If it weren't Sy Hersh, this might be more believable. The guy has been putting some distance between himself and reality for over a decade now.

(Could it be true? Maybe. IDK. No dog in that particular fight. But if you, as an anonymous source, go to Sy Hersh, you're an idiot or don't want large numbers of people to believe what you're saying. Occam's razor suggests the former)