Michael Ledeen: Push Democratic Revolt in Iran

[sabra]

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=12695


Exclusive Interview:
Ledeen: Push Democratic Revolt in Iran


Michael Ledeen, the Freedom Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, says pushing a democratic revolution within Iran is the wisest policy the United States can pursue to avert the threat posed by that country's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In fact, Ledeen believes Iran has already developed a nuclear weapon, which, in his view, they will not test until it is deployable on an intermediate-range missile.

Ledeen, who holds a doctorate in history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, was a consultant to the National Security Council and the State and Defense Departments during the Reagan Administration. He is also the author of The War Against the Terror Masters (St. Martin's Press). He was interviewed by Human Events Editors Terence P. Jeffrey and Allan H. Ryskind.

...


If they are a terrorist regime and they are acting the way Adolph Hitler did, and we know the Guardian Council vetoes any kind of reform, how easy will it be for us to do it, especially when we have Shi’ites in Iraq, Moqtada Sadr, saying he’ll come to the aid of Iran if they’re under any pressure.


Ledeen: Oh dear. Oh dear. Moqtada and his five guys, right? He didn’t do as well as most expected in the Iraqi elections, and most Iraqi Shi’ites hate Iran. Look, I understand all that. But the world -- even in the Middle Eastern tyrannies -- is much more open than people imagine. You can transfer money to anybody anywhere in the world now through this underground money-changer, money-transfer system that operates all over the Islamic world. You can move money. There’s nothing to prevent that from happening. I am in contact and friends of mine are in contact with plenty of dissident Iranians ranging from Ayatollahs to students. Communication is possible. It is sometimes tricky. It is sometimes difficult. It is sometimes interrupted. But it works.


The NSA may be intercepting your e-mails, Michael.


Ledeen: (Laughter.) Well, I'm sure they intercept all my e-mails and I hope they enjoy them.

:crazy:

[Avalux]

1. Ledeen is scum just like his buddy Rove.

A neocon supremo, he was directly involved with the Niger yellowcake fraud. Should be in jail but instead, he gets props for being an expert and pushes for war.

[stop the bleeding]

3. jailed?? - he should be banished to the 12th plain of HELL - the guy

is pure evil with an equal amount of scare/bullshit. If you know that he is wrapped in the Niger/Plamegate debacle then I am sure you are aware that he is involved in everything from the early 70's on.

This guy along with a few others(Cheney & Rumsfeld) surely need to leave this planet

[Avalux]

9. Of course I agree with you -

how about the whole lot of them shackled and exhibited on the lawn in DC first - then millions of Americans, forming and endless line, would step up and spit directly in their faces, hours and hours and hours of it. That would be cool. ;-)

[HereSince1628]

2. Deja Vu, 1997 change that "q" to an "n" and arrive at today.

Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

But Neoconse don't believe in contemporary history, as NeoCon con-man F. Fukuyama wrote, history was finished way before 1997.

[rodeodance]

4. oh no--he got his doctorate from UW-Wisconsin! dam.

Ledeen, who holds a doctorate in history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, was a consultant to the National Security Council and the State and Defense Departments during the Reagan Administration. He is also the author of The War Against the Terror Masters (St. Martin's Press). He was interviewed by Human Events Editors Terence P. Jeffrey and Allan H. Ryskind.

[rodeodance]

5. and he also said his buddies said OBL is buried in IRan. yes he did.

[rodeodance]

8. "The al Qaeda leader died of kidney failure" Link

http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200601090808.asp

......This historical moment is not easy to understand, since we are in transition from a relatively stable world, dominated by a handful of major powers, to something we cannot yet define, since it is up to us to shape it. It seems clear, however, that there is a greater rapidity of change, accompanied — inevitably — by the passing of the leaders of the old order. This is particularly clear in the Middle East, where seven key figures have been struck down in the past six years: King Hussein of Jordan in February, 1999. King Hassan of Morocco in July of the same year. Syrian dictator Hafez al Assad in June of 2000. Yasser Arafat of the PLO in April, 2004. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in May of last year. Ariel Sharon of Israel was incapacitated by a stroke in early January. And, according to Iranians I trust, Osama bin Laden finally departed this world in mid-December. The al Qaeda leader died of kidney failure and was buried in Iran, where he had spent most of his time since the destruction of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Iranians who reported this note that this year's message in conjunction with the Muslim Haj came from his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for the first time.

This remarkable tempo of change is not likely to diminish, as old and/or sick men are in key positions in several countries: Israel's Shimon Peres is 82. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is 82 (and his designated successor, Prince Sultan, is 81, and was recently operated for stomach cancer). Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, although probably in his sixties, is said to have serious liver cancer, and is not expected to survive the next year.

And, of course, the patient activities of the Grim Reaper are not the only source of revolutionary change in the region. Saddam was a relatively young man (mid-sixties) when he was toppled by Coalition forces; the deposed Taliban leaders were relatively young as well (Mullah Omar is barely 50); and the likes of Bashar Assad, the Iranian mullahs (Khamenei is probably in his early sixties), and even the legions of the Saudi royal family have to contend with mounting animus from the West, and mounting cries for freedom from their own people.

[enigma000]

6. Between this and bombing them, I'd go for a democratic revolt

It's not like the Iranians are especially fond of their government. And if the mullahs in charge can't control that wacko President, its the Iranian people who will suffer. But I imagine the Iranians know this already.

So what do you think, should the international community press for a democratic revolution in Iran? If you don't trust the US to be involved then why not Europe, Australia, and Canada.

[mnmoderatedem]

7. Proof positive, yet again...

that they just don't learn from their mistakes....

[sabra]

10. not only that, they get the "medal of freedom" :-)