Michael Ledeen

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Michael Ledeen (born August 1, 1941) is an expert on U.S. foreign policy and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. His political ideas, informed by his background in history and philosophy, have influenced or inspired the Bush administration. Ledeen is a contributing editor to the National Review and the Jewish World Review, and a resident scholar (Freedom Scholar) at the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen was a founding member of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and he continues to serve on the JINSA Board of Advisors. Ledeen is also considered by many to be a U.S. neoconservative.

Ledeen holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in the comparative history of German and Italian fascism. One of Ledeen's principal mentors was the German-born historian George Mosse. Another major influence on Ledeen was the Italian historian Renzo De Felice. Ledeen's political ideas are said to have influenced or inspired the Bush administration.

Ledeen was a major figure in the biggest foreign policy scandal of the Ronald Reagan administration. As a secret agent of National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, Ledeen vouched for Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, and along with Oliver North, met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and officers of Mossad and the CIA to arrange the illegal weapons-for-hostages deal with Iran that would become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.¹

He was also a vocal proponent of the theory that the Bulgarian Secret Service was behind the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II. The theory was later rejected by the Italian Courts. In early 2005 it was suggested that new evidence, in the form of East German Stasi documents, show that it was the Bulgarians in concert with the KGB and Stasi who were behind the plot. The former head of the Stasi, Marcus Wolf, and the Berlin office overseeing the Stasi archive, claim that the documents in question were sent to Italy in 1995 and do not implicate anyone in the attack on the Pope. [1]

Regarding regime change in the Middle East, in 2002 Ledeen criticized the views of former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, writing:

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 caldron 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.²

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 September 2002, Ledeen's book, The War Against the Terror Masters (ISBN: 031230644X) was published.

Earlier in his career, Ledeen authored Universal Fascism: The Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 1928-1936, published in 1972 and now out of print. The book critiqued European fascism, particularly Italian fascism; Ledeen attempted to differentiate between the an ideal, revolutionary "fascist movement," which he views in a positive light, and the failed, under-reaching "fascist regime."

In 2005, Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism operations at the CIA and the intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan, when asked by Ian Masters if Ledeen was the source of the forged memo that claimed that Iraq had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger replied, "You'd be very close." However, just moments earlier when asked, "Do we know who produced those documents?" Cannistraro stated, " I’d rather not speak about it right now, because I don’t think it’s a proven case"[2]

In an interview on July 26, 2005, Cannistraro's business partner and columnist for the American Conservative magazine, former CIA counter terrorism officer Philip Giraldi, confirmed to Scott Horton that the forgeries were produced by "a couple of former CIA officers who are familiar with that part of the world who are associated with a certain well-known neoconservative who has close connections with Italy." When Horton guessed whether that was Ledeen, Giraldi confirmed it and added that the ex-CIA officers, "also had some equity interests, shall we say, with the operation. A lot of these people are in consulting positions, and they get various, shall we say, emoluments in overseas accounts, and that kind of thing."[3] Yet, Philip Giraldi more recently stated in a piece he wrote for The American Conservative magazine, November 21, 2005 issue, "At this point, any American connection to the actual forgeries remains unsubstantiated . . .." [[4]] Ledeen is also a member of Benador Associates [5] a combination "public relations agency", speaker's bureau and blog with a long roster of neo-conservative clients.

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Work

Universal fascism; the Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 1928-1936, 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 0878551905.
The First Duce : D'Annunzio at Fiume, Baltimore ; London : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977 ISBN 0801818605.
Italy In Crisis, Beverly Hills [Calif.] : Sage publications, 1977 ISBN 0803907923.
co-written with George Mosse Nazism : A Historical and Comparative Analysis of National Socialism, New Brunswick, N.J. : Transaction Books, 1978 ISBN 0878556613.
co-written with William Lewis Debacle, The American Failure In Iran, New York : Knopf :distributed by Random House, 1981 ISBN 0394516577.
Grave New World, New York : Oxford University Press, 1985 ISBN 0195034910.
West European Communism And American Foreign Policy, New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A. : Transaction Books, 1987 ISBN 0887381405.
Perilous Statecraft : An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair, New York : Scribner, 1988 ISBN 0684189941.
Superpower Dilemmas : the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. at Century's End, New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Publishers, 1992 ISBN 0887388914.
Freedom Betrayed : how America led a Global Democratic Revolution, won the Cold War, and Walked Away, Washington, D.C. : AEI Press ; London : Distributed outside the United States by arrangement with Eurospan, 1996 ISBN 0844739928.
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 031220471X.
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 031230644X.

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References

[6] FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL FOR IRAN/CONTRA MATTERS Volume I: "Investigations and Prosecution", Lawrence E. Walsh, Independent Counsel, 4 August 4 1993, Washington, D.C.
[7] Michael Ledeen, "Scowcroft Strikes Out," National Review, 6 August 2002.
[8] John Laughland, "Flirting with Fascism," The American Conservative, 30 June 2003.

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External links

"Who is Michael Ledeen?", William O. Beeman, Pacific New Service, May 2003.
American Enterprise Institute Profile
Source Watch Profile
Right Web Profile
"Flirting with Fascism: Neocon theorist Michael Ledeen draws more from Italian fascism than from the American Right", John Laughland, American Conservative, 30 June 2003.
"Cheney's Plan to Nuke Iran" interview of Philip Giraldi by Scott Horton, weekendinterviewshow.com, July 26, 2005
Interview with Ledeen, Front Page Magazine, conducted by Jamie Glazov, 30 December, 2003.
Michael Ledeen Archive, National Review.
Ledeen on the Run, Anthony Gancarski, Antiwar.com.
Yellow Cake and Black Shirts, Rigorous Intuition.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen"

Categories: U.S. political scandals | History of Iran | Fascist/Nazi era scholars and writers