.S.-led coalition to focus on al Qaeda and the Sunni insurgency and lead to a troop withdrawal by 2009.