Michael Ledeen - Printable Version

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Michael Ledeen - Magda Hassan - 29-05-2013

Michael Ledeen

Michael Arthur Ledeen (born Los Angeles, California, August 1, 1941) is an American neoconservative specialist on foreign policy. His research areas have included state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, the Middle East, Europe (Italy), U.S.-China relations, intelligence, and Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe). He is a former consultant to the United States National Security Council, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of Defense. He has also served as a special adviser to the United States Secretary of State. He held the Freedom Scholar chair at the American Enterprise Institute where he was a scholar for twenty years and now holds the similarly named chair at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is a contributing editor to National Review, contributes to the Wall Street Journal, and regularly appears on Fox News and on a variety of radio talk shows.
In 1974, Michael Ledeen moved to Rome where he studied the history of Italian Fascism. In 1977, he went to Washington to join the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (then affiliated with Georgetown University). He continues to visit Italy frequently.
In 1980, Ledeen worked for the Italian military intelligence service as a "risk assessment" consultant.[SUP][1][/SUP] In 1981, Michael Ledeen then became Special Adviser to secretary of state Alexander Haig.

Academic and political career

Ledeen holds a Ph.D. from the University of WisconsinMadison, where he specialized in Modern Europe. At Washington University in St. Louis, Ledeen was denied tenure, according to history department faculty interviewed by the Washington Post, because of questions regarding the "quality of his scholarship" and about whether Ledeen had "used the work of somebody else without proper credit". One faculty member said "the 'quasi-irregularity' at issue didn't warrant the negative vote on tenure for Ledeen".[SUP][1][/SUP]
Ledeen was subsequently named Visiting Professor at the University of Rome. One of Ledeen's principal mentors was the Jewish German-born historian George Mosse, for whom he was research assistant at the time. Mosse wrote two famous books on National Socialism. Another major influence on Ledeen was the Italian historian Renzo De Felice. Ledeen held political views which stress "the urgency of combating centralized state power and the centrality of human freedom"[SUP][2][/SUP] that are said to have influenced or inspired the Bush administration.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]
Earlier in his career, Ledeen authored Universal Fascism: The Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 19281936, published in 1972 and now out of print. The book, which was his doctoral dissertation, was the first work to explore Italian leader Benito Mussolini's efforts to create a Fascist international in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Ledeen follows Italian historian Renzo de Felice in drawing a distinction between "fascism-regime" and "fascism-movement", and seems to approve of at least one aspect of the latter, saying "fascism nevertheless constituted a political revolution in Italy. For the first time, there was an attempt to mobilize the masses and to involve them in the political life of the country", and describing the fascist state as "a generator of energy and creativity".[SUP][3][/SUP] Ledeen continued his studies in Italian Fascism with a study of the takeover of Fiume by Italian irredentist forces under Gabriele d'Annunzio, who Ledeen argued was the proto-type for Mussolini.
Ledeen is a strong admirer of NiccolÃ² Machiavelli, whom he regards as one of the greatest political thinkers. In Ledeen's view, Machiavelli combined democratic idealism and the necessary political realism to secure and defend idealism in perfect measure.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]
In 1980, in the period leading up to the U.S. presidential elections, Ledeen, along with Arnaud de Borchgrave, wrote a series of articles published in The New Republic[SUP][4][/SUP] and elsewhere about Billy Carter's contacts with the Muammar al-Gaddafi regime in Libya.
Ledeen has been a long time and active supporter of political dissidents, particularly those of Iranian nationality. In June 2008, he personally purchased the plane ticket to transfer Iranian student activist, Ahmad Batebi, from Erbil, Iraq, to Washington DC, where Batebi was escorted by NSC officials from his plane in Dulles International Airport to the custody of his lawyer, Lily Mazahery.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]

Italy

Ledeen has been accused of associations with shady organizations. For example, Jim Lobe has stated that "Ledeen's right-wing Italian connectionsincluding alleged ties to the P2 masonic lodge that rocked Italy in the early 1980shave long been a source of speculation and intrigue, but he returned to Washington in 1981 as 'anti-terrorism' advisor to the new secretary of state, Al Haig."[SUP][5][/SUP] While he acknowledges being paid by the SISMI in 1980 for "risk assessment",[SUP][1][/SUP] Ledeen denies any connections with Licio Gelli's masonic lodge. Ledeen told Vanity Fair that he had been paid $10,000 by the SISMI in 1979 or 1980 for advising them on extradition matters between Italy and the US.[SUP][6][/SUP] He denied having worked with Francesco Pazienza or Propaganda Due as part of a disinformation scheme. "I knew Pazienza," he explained. "I didn't think P-2 existed. I thought it was all nonsensetypical Italian fantasy."[SUP][6][/SUP] Pazienza, while at SISMI, did help Ledeen obtaining a tape confirming information on "Billygate."[SUP][7][/SUP]
It was during this time in Italy that Ledeen supported the "Bulgarian connection" conspiracy theory concerning Grey Wolves member Mehmet Ali AÄŸca's 1981 attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II. The theory has since been attacked by various authors and journalists, including Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs, who initially believed the story. The theory was adopted in 2005 by the Italian Mitrokhin Commission. According to Craig Unger, "With Ronald Reagan newly installed in the White House, the so-called Bulgarian Connection made perfect Cold War propaganda. Michael Ledeen was one of its most vocal proponents, promoting it on TV and in newspapers all over the world."[SUP][6][/SUP]

Consultant on terrorism

In the early 1980s, Ledeen appeared before the newly established Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism, alongside former CIA director William Colby, author Claire Sterling and former Newsweek editor Arnaud de Borchgrave. Both Ledeen and de Borchgrave worked for the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University at the time.[SUP][8][/SUP] All four testified that they believed the Soviet Union had provided for material support, training and inspiration for various terrorist groupings.[SUP][9][/SUP]
Ledeen was a strong proponent of the theories in the book The Terror Network written by Claire Sterling that held that the USSR was the source of much of the international terrorism in the world.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]

The Iran-Contra scandal

Main article: Iran-Contra scandal
Ledeen was involved in the Reagan administration's Iran-Contra scandal. As a consultant of National Security Advisor Robert C. McFarlane, Ledeen vouched for Iranian intermediary Manucher Ghorbanifar. In addition, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, officials of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to arrange meetings with high-ranking Iranian officials as well as the much-criticized deal with Iran, whereby moderate Iranians would be given weapons by Israel, and would proceed to negotiate with Hizbollah terrorists for the release of hostages in Lebanon.[SUP][10][/SUP] Ledeen's own version of the events is published in his book, Perilous Statecraft.[SUP][11][/SUP]

Yellowcake forgery allegations

Main article: Niger uranium forgeries
According to a September 2004 article by Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris in Washington Monthly:[SUP][12][/SUP]
"The first meeting occurred in Rome in December, 2001. It included Franklin, Rhode, and another American, the neoconservative writer and operative Michael Ledeen, who organized the meeting. (According to UPI, Ledeen was then working for Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith as a consultant.) Also in attendance was Ghorbanifar and a number of other Iranians."Colleagues Andrew McCarthy and Mark R. Levin have defended Ledeen, writing[SUP][13][/SUP]
Up until now, the fiction recklessly spewed by disgruntled intelligence-community retirees and their media enablerssome of whom have conceded that the claim is based on zero evidencehas been that Michael had something to do with the forged Italian documents that, according to the Left's narrative, were the basis for President Bush's "lie" in the 2003 State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein had obtained yellowcake uranium (for nuclear-weapons construction) in Africa.

Iraq War advocacy

Regarding regime change in Iraq, in 2002 Ledeen criticized the views of former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, writing:[SUP][14][/SUP]
He fears that if we attack Iraq "I think we could have an explosion in the Middle East. It could turn the whole region into a cauldron and destroy the War on Terror."One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we will bring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and either bring down the Saudi monarchy or force it to abandon its global assembly line to indoctrinate young terrorists.That's our mission in the war against terror.Ledeen specifically called for the deposition of Saddam Hussein's regime by force in 2002:
So it's good news when Scowcroft comes out against the desperately needed and long overdue war against Saddam Hussein and the rest of the terror masters.[SUP][14][/SUP]and:
Question #2: Okay, well if we are all so certain about the dire need to invade Iraq, then when do we do so?Ledeen: Yesterday[SUP][15][/SUP]Ledeen's statements prior to the start of the Iraq war such as "desperately needed and long overdue war against Saddam Hussein" and "dire need to invade Iraq" caused Glenn Greenwald to label his later statement that he "opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place" to be an "outright lie".[SUP][16][/SUP] However, Ledeen maintains these statements are consistent since: "I advocatedas I still dosupport for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters."[SUP][17][/SUP]

Views on Iran

Although Ledeen was in favor of invading Iraq, he also believes that Iran should have been the first priority in the war on terror.[SUP][18][/SUP] The New York Times describes Ledeen's views as "everything traces back to Tehran".[SUP][18][/SUP] Ledeen's phrase, "faster, please" has become a signature meme in Ledeen's writings (it is currently the title of his blog on the Pajamas Media website) and is often referenced by neoconservative writers advocating a more forceful and broader war on terror. In 1979, Ledeen was one of the first Western writers to argue that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was a "clerical fascist", and that while it was legitimate to criticize the Shah's regime, if Khomeini seized power in Iran the Iranian people would suffer an even greater loss of freedom and women would be deprived of political and social rights. He presently believes that "No one in the West has yet supported Iranian democratic organizations" and that "aggressive support for those Iranians who wish to be free" would most likely work in ending the clerical government.[SUP][19][/SUP]
According to Justin Raimondo, Ledeen "holds up Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright as patsies for Khomeiniwho supposedly believed that the Ayatollah overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi because the Iranian government was 'excessively repressive and intolerant.' While it would not do to come right out and deny the savagery of the Shah's legendary SAVAK secret police, Ledeen informs us that, under the monarch's beneficent rule, 'Iran had become too modern, too tolerantespecially of women and of other religious faithsand too self-indulgent. The shah had Westernized Iran'except, perhaps, in his prisons, where the ancient methods of torture were routinely employed on dissidents of all sorts."[SUP][20][/SUP]
Ledeen is currently against both an invasion of Iran or air-strikes within the country.[SUP][19][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP] He has argued that the latter may eventually become necessary if negotiations with the Iranian government fail, but it would only be the least bad option of many options and it would lead to many negative unforeseen consequences.[SUP][21][/SUP] The New York Times has called Ledeen's skepticism towards military action against Iran surprising given his opposition to the regime.[SUP][18][/SUP] In October 2007, Ledeen argued that:
"Those who believe that I am part of some "hawkish gang" just haven't noticed that I am opposed to invasion or bombing the nuclear facilities. My fear is that, by failing to promote a non-violent democratization of Iran, we make large-scale violence much more likely.""In any event, time will tell, and I share the fear of most commenters [sic] that we will indeed arrive at a horrible choice between Iran with the bomb, or bomb Iran, as Sarkozy and Kouchner have put it. And if that happens, it will demonstrate a terrible failure on the part of the West, including the United States, to craft a serious Iran policy lo these many years."[SUP][19][/SUP]

Controversial theories

Ledeen also believed that Iran is the main backer of the insurgency in Iraq and even supported the al-Qaida network formerly led by al-Zarqawi despite its declaration of jihad against Shi'ite Muslims.[SUP][22][/SUP] He claimed that German and Italian court documents showed Zarqawi created a European terrorist network while based in Tehran.[SUP][22][/SUP]
Ledeen was a board member of the "Coalition for Democracy in Iran" (CDI), founded by Morris Amitay, a former Executive Director of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Ledeen had also been part of the board of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon. According to the Washington Post, quoted by Asia Times, he was the only full-time international affairs analyst regularly consulted by Karl Rove, George W. Bush's closest advisor[SUP][5][/SUP]
In a 2003 column entitled "A Theory," Ledeen outlined a possibility that France and Germany, both NATO allies of the United States, "struck a deal with radical Islam and with radical Arabs" to use "extremism and terrorism as the weapon of choice" to bring down a potential American Empire. He stated, "It sounds fanciful, to be sure," but that, "If this is correct, we will have to pursue the war against terror far beyond the boundaries of the Middle East, into the heart of Western Europe. And there, as in the Middle East, our greatest weapons are political: the demonstrated desire for freedom of the peoples of the countries that oppose us."[SUP][23][/SUP] See also: Eurabia (conspiracy theory)
Jonah Goldberg, Ledeen's colleague at National Review, coined the term "Ledeen Doctrine" in a 2002 column. This tongue-in-cheek "doctrine" is usually summarized as "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," which Goldberg remembered Ledeen saying in an early 1990s speech.[SUP][24][/SUP]

Criticism

Blogger Glenn Greenwald has taken Ledeen to task for what Greenwald calls his history of false statements and inaccurate predictions, calling him "one of the most dishonest and ludicrous jokes on the political scene."[SUP][25][/SUP]
Writing in The Nation, Jack Huberman described Ledeen as "the most influential and unabashed warmonger of our time."[SUP][26][/SUP]
According to Christopher de Bellaigue of the New York Review of Books, Ledeen has purveyed a "distorted analysis of events in Iran" to his readers, claiming, for example, in National Review online that there were `something like a half a million` Iranians demonstrating the death sentence of Hashem Aghajari on November 22, 2002 when in fact Bellaigue, in Iran on that date, observed only about 5000 students in the biggest demonstration.[SUP][27][/SUP]

Personal life

Ledeen is married to his second wife, Barbara. His first wife was Jenny Ledeen of St. Louis, Mo. Ledeen has three children: Simone, Gabriel, and Daniel. Simone has worked both in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Department of Defense; Gabriel is currently a Lieutenant in the United States Marines Corps serving his second tour in Iraq; and Daniel is currently serving a Lieutenant in the USMC.[SUP][28][/SUP]

Bibliography

Universal Fascism; the Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 19281936, New York, H. Fertig, 1972
co-written with Renzo De Felice Fascism : An Informal Introduction To Its Theory And Practice, New Brunswick, N.J. : Transaction Books, 1976 ISBN 0-87855-190-5.
"Renzo De Felice and the Controversy over Italian Fascism" pages 269283 from Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 11, 1976.
The First Duce: D'Annunzio at Fiume, Baltimore; London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977 ISBN 0-8018-1860-5.
Italy In Crisis, Beverly Hills [Calif.] : Sage publications, 1977 ISBN 0-8039-0792-3.
co-written with George Mosse "Intervista sul Nazismo", Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1977
co-written with William Lewis Debacle, The American Failure in Iran, Vintage Books; 1st Vintage Books ed edition (1982) ISBN 0-394-75182-5
Grave New World, New York: Oxford University Press, 1985 ISBN 0-19-503491-0.
West European Communism and American Foreign Policy, New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A. : Transaction Books, 1987 ISBN 0-88738-140-5.
Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair, New York: Scribner, 1988 ISBN 0-684-18994-1.
Superpower Dilemmas: the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. at Century's End, New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Publishers, 1992 ISBN 0-88738-891-4.
Freedom Betrayed: How America Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War, and Walked Away, Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1996 ISBN 0-8447-3992-8.
Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago, New York: Truman Talley Books/St. Martin's Press, 1999 ISBN 0-312-20471-X.
The War against The Terror Masters: Why It Happened, Where We Are Now, How We'll Win, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002 ISBN 0-312-30644-X.
The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction. Truman Talley Books, 2007. ISBN 0-312-37655-3. ISBN 978-0-312-37655-0.
Obama's Betrayal of Israel, New York: Encounter Broadsides, 2010 ISBN 978-1594034626

References

^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] [SUP]c[/SUP] "Ledeen Seems To Relish Iran Insider's Role," Charles R. Babcock. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: February 2, 1987. pg. a.01.
^ A Theory, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, March 10, 2003.
^ "Flirting with Fascism", John Laughland, The American Conservative, 30 June 2003.
^ Michael Ledeen; Arnaud de Borchgrave (1980-11-01). "Qaddafi, Arafat, and Billy Carter". The New Republic. pp. 1921.
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] "Veteran neo-con advisor moves on Iran". Asia Times. June 26, 2003. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] [SUP]c[/SUP] The War They Wanted, The Lies They Needed, Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, July 2006.
^ "Tale of Intrigue: Why an Italian Spy Got Closely Involved In the Billygate Affair". Wall Street Journal. 1985-08-08.
^ U.S. Senate. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism. Terrorism: Origins, Direction and Support. 97th Congress, 1st session. April 24, 1981.
^ Mohr, C (1981-04-25). "Hearing on terror opens with warning on Soviet". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
^ Walsh, LE (1993-08-04). "Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters; volume I: "Investigations and Prosecution"". Washington, D.C.
^ Ledeen, Michael Arthur (1988). Perilous statecraft: an insider's account of the Iran-Contra affair. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-18994-1.
^ Iran-Contra II?, Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen & Paul Glastris, Washington Monthly Sept. 2004.
^ Rolling Smear, Andrew McCarthy and Mark R. Levin, National Review Online, July 28, 2006.
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] Scowcroft Strikes Out, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, August 6, 2002.
^ To Invade Iraq or Not; That is the Question. Jamie Glazov, FrontPageMagazine.com, August 12, 2002.
^ What do National Review, Rich Lowry, and the AEI have to say about Michael Ledeen's lie Glenn Greenwald Unclaimed Territory, November 5, 2006
^ The Latest Disinformation from Vanity Fair Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, November 4, 2006
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] [SUP]c[/SUP] Books on the Mideast. By Peter Beinart. The New York Times. Published September 9, 2007.
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] [SUP]c[/SUP] Iran with the Bomb, or Bomb Iran: The Need for Regime Change. Michael A. Ledeen. EncyclopÃ¦dia Britannica Blog. Published October 9th, 2007.
^ Raimondo, Justin (2002-11-18) The War Against the World, The American Conservative
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] United States Policy toward Iran. Michael A. Ledeen. American Enterprise Institute. Posted March 8, 2006
^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] Iran Connects the Dots, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, June 9, 2006
^ A Theory, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, March 10, 2003
^ Goldberg, Jonah (April 23, 2002). "Baghdad Delenda Est, Part Two". National Review.
^ Stephanopoulos and Ledeen: together in the most accountability-free profession, Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com, November 4, 2009.
^ Who's Really Screwing America: #26: Michael Ledeen: Improving on Mussolini, Jack Huberman, The Nation, June 23, 2006.
^ Christopher de Bellaigue, The Struggle for Iran, New York Review of Books, 2007, p.48-9
^ http://v10.pajamasmedia.com/site/articles/editboardmain/editboardmichaelledeen/[SUP][dead link][/SUP]

External links

Profile at International Analyst Network
Biography at National Review Online
Michael Ledeen Archive, National Review Online
Interview with Ledeen, Front Page Magazine, conducted by Jamie Glazov, 30 December 2003.
Michael Ledeen Timeline, Center for Cooperative Research.
A film clip "The Open Mind - An Insiders Account of the Iran-Contra Affair (1988)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

Michael Ledeen - Magda Hassan - 30-05-2013

Michael Ledeen

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=sans-serif]

Michel Ledeen
"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." [SUP][1][/SUP]

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. Ledeen was a senior researcher at the CIA-affiliated think-tank CSIS in the 1970s. [SUP][2][/SUP]
Ledeen taught in Rome for two years until 1977 and was involved in smear operations against the Italian Communist Party. In 1976 when a day after a CSIS conference on Italy the New Republic published an article by Claire Sterling and Ledeen claiming that the Italian Communist Party had recieved secret funding from the Soviets. The New Republic was at that time published by Robert J. Myers, a friend of Ray Cline of CSIS, and formerly of the CIA. [SUP][2][/SUP] Myers appeared withCline a January 1978 congressional hearing on the CIA and the media where he stated: "The reciprocal relationship between the CIA and the American press has been of value to both parties and often to the individuals themselves whose careers may have mutually benefited by such connections." The article was republished just before the elections by the Rome Daily American (which was funded by the CIA). Claire Sterling and Ledeen even appeared on Italian television on the night of the election. They featured as commentators from 4pm to 2am on Channel 1 which was controlled by the Christian Democrat Party - the main recipient of CIA funds in Italy. [SUP][2][/SUP]
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.
In 1980, while working as Rome correspondent of The New Republic, allegedly collaborated with right-wing Italian intelligence officers on a series of black propaganda operations.

Billygate

The first of these involved a scandal sparked when President Carter's brother Billy accepted a $220,000 loan from Libya. The controversy had largely died down by the time of the election.
Then, in the last week of October 1980, just two weeks before the election, The New Republic in Washington and Now magazine in Great Britain published a story co-authored by Michael Ledeen and Arnaud de Borchgrave, now an editor-at-large at The Washington Times and United Press International. According to the story, headlined "Qaddafi, Arafat and Billy Carter," the president's brother had been given an additional $50,000 by Qaddafi, on top of the loan, and had met secretly with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat. The story had come dramatically back to life. The new charges were disputed by Billy Carter and many others, and were never corroborated.
A 1985 investigation by Jonathan Kwitny in The Wall Street Journal reported that the New Republic article was part of a larger disinformation scam run by Ledeen and SISMI to tilt the election, and that "Billy Carter wasn't the only one allegedly getting money from a foreign government." According to Pazienza, Kwitny reported, Michael Ledeen had received at least $120,000 from SISMI in 1980 or 1981 for his work on Billygate and other projects. Ledeen even had a coded identity, Z-3, and had money sent to him in a Bermuda bank account, Pazienza said.[SUP][3][/SUP]

The Bulgarian connection

In 1981, Ledeen played a role in what has been widely characterized as another disinformation operation. Once again his alleged ties to SISMI were front and center. The episode began after Mehmet Ali Agca, the right-wing terrorist who shot Pope John Paul II that May, told authorities that he had been taking orders from the Soviet Union's K.G.B. and Bulgaria's secret service. With Ronald Reagan newly installed in the White House, the so-called Bulgarian Connection made perfect Cold War propaganda. Michael Ledeen was one of its most vocal proponents, promoting it on TV and in newspapers all over the world.[SUP][3][/SUP]

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 Ledeen was involved 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 exchangea transaction that would result in the indictment of fourteen senior officials in the Reagan administration.'

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.[SUP][4][/SUP]
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.[SUP][4][/SUP]
Quotes

"Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically.... It is time once again to export the democratic revolution."
"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[SUP][1][/SUP]

Affiliations

ISI Enterprises
The New Republic
United States Committee for a Free Lebanon
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs - First executive director
CSIS
International Analyst Network

Connections

Who is Michael Ledeen?

From "creative destruction" to "total war," the guiding beliefs of the most aggressive foreign policymakers in the Bush administration may originate in the works of an influential yet rarely seen neoconservative.

May 7, 2003 |

Editor's Note: This is a revised and corrected version of this story. The earlier version contained a quote that was erroneously attributed to Michael Ledeen.
Most Americans have never heard of Michael Ledeen, but if the United States ends up in an extended shooting war throughout the Middle East, it will be largely due to his inspiration.
A fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ledeen holds a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. He is a former employee of the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council. As a consultant working with NSC head Robert McFarlane, he was involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair -- an adventure that he documented in the book "Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair." His most influential book is last year's "The War Against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened. Where We Are Now. How We'll Win."
Ledeen's ideas are repeated daily by such figures as Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. His views virtually define the stark departure from American foreign policy philosophy that existed before the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. He basically believes that violence in the service of the spread of democracy is America's manifest destiny. Consequently, he has become the philosophical legitimator of the American occupation of Iraq.
Now Michael Ledeen is calling for regime change beyond Iraq. In an address entitled "Time to Focus on Iran -- The Mother of Modern Terrorism," for the policy forum of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) on April 30, he declared, "the time for diplomacy is at an end; it is time for a free Iran, free Syria and free Lebanon."
With a group of other conservatives, Ledeen recently set up the Center for Democracy in Iran (CDI), an action group focusing on producing regime change in Iran.
Quotes from Ledeen's works reveal a peculiar set of beliefs about American attitudes toward violence. "Change -- above all violent change -- is the essence of human history," he proclaims in his book, "Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are as Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago." In an influential essay in the National Review Online he asserts, "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically ... it is time once again to export the democratic revolution."
Ledeen has become the driving philosophical force behind the neoconservative movement and the military actions it has spawned. His 1996 book, "Freedom Betrayed; How the United States Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War, and Walked Away," reveals the basic neoconservative obsession: the United States never "won" the Cold War; the Soviet Union collapsed of its own weight without a shot being fired. Had the United States truly won, democratic institutions would be sprouting everywhere the threat of Communism had been rife.
Iraq, Iran and Syria are the first and foremost nations where this should happen, according to Ledeen. The process by which this should be achieved is a violent one, termed "total war," a concept pioneered by the 19th century Prussian general, Karl von Clausewitz in his classic book "On War."
Ledeen's take on this idea is wedded to ideology. In summarizing his book "The War Against the Terror Masters" on the American Enterprise Institute Web site, he writes: "We wage total war because we fight in the name of an idea, and ideas either triumph or fail ... totally." In his reckoning, force is the only reliable strategy to enforce our ideology on our enemies. In the same summary he claims, drawing inspiration from Machiavelli: "We can lead by the force of high moral example ... [but] fear is much more reliable, and lasts longer. Once we show that we are capable of dealing out terrible punishment to our enemies, our power will be far greater."
Consequently, Ledeen has excoriated both the State Department and the United Nations for their preference for diplomatic solutions to conflict; and the CIA for equivocating on evidence that would condemn "America's enemies" and justify militant action.
"No one I know wants to wage war on Iran and Syria, but I believe there is now a clear recognition that we must defend ourselves against them," Ledeen wrote on May 6 in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Though he appears on conservative outlets like the Fox television network, Ledeen has not been singled out for much media attention by the Bush administration, despite his extensive influence in Washington. His views may be perceived as too extreme for most Americans, who prefer to think of the United States as pursuing violence only when attacked and manifesting primarily altruistic goals toward other nations.
Clearly a final decision has not been made on whether the United States will continue military action in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. But Ledeen has a notable track record. He was calling for attacks against Iraq throughout the 1990s, and the U.S. invasion on March 19 was a total fulfillment of his proposals. His attacks against the CIA and the State Department have contributed to the exclusion of these intelligence bodies from any effective decision making on Iraq. His attacks on Iran, even when Iran was assisting the United States, helped keep the Bush administration from seeking any rapprochement with Tehran. Were it in Ledeen's hands, we would invade Iran today.
Given both his fervor and his influence over the men with the guns, Americans should not be surprised if Ledeen's pronouncements come true.
PNS contributor William O. Beeman teaches anthropology and directs Middle East Studies at Brown University. He is author of "Language, Status and Power in Iran," and two forthcoming books: "Double Demons: Cultural Impediments to U.S.-Iranian Understanding," and "Iraq: State in Search of a Nation."
http://www.alternet.org/story/15860/who_is_michael_ledeen

Michael Ledeen - Magda Hassan - 30-05-2013

Michael Ledeen

last updated: November 16, 2012

[Image: michael-ledeen.png]

Foundation for Defense of Democracies: Freedom Scholar
Pajamas Media: Columnist
American Enterprise Institute: Former Freedom Scholar
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs:Board of Advisors

[B]Please note: IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.[/B]
Michael A. Ledeen, a veteran neoconservative pundit who writes for the right-wingPajamas Media and is a "Freedom Scholar" at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), is a controversial proponent of interventionist U.S. foreign policies whose work dates back to the 1970s. Ledeen has supported everything from the CIA-backed Contra wars in Central America during the 1980s to an expansive post-9/11 "war on terror" aimed at the people he calls "Islamofascists."[1] Ledeen, who styles himself a "democratic revolutionary,"[2]champions U.S. foreign policies that are in line with Israel's right-wing Likud Party and is perhaps best known for his vocal advocacy of U.S. intervention in Iran.[3]
Ledeen has written for a number of rightist media outlets, including the Weekly Standard and the National Review. In recent years, however, his main outlet
has been his blog on Pajamas mediacalled "Faster, Please!"where he regularly criticizes liberals, bemoans trends in the mainstream media, and warns about threats in the Middle East.
A blog entry written shortly before President Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election provided typical fare. Titled "Letter to My European Friends," the entry chastised Europeans for supporting President Obama. Ledeen wrote: "I see from various polls that very nearly all of you support President Obama's reelection. â€¦ Other numbers show that nearly half of you think you should somehow be able to vote in our elections, since American policies have such an enormous effect on you. All of which reinforces my beliefspeaking as the grandson of Russian immigrants who arrived in Harlem and western Massachusetts early in the last centurythat the American Revolution was a great thing, and that Americans were right to abandon authoritarian Europe for the possibility of creating a free country across the ocean."
In another emblematic blog entry, this one from September 2012 and titled "The Global War," Ledeen addressed the "war" purportedly being waged against the United States. He wrote: "Killing Americans serves several purposes in the war being waged against us (we have yet to seriously engage against our known enemies): first, it's what the war is all about. They want us dead or dominated. Second, it helps recruitment, which had dropped after the defeat of Iran, Syria, and al-Qaeda in Iraq."
Iran has long been Ledeen's bÃªte noir. In an October 2009 article for Weekly Standard, Ledeen rehashed the discredited argument, first pushed by figures in the George W. Bush administration, that Iran has been heavily involved in supporting attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.[4] Thus, Ledeen claims, "in Afghanistan as in Iraq, no matter how well we do, no matter how many high-level targets we eliminate, no matter how many cities, towns, and villages we secure, unless we defeat Iran we will always be designing yet another counterinsurgency strategy in yet another place. We are in a big war, and Iran is at the heart of the enemy army. Alas, no American president since the Islamic Revolution has been willing to face the consequences of Iran's war against America. Most of the time, our leaders have refused to accept the fact that Iran will do everything possible to dominate or destroy us. Instead of trying to defeat the mullahs, every president has sought rapprochement, just as Obama is doing now."[5]
In a New York Times review of Ledeen's 2007 book The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction, Peter Beinart wrote, "Ledeen's effort to lay virtually every attack by Muslims against Americans at Tehran's feet takes him into rather bizarre territory. He says the 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were in large part Iranian operations,' which would come as news to the 9/11 Commission, which attributed them solely to Al Qaeda. He says Shiite Iran was largely behind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a man famous for his genocidal hatred of Shiites. He claims that most' Iraqi insurgents are under Iranian guidance and/or control,' not just Shiite warlords like Moktada al-Sadr, but Sunni militants as wellthe very people who say they are fighting to prevent Iranian domination. In Ledeen's view, in fact, Sunni-Shiite conflictthe very thing that most observers think is tearing Iraqapartis largely a mirage, because Iran controls both sides. And Al Qaeda is a mirage too, a mere front for the regime in Tehran. When you hear "Al Qaeda,"' Ledeen writes, it's probably wise to think "Iran."' Not surprisingly, he thinks the mullahs were probably behind 9/11."[6]
In August 2008, Ledeen surprised many observers by leaving AEI, where he had worked for nearly 20 years, to take a fellowship at the similarly neoconservative-aligned Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), an advocacy group founded shortly after 9/11 to promote an aggressive "war on terror." In an entry on his personal blog, Ledeen wrote, "I moved my office from AEI after twenty happy years, to Cliff May's rising Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. It seems a good fit, it puts me in the same sandbox as Andy McCarthy and other terrific people, and I love the email address: michael@defenddemocracy.org. I mean, that's what I'm all about."[7]
Ledeen's move spurred speculation about what caused it. Jim Lobe, a veteran observer of the neoconservatives, wrote, "[H]is reference to a rising' FDD suggests his association there might be more lucrative, particularly as FDD, which earlier this year suffered major Democratic defections, is competing strongly for Sheldon Adelson's largess. (And I have no doubt at all that Ledeen's obsession with Iran would definitely appeal to the multi-billionaire casino magnate, who reportedly shares that obsession). One possible explanation is that the AEI's incoming president [Arthur Brooks] is hoping that AEI's public image on foreign policydominated as it has been for so long by hard-line neo-cons like[Richard] Perlemight be softened somewhat."[8]
On Iraq and Iran
A longtime Washington insider, Ledeen has held positions (often simultaneously) in media, government, academia, and think tanks since the late 1960s. In March 2003 the Washington Post highlighted his influence within the George W. Bush administration, citing him as one of several elites consulted by powerful White House advisor Karl Rove. The Post reported that, "The two met after Bush's election. He said, 'Anytime you have a good idea, tell me,' Ledeen said. Every month or six weeks, Ledeen will offer Rove 'something you should be thinking about.' More than once, Ledeen has seen his ideas, faxed to Rove, become official policy or rhetoric."[9]
In May 2003, Brown University professor William Beeman drew attention to Ledeen's clout, writing, "Most Americans have never heard of Michael Ledeen, but if the United States ends up in an extended shooting war throughout the Middle East, it will be largely due to his inspiration. â€¦ Ledeen's ideas are quoted daily by such figures as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. His views virtually define the stark departure from American foreign policy philosophy that has characterized United States actions since Sept. 11, 2001. He basically believes that violence in the service of the spread of democracy is America's manifest destiny. Consequently, he has become the philosophical legitimator of the American occupation of Iraq."[10]
Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ledeen addressed a policy forum hosted by the Likud-aligned Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) in Washington, D.C. Though it was just six weeks since the United States had moved on Iraq, the title of his speech was "Time to Focus on IranThe Mother of Modern Terrorism." Ledeen said that the U.S. invasion had been the correct move"Democracy is the only way the Iraqi people will be able to get back on their feet"and told his audience, "I have never seen a country more ready for democracy than Iran." He concluded his talk by reiterating the idea of democracy as a cure-all, saying that, "the time for diplomacy is at the end; it is time for a free Iran, free Syria and free Lebanon."[11]
Ledeen has frequently attacked officials who have attempted to push forward a diplomatic track in Mideast policy. Commenting on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's efforts in early 2007 to arrange meetings with Iranian officials, Ledeen opined, "The delusion that one can settle our little disagreements with the Islamic Republic, if only the right people sit around the right conference table, has seized every administration since Jimmy Carter. Every president has sent emissaries to talk, and every administration has made demarches to Tehran. To date, the net result is hundreds of dead Americans. And yet the delusion persists. Each time it fails, the deep thinkers at Foggy Bottom manage to convince the Secretary of State of the moment that we are just one small concession away from success, and by and large the secretary goes for it, just as Secretary Rice has."[12]
In March 2006, Ledeen testified before the House Committee on International Relations, recommending a policy of regime change and revolution in Iran. He argued that the U.S. government has "yet to fight back" against the so-called terror masters there, who he argued "have waged unholy war against us" since 1979. "They created Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, and they support most all the others, from Hamas and al Qaeda to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command. Iran's proxies range from Shiites to Sunnis to Marxists, all cannon fodder for the overriding objective to dominate or destroy us. ... I am opposed to sanctions; I am generally opposed to military strikes, and I fully endorse support for revolution." He added: "The first step in crafting a suitable policy toward Iran is to abandon the pretense that we can arrive at a negotiated settlement."[13]
In The Iranian Time Bomb, Ledeen expounded on what he views as the three-decades-plus "Iranian jihad" against America.[14] "The illusion that diplomacy' can accomplish anything worthwhile with the Islamic Republic of Iran will only intensify the mullah's conviction that killing Americans is divinely sanctioned and a winning strategy," Ledeen wrote. "This dangerous mind-set has seized the minds of American diplomats from the first days of the Iranian Revolution."[15] As Andrew McCarthy summarized in his review of the book, "If the United States is to win the war on terror, regime change in Iran is a must. How it is to be done can be debated. That it must be done cannot be doubted. Michael Ledeen performs an invaluable service by making that crystal clear."[16]
The Ledeen Doctrine
Ledeen's militaristic approach to U.S. foreign policy spurred conservative writer Jonah Goldberg of the National Review to coin the phrase the "Ledeen Doctrine." Describing the doctrine, Goldberg wrote, "I'm not sure my friend Michael Ledeen will thank me for ascribing authorship to him and he may have only been semi-serious when he crafted it, but here is the bedrock tenet of the Ledeen Doctrine in more or less his own words: 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.' That's at least how I remember Michael phrasing it at a speech at the American Enterprise Institute about a decade ago."[17]
Since Goldberg coined it, the so-called doctrine has been adapted by writers to describe the actions of other countries. For example, in commenting on the Georgia-Russia conflict in August 2008, Alex Harrowell of the pan-European blog A Fistful of Euros opined, "Russia has Ledeenised the situationthey picked up some crappy little country and threw it against the wall to show they meant business."[18]
Ledeen has made a career of popularizing alarmist and sometimes erroneous charges about terrorism threats dating back to the late 1970s, when he served as a consultant to Italian military intelligence. He later became a consultant and special advisor to the U.S. State Department and the National Security Council shortly after the election of Ronald Reagan. From this perch, Ledeen championed the idea, initially promoted in Claire Sterling's 1981 best-selling book The Terror Network, that Moscow was behind worldwide terrorism acts, including the discredited allegation that the KGB helped orchestrate the 1981 assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II.[19] Ledeen's views at the time conflicted with those of the CIA, which contended that Moscow had little or nothing to do with the global "terror network."
After 9/11, Ledeen began arguing that "Islamofascists" in countries like Iran are heading a new terror network. In his 2002 book The War Against the Terror Masters, Ledeen wrote, "The main part of the [war on terror]the campaign against terror masters who rule countries hostile to usis a very old kind of war. It is a revolutionary war, right out of the 18th century, the very kind of war that gave our national identity. While we will have to act against secret terrorist organizations and kamikaze fighters, our ultimate targets are tyrannical regimes. We will require different strategies in each case. We will need one method and set of tools to bring down Saddam Hussein, another strategy to break the Assad family dictatorship in Syria, a very different approach to end the religious tyranny in Iran, and yet another to deal with Saudi Arabia's active support for fundamentalist Islam and the terror network. But the mission is the same in each case: Bring down the terror masters."[20]
Ledeen has supported a passel of letterhead groups that emerged after 9/11 to promote regime change in the Middle East. Together with Morris Amitay, a former lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in 2003 Ledeen created the Coalition for Democracy in Iran (CDI), which until it disbanded in 2005 supported regime-change efforts in Iran and pushed a number of legislative proposals aimed at isolating the country. Among CDI's influential members and supporters were Frank Gaffney, head of the hardline Center for Security Policy;Joshua Muravchik, an AEI scholar who has helped shape the neoconservative agenda; and former CIA director James Woolsey. Ledeen also supported the now-inactive U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon, an organization created by U.S.-based Lebanese banker Ziad Abdelnour that pushed a hardline stance on Syria.
For Ledeen, those who oppose his take on Mideast issues are "appeasers," a frequent neoconservative refrain that gained cachet during the late 1960s whenNorman Podhoretz, a neocon trailblazer who served as editor of Commentarymagazine for several decades, began using the World War II-inspired label to criticize antiwar protestors. Writing in November 2003, Ledeen said that the so-called appeasers in Congress and the State Department "don't want to know about Iran, because if they did, they would be driven to take actions that they do not want to take. They would have to support democratic revolution in Iran, and they prefer to schmooze with the mullahs." He concluded: "I guess some top official will have to die at the hands of (obviously) Iranian-supported terrorists before the Pentagon is permitted to work on the subject."[21]
Similarly, Ledeen abhors what he sees as weakness in foreign affairs policy-makingandmakes frequent use of Machiavellian ideas to promote his martial vision.In a March 2003 BBC interview, for example, Ledeen claimed: "As soon as we land in Iraq, we're going to face the whole terrorist network. Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are the big four, and then there's Libya. â€¦You can't solve all problems, I grant that. I mean, I wrote a book about Machiavelli, and I know the struggle against evil is going to go on forever."[22] Ledeen was referring to his 1999 book on "why Machiavelli's iron rules are as timely and important today as five centuries ago," in which he argued that war "provides a real test of character" and "creates a pool of leaders for the nation."[23]
Despite his frequent congressional appearances and influence within policy circles, Ledeen's critics have denounced his ideas and qualifications. For example, Brown University Professor William Beeman once said: "Michael Ledeen has never been to Iran; he speaks no Persian. He has minimal credibility in assessing the Iranian elections, or evaluating the political situation there."[24]
Go-Betweens
Ledeen has on several occasions become directly involved in efforts to shape the policies of both the United States and other countries, which has led him to make some peculiar affiliations. In the late 1970s, while Ledeen was serving as a consultant on terrorism to the Italian military intelligence agency SISMI, he became associated with a Francesco Pazienza, an Italian agent who was also a member of theItalian P2 Masonic Lodge, a violent right-wing group involved in terrorist attacks in Italy in the 1970s and 80s.[25] In a report about the P2's involvement in bombings in Italy, as well as its connections to corrupt government officials, the Toronto Star reported on Pazienza's claims that Ledeen served as a go-between for the Ronald Reagan administration and Italian officials. According to the Star, Pazienza was eventually convicted in absentia of "abusing his status as secret agent by using extortion to obtain information on contacts between former president Jimmy Carter's brother Billy and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and then passing this Billygate' material to Michael Ledeen."[26]
As a consultant to the National Security Council in the 1980s, in the early stages of the Iran-Contra affair Ledeen acted as a go-between for the Reagan administration and the Israeli spy David Kimche to gain the release of U.S. hostages in Beirut through an Iranian arms dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar.[27]According to official investigations into the Iran-contra scandal, Ledeen helped initiate the effort to use Israeli contacts to pursue an arms for hostages deal with Iran.[28]
After the 9/11 attacks, the names of many of these associates resurfaced in press reports about Ledeen's efforts to push regime change in Iran. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Ledeen worked with Pentagon staffers to redevelop the channel to arms dealer Ghorbanifar in an effort to assist resistance groups in Iran. Reported the Herald: "[Harold] Rhode recently acted as a liaison between[Douglas] Feith's office â€¦ and Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile groomed for leadership by the Pentagon. Mr. Rhode is a protÃ©gÃ© of Michael Ledeen, who was a National Security Council consultant in the mid-1980s when he introduced Mr. Ghorbanifar to Oliver North, a NSC aide, and others in the opening stages of the Iran-Contra affair. It is understood Mr. Ledeen reopened the Ghorbanifar channel with Mr. Feith's staff."[29]
In an account of the various meetings between Iranians and Feith's Department of Defense staff that Ledeen helped set up after 9/11, the Washington Monthlyreported that "the DoD-Ghorbanifar meetings suggest the possibility that a rogue faction at the Pentagon was trying to work outside normal US foreign policy channels to advance a regime change' agenda not approved by the president's foreign policy principals or even the president himself."[30] Among those at the meetings, according to the Monthly, was "a former senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who claimed to have information about dissident ranks within the Iranian security services. The Washington Monthly has also learned from U.S. government sources that Nicolo Pollari, the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI, attended the meetings, as did the Italian Minister of Defense Antonio Martino, who is well-known in neoconservative circles in Washington."[31]
Then-U.S. Ambassador to Italy Melvin Sembler learned about Ledeen's activity when, on December 12, 2001, he "sat down for a private dinner with Ledeen, an old friend of his from Republican Party politics, and [Antonio] Martino, the Italian defense minister. The conversation quickly turned to the meeting. The problem was that this was the first that Amb. Sembler had heard about it," the Monthlyreported. The meeting was a major source of concern for Sembler and the CIA in part because the agency "believes Ghorbanifar is a serial fabricator' and forbids its officers from having anything to do with him. Moreover, why were mid-level Pentagon officials organizing meetings with a foreign intelligence agency behind the back of the CIAa clear breach of U.S. government protocol? There was also a matter of personal chagrin for Sembler: At State Department direction, he had just been cautioning the Italians to restrain their contacts with bad-acting states like Iran (with which Italy has extensive trade ties)."[32]
Publications
In addition to his personal blog, Ledeen also contributes to the National ReviewOnline and infrequently to the Wall Street Journal's opinion page. His books include The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction (2007);The War Against the Terror Masters (2002); Tocqueville on American Character(2000); Freedom Betrayed: How America Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War, and Walked Away (1996); and Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair (1988).

[B]Please note: IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.[/B]

Michael Ledeen RÃ©sumÃ©

Affiliations
- Foundation for Defense of Democracies:Freedom Scholar
- Pajamas Media: Columnist
- American Enterprise Institute: Former Freedom Scholar
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs: Former Member, Board of Advisors
- Coalition for Democracy in Iran:Cofounder
- Wall Street Journal: Contributor
- National Review Online: Contributing Editor
- The New Republic: Rome Correspondent (1975-1977)
- Washington Quarterly: Founding Editor
- U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon:Golden Circle Supporter
- Benador Associates: Listed Speaker
- Center for Strategic and International Studies: Senior Fellow (1982-1986); Senior Staff Member (1977-1981)
- University of Rome, Italy: Visiting Professor of History (1975-1977)
- Washington University: Instructor and Assistant Professor of History (1967-1974)
- American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus: Member
Government
- U.S.-China Commission: Commissioner, Vice Chair (2001-2004)
- Department of State: Consultant, Under Secretary of Political Affairs (1982-1986); Special Adviser to the Secretary (1981-1982)
- Department of Defense: Consultant, Office of the Secretary (1982-1986)
- White House: Consultant, National Security Advisor to the President (1982-1986)
Education
- University of Wisconsin: Ph.D., History and Philosophy; M.A., History and Philosophy
- Pomona College: B.A.

Michael Ledeen News Feed
[URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEGngzcydRqjnah57SIYefJZfhcQA&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/glenn-beck_n_3351788.html"]Glenn Beck: There Is A Conspiracy To Label Me A Conspiracy Theorist - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFQsV0QvbTVQcZN9XuKotQPVWegaA&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/obama-court-packing_n_3347961.html"]Republicans Charge Obama With Court-Packing For Trying To Fill Empty Seats - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEhnqj_xgFTSUZxOcHZdRaCe876fw&url=http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/05/the-future-of-an-illusion.php"]The future of an illusion - Power Line (blog)
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFCx1cT8b7sPvBYsRGlrezfqqwQRA&url=http://www.voltairenet.org/article178638.html"]"The machiavelian threefold game of the neoconservatives" - Voltaire Network
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHFCzCdmSQq09RFB_1WNq_wX8429w&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/25/obama-counterterrorism_n_3336542.html?utm_hp_ref%3Dpolitics"]Obama Counterterrorism Plan Relies On Community Outreach - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFjWl4nX7q31vC65jBmyXRoClaLqA&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/obama-aumf-repeal_n_3328667.html"]Obama Call To Repeal 'Perpetual War' Law Contradicts Pentagon - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGfInpARoSHPZa-gianJuRaxGeJgA&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/jay-carney-birther_n_3314452.html"]Jay Carney Brings Up Birtherism In Response To Questions On Benghazi, IRS ... - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF5j0zZwLAh9SEfgSQHr8NZhkCMcw&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/white-house-irs-scandal_n_3308541.html"]White House Response To IRS Scandal Making The Situation Worse - Huffington Post
[/URL][URL="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEO0NAS3UmfSJchQvrMo4u0E4-j4g&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/obama-polls-worst-week-ever_n_3308373.html"]Barack Obama Polls Stable Despite 'Worst Week Ever' - Huffington Post
[/URL]Foreign leaders pay attention to Obama's words, not the spin - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

The Right Web Mission

Right Web tracks militarists' efforts to influence U.S. foreign policy.

Sources

[1] Michael Ledeen, "When People Freely Choose Tyranny," National Review Online, January 31, 2006.
[2] Larisa Alexandrovna, "Conversation with Machiavelli's Ghost: Controversial Neoconservative Ledeen Talks to Raw Story," February 26, 2006.
[3] Peter Beinart, "Enemies List," New York Times, September 9, 2007
[4] For background on this allegation, see Gareth Porter, "U.S. Uses False Taliban Aid Charge to Pressure Iran," Right Web, July 8, 2009, http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/articles/display/u.s._uses_false_taliban_aid_charge_to_pressure_iran
[5] Michael Ledeen, "We Have Met the Enemy . . ." Weekly Standard, October 20, 2009.
[6] Peter Beinart, "Enemies List," New York Times, September 9, 2007
[7] Michael Ledeen, "Back from Alaska," Faster, Please! Pajamas Media, August 7, 2008, http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2008/08/07/back-from-alaska/.
[8] Jim Lobe, "The Ledeen Move," Lobelog, August 25, 2008, http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/?p=182#more-182.
[9] Thomas Edsall and Dana Milbank, "White Hose's Roving Eye for Politics," Washington Post, March 10, 2003.
[10] William Beeman, "Michael Ledeen: Neoconservative Guru," May 9, 2003, http://www.lebanonwire.com/0305/03050914DS.asp.
[11] Michael Ledeen, "Time to Focus on Iran - The Mother of Modern Terrorism," JINSA Policy Forum, May 6, 2003, http://web.archive.org/web/20080205103132/http://www.jinsa.org/articles/articles.html/function/view/categoryid/1930/documentid/2012/history/3,648,1930,2012.
[12] Michael Ledeen, "Did Condoleezza Rice Try to Make a Secret Deal With the Mullahs?" National Review Online, April 25, 2007.
[13] Testimony of Michael A. Ledeen, "U.S. Policy Toward IranThe Next Steps," House Committee on International Relations, March 8, 2006.
[14] Michael A. Ledeen, The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction (New York: Truman Talley Books, 2007), p. 15.
[15] Michael A. Ledeen, The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction (New York: Truman Talley Books, 2007), p. 18.
[16] Andrew C. McCarthy, "No More Illusions," National Review Online, September 4, 1007.
[17] Jonah Goldberg, "Baghdad Delenda Est, Part Two," National Review Online, April 23, 2002.
[18] Alex Harrowell, "The Revolution is Over," August 14, 2008, A Fistful of Euros, August 14, 2008,http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/europe-and-the-world/the-revolution-is-over/.
[19] Jim Lobe, "Veteran Neocon Adviser Moves on Iran," Inter Press Service, June 26, 2003.
[20] Michael Ledeen, The War Against the Terror Masters (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002), page xxii.
[21] Michael Ledeen, "Unpunished Failure," National Review Online, November 3, 2003.
[22] Cited in Jim Lobe, "Veteran Neocon Adviser Moves on Iran," Inter Press Service, June 26, 2003.
[23] Michael A. Ledeen, Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago (New York: Truman Talley Books, 1999). Quoted in Jackson Lears, "Keeping It Real," Nation, June 12, 2006.
[24] Jim Lobe, " Bush and Hawks Try Pre-Emptive Strike Vs. Iran Vote," Inter Press Service, June 20, 2005.
[25] For more on Pazienza and his affiliation with Ledeen, see Wolfgang Achntner and Tony Barber, "Search for a Plot to Kill the Pope; Who Put the Gun in Agca's Hand?" The Independent, May 19, 1991; and Ruth Gruber, "Bizarre Complexities of Bombing to Unfold in Italian Courtroom," St. Petersburg Times, March 1, 1987.
[26] Ruth Gruber, "20 Face Trial in 1980 Massacre Italy Believes Blast Part of Plot," Toronto Star, March 1, 1987.
[27] Fox Butterfield, "Arms for HostagesPlain and Simple," New York Times, November 27, 1988; Jim Lobe, "Shadowy Right Winger Urges Action on Iran," Inter Press Service, June 25, 2003. See also Ledeen's account, which he offered in his 1998 book Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair(Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988).
[28] See, for example, the Tower Commission's report, available on the web site of the American Presidency Project,http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/PS157/assignment files public/TOWER EXCERPTS.htm#PartI. For more on Ledeen's track record, see Jim Lobe, "Veteran Neocon Adviser Moves on Iran," Asia Times, June 26, 2003; and Anthony Gancarski, "Michael Ledeen on the Run," Antiwar.com, August 22, 2003.
[29] Knut Royce and Timothy Phelps, "Arms Dealer in Talks with U.S. Officials about Iran," Sydney Morning Herald, August 9, 2003.
[30] Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris, "Iran-Contra II?" Washington Monthly, September 2004.
[31] Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris, "Iran-Contra II?" Washington Monthly, September 2004.
[32] Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris, "Iran-Contra II?" Washington Monthly, September 2004.

http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ledeen_michael

Michael Ledeen - Tracy Riddle - 30-05-2013

Quote: "Most of the time, our leaders have refused to accept the fact that Iran will do everything possible to dominate or destroy us."

Where do we get these maniacs and their childish fantasies? This is the same raving nonsense we heard right after WWII, when the USSR was devastated and had lost 20 million people. But no, they want to conquer the world! Later, it was the Nicaraguans or the Iraqis who supposedly were going to march up through Texas or land in Florida. Do they really believe this crap, or are they just playing to the ignorance and fear of the average American?

Michael Ledeen - Magda Hassan - 30-05-2013

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