Pretty scary stuff on NPR today.

[cornermouse]

I don't know who was scarier, Ledeen or the liberal who followed and disputed Ledeen's position. But the short version is that Ledeen said that if we don't try to overthrow Iran and Syria through things like a Radio Free Europe style radio broadcast we're going to have to overthrow them militarily and that Iran has been attacking us for the last 27 years.

The individual who followed pointed out all the damage Iran could do if we attack, such as cutting off the oil which could result in $100 or $200 a barrel oil. This on top of the fact that we have had people on the ground for at least two years inside of Iran.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5736783

Conservative thinker Michael Ledeen holds the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, but prefers the term "democratic revolutionary" to "neoconservative." He discusses the current and future U.S. policy toward Iran, arguing that the United States should encourage change from within the country, rather than launching an all-out attack.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Iran has been attacking us? I thought

Saudi Arabia would be more like it.

[cornermouse]

5. That shows how much you and the rest of us know...

She questioned him on it particularly. He stated very firmly that Iran has been attacking us for the last 27 years. I expect to hear this line again, probably from Bush and Cheney.

[Avalux]

2. Ledeen was behind the Niger documents -

close friend of Rove. He's a slimy little weasel and big time neocon, every interview he gives and every article he writes supports taking over the middle east. He wants it so bad he lies and schemes to make it happen.

[cornermouse]

3. I'd heard the name Ledeen before, but I don't think I've ever

actually noticed him. The general lack of touch with reality and the point of view that he was pushing was very frightening.

[stillcool]

4. and he also had a part in the Iran/Contra dealings..

good buddies with Ghorbanifar, who failed (5) lie detetector tests, but still acted as the major degotiator between the US and Iran, trading weapons for hostages held in Lebannon...including a few extra bucks for the Contra's needs. And, of course Israel took part in the dealings as well...providing their own weapons for sale to Iran, as long as the US replenished their stock. I know nothing is ever as it seems...but these days I can't figure out what it even seems like!

[chat_noir]

6. excerpts from Right Web article (with his email address)

In March 2006 Ledeen testified before the House Committee on International Relations and recommended a policy of regime change and revolution in Iran. Ledeen argued that the U.S. government has “yet to fight back” against the terror masters in Iran. The mullahs “have waged unholy war against us” since 1979, he said. “They created Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad, and they support most all the others, from Hamas and al-Qaida 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.” 6

“That leaves us with three courses of action,” said Ledeen, “none of which is automatically exclusive of the others: sanctions, military strikes, and support for democratic revolution. I am opposed to sanctions, I am generally opposed to military strikes, and I fully endorse support for revolution.”

He recommended that Congress move to back the Iran Freedom Support Act “by more openly embracing a policy of regime change in Iran, and allocating an adequate budget to demonstrate our seriousness in this endeavor. I know some members would prefer to dance around the explicit declaration of regime change as the policy of this country, but anyone looking closely at the language and content of the Iran Freedom Support Act, and its close relative in the Senate, can clearly see that that is in fact the essence of the matter. You can't have freedom in Iran without bringing down the mullahs.”

“The first step in crafting a suitable policy toward Iran,” said Ledeen, “is to abandon the pretense that we can arrive at a negotiated settlement.” Instead, the U.S. government should support “revolution” against the Iranian regime. While arguing that Iran is rife with dissent, Ledeen has failed to make a convincing case that dissidents living in Iran would welcome U.S. aid.

Although Ledeen is frequently quoted by the media and has testified in Congress on Iran policy, he has dubious credentials as an Iran expert. “Michael Ledeen has never been to Iran; he speaks no Persian,” said Brown University Professor William Beeman, the author of a new book on U.S.-Iran relations. “He has minimal credibility in assessing the Iranian elections, or evaluating the political situation there.” 9


Not one to mince words, Ledeen urged the then-newly installed Bush administration (National Review Online, March 8, 2001) to purge the “environmental whackos, radical feminazos,” and “foreign-policy types on the National Security Council Staff and throughout State, CIA, and Defense, who are still trying to create Bill Clinton's legacy in the Middle East.”


Institutional Affiliations1

American Enterprise Institute: Freedom Scholar
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs: Member, Board of Advisers
Coalition for Democracy in Iran: Co-founder
American Spectator, Wall Street Journal: Regular contributor
The New Republic: Rome Correspondent (1975-1977)
Washington Quarterly: Founding Editor
National Review Online: Contributing Editor
U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon: Golden Circle Supporter
Benador Associates: Speakers bureau
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Senior Fellow (1982-86)/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 Chechnya: Member
Government Service

U.S.-China Commission: Commissioner (2001-2003)
Department of State: Consultant, Under Secretary of Political Affairs (1982-86)
Department of Defense: Consultant, Office of the Secretary (1982-86)
White House: Consultant, National Security Adviser to the President (1982-86)
Department of State: Special Adviser to the Secretary (1981-82)
Education

University of Wisconsin: Ph.D., history and philosophy
University of Wisconsin: M.S., history and philosophy
Pomona College: B.A.
Contact Information

Michael A. Ledeen
American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: [phone]
Assistant: 202-862-5855
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1261

[cornermouse]

9. This is a very scary man.

No joke.

[sutz12]

7. Wow....

so the supposition is already determined. We mush overthrow the governments of Syria and Iran. Is there no debate on that basic issue? Are we down to arguing how....and not why?

>>Iran has been attacking us for 27 years<<

Right, ever since they got Reagan elected, and he followed up by supporting Saddam. I'm sure they're pissed that he wasn't more grateful for them holding our hostages an extra couple of months to ensure his victory over Carter.

Good lord, a neo-con is a "democratic revolutionary"?!?! What a load of crap.

[Emit]

8. Ledeen has been pushing this for a long time

More on this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1106962#1110627

from this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1106962