Difference between revisions of "Michael Ledeen"

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::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.<ref>[http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2b.pdf 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.</ref>
 
::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.<ref>[http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2b.pdf 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.</ref>
   
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The US Senate Intelligence Committee issued a report on the meetings and subsequent events in 2008, which concluded:
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::The role Mr Ledeen played as interlocutor for Mr Ghorbanifar and in setting up the Rome meeting, and potentially the Paris meeting, was inappropriate. There is no indication that the Iranian officials attending the Rome meeting refused to meet with [[CIA]] officials. It is likely that this allegation was used by Mr. Ledeen, Mr. Ghorbanifar or others as a means of circumventing the Intelligence Community's knowledge of and involvement in the meeting given the CIA's fabrication notice against Mr Ghorbanifar. Also, Mr Ghorbanifar, aided by Mr Ledeen, used the opportunity presented at the Rome meeting to propose an agenda for regime change in Iran directly to DoD officials, including a proposal for U.S. funding of covert activities.<ref>[http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2b.pdf 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, p33.</ref>
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==Quotes==
 
==Quotes==
  

Revision as of 22:48, 5 June 2008

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.

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]

The US Senate Intelligence Committee issued a report on the meetings and subsequent events in 2008, which concluded:

The role Mr Ledeen played as interlocutor for Mr Ghorbanifar and in setting up the Rome meeting, and potentially the Paris meeting, was inappropriate. There is no indication that the Iranian officials attending the Rome meeting refused to meet with CIA officials. It is likely that this allegation was used by Mr. Ledeen, Mr. Ghorbanifar or others as a means of circumventing the Intelligence Community's knowledge of and involvement in the meeting given the CIA's fabrication notice against Mr Ghorbanifar. Also, Mr Ghorbanifar, aided by Mr Ledeen, used the opportunity presented at the Rome meeting to propose an agenda for regime change in Iran directly to DoD officials, including a proposal for U.S. funding of covert activities.[2]

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[3]

Affiliations

Resources

External Links

References