Letters to the Editor
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I think Ledeen looks like horns growing out of his head
And a long tail would suit him.
Although Ledeen was in favor of regime change in Iraq, he believed that Iran should have been the first priority. Ledeen's phrase, "faster, please" has become a signature meme in Ledeen's writings 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.
Ledeen currently claims to be against a US invasion of Iran: "Not that I want the Marines marching on Tehran, as readers of this blog are well aware". But he is apparently arguing for airstrikes against Iran without a full military invasion, as laid out in this article on his blog at Pajamas Media:
"I have little sympathy for those who have avoided the obvious necessity of confronting Iran"
"This is a particularly good moment to go after the mullahs, because they are deeply engaged in a war of all against all within Iran."
"Just as the likes of General Abizaid need to be replaced with generals who are prepared to attack targets like the terrorist training camps (especially those used by Hizbollah) in Iran and Syria, so we need civilian leadership that will attack our enemies politically."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen
Responses from this group from Bernador to the Vanity Fair article:
http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/20260
Glenn has called Bamford a "superb journalist". Most of Glenn's regular readers know I am not partial to conspiracism or conspiracy theories but I have come to the conclusion after re-examining this for the last few days that U.S.S. Liberty Incident bears further study. Bamford, disagrees. He's been convinced that is was a deliberate attack and covered up since his book, Body of Secrets came out early in 2001. Something happened in September of that year that took the focus off the one controversy that was developing but I don't buy that one. Sorry. I think Bamford's conclusions bear further investigation. If the IDF did intend to sink the Liberty and kill its entire crew to leave no witnesses to the massacre of Egyptian POWs, this should be made known to the American public. You should read Bamford's response to Steven Aftergood:
FROM: James Bamford
TO: Steve Aftergood
DATE: July 25, 2001
SUBJECT: Response to charges made in Secrecy News on July 17, 2001
http://fas.org/sgp/eprint/bamford.html