No Business Like Anonymously-Sourced Government Leak Journalism Business

Sources: CIA finds Iranian president likely not hostage-taker:

A CIA report has determined with “relative certainty” that Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was not involved in the taking of U.S. hostages 26 years ago, three government officials told CNN on Friday.

The officials insisted on anonymity, saying they did not want to speak for the CIA about its report.

Another U.S. official said the tone of the report is that there is no evidence to date that the new Iranian president was among those who held U.S. diplomats hostage.

The officials cautioned that the analysis is not final.

Meanwhile, the officials also report that the Soviet Union’s industrial output will increase again this year and that its current premier has secured a grip on his position and has met with other Warsaw Pact leaders secretly to get their fealty and promise the support of the mighty Red Army in quelling internal dissent.

Also, the next paragraph of the CNN report:

Two former hostages told CNN they remain certain Ahmadinejad was involved in plotting the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, in which 52 hostages were held for 444 days.

The two also said they saw the man they identify as Ahmadinejad many times while they were held, and that he appeared to be in a supervisory role.

Loosely translated, that’s the or your damn lying eyes part of the punchline.

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