Michael Ledeen
Michael Ledeen has been described by the Jerusalem Post as "Washington's neoconservative guru". He was part of the neocon 'cabal' that manufactured the defective intelligence in the lead up to the war against Iraq, and has since been active in making the case for the bombing of Iran.
Contents
Background
According to James Bamford, "His father designed the air-conditioning system for Walt Disney Studios, and Ledeen spent much of his early life surrounded by a world of fantasy". His latter life has been equally surrounded by fantasy, as Ledeen has been responsible some of the wilder claims about first the Soviet threat, and now the Islamic threat. 'In 1977, after earning a Ph.D. in history and philosophy and teaching in Rome for two years, Ledeen became the first executive director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, a pro-Israel pressure group that served as a flagship of the neoconservative movement.
The Iran-Contra Scandal
A few years later, after Reagan was elected, Ledeen had become prominent enough to earn a spot as a consultant to the National Security Council alongside Feith.' There Leedeen was invovled in the Iran-Contra scandal where he served as 'the administration's intermediary with Israel in the illegal-arms deal'. 'In 1985, he met with Manucher Ghorbanifar, a one-time Iranian carpet salesman who was widely believed to be an Israeli agent. The CIA considered Ghorbanifar a dangerous con man and had issued a "burn notice" recommending that no U.S. agency have any dealings with him. Unfazed, Ledeen called Ghorbanifar "one of the most honest, educated, honorable men I have ever known." The two men brokered the arms exchange—a transaction that would result in the indictment of fourteen senior officials in the Reagan administration.'[1]
2001 Rome meetings
Ledeen organised a series of meetings in an apartment in Rome, Italy from December 10, 2001 through December 13 2001.
- The meeting included Larry Franklin (Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs), Harold Rhode (Office of Net Assessments), Michael Ledeen (former Office of the Secretary of Defense and National Security Council consultant), Manucher Ghorbanifar (Iranian exile), [Iranian #1] (Iranian living in exile in Morocco), Iranian #2] (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Official), and an unidentified employee of [a foreign government]. Michael Ledeen arranged the meeting with the help of his contacts in Italy and [the foreign government] who provided the meeting place and the logistical support.[1]
Quotes
- "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically.... It is time once again to export the democratic revolution."[2]
- "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business." - Quoted/paraphrased by Jonah Goldberg in The National Review Online[2]
Affiliations
- United States Committee for a Free Lebanon
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs - First executive director
- CSIS
- International Analyst Network
Resources
External Links
- ^ James Bamford, Iran: The Next War, Rolling Stone, 10 August 2006
- ^ Michael Ledeen, Creative Destruction: How to wage a revolutionary war, National Review Online, September 20, 2001
References
- ↑ Report on intelligence activities relating to Iraq conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, United States, Senate Select Committe on Intelligence, June 2008, p3.
- ↑ Jonah Goldberg, 'Baghdad Delenda Est, Part Two', National Review Online, 23 April 2002
