IRAN and the US Neo-conservatives

"Michael Ledeen is on the more extreme wing of neo-conservatism, but he paves the way for the more cautious. Ledeen has currently set up the Center for Democracy in Iran, an action group focusing on producing regime change in Iran". Christopher Jones comments: "After I read this, I began to wonder if Farah Diba is packing her suitcases to return to the Niavaran palace. Unfortunately for both Iranians and Americans, nobody realized the consequences of Jimmy Carter's betrayal of the Shah and the end of the Pahlevi monarchy. Although he was a card carrying megalomaniac, Mohammed Reza was a sweetheart compared to Ayatollah Khomeini and his band of merry mullahs. (this is very interesting: every time a so called US friendly strongman has been toppled, the replacement has been even more ferocious -- cases: Lon Nol replaced with Pol Pot; Batista with Castro; Nguyen van Thieu with the North Vietnamese politburo; One thing seems certain though: Iran will not be quite so easy prey like Iraq. The regime is making an all out effort to acquire a bomb and produce it. Their centrifugal technology is well advanced and capable; their collaboration with North Korea on delivery systems is well known. So the question is: can the mullah state be toppled from the inside (like Kermit Roosevelt's coup against Mossadeq) or is the military option the only way to topple the Islamic republic? What happened to the noble profession of secret agent?"

Ronald Hilton - 5/24/03