This is the same guy who was a member of a group which beat the drum for war in Iraq--and then denied he had anything to to with pushing that war (on National Review Online, 11/4/2006). Now he's doing the same thing with Iran--"world's greatest sponsor of international terrorism"--and so on, blah, blah, blah.

He doesn't know what he is talking about. He's building up a straw man in Iran, but it's a tired ploy. We fell for it in Iraq, and that war has been a disaster in every way. The Middle East is in far worse condition today than before the invasion of Iraq. We are hated by every Muslim there.

For a balanced view of the problems of the Middle East today, read THE SEARCH FOR AL QAEDA by Bruce Reidel. He served in the CIA for thirty years and was an adviser to various governments. He puts it all in perspective. The big problem in the Middle East is the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Al Qaeda's response to it. That's it. In his view, Iran isn't even on the radar screen.

The Iranian Time Bomb - reveals disgustingly inefficaciousness political bluders when dealing with Iran. No democratic government can deal or trust an Islamic country. Iran, Islamism, Hezbollah, Hamas, are not open minded, conservative, freedom loving leaders. The ruling Islamic mullahs have the intent, will and power to take over countries by terror acts, and they will continue to do so until they have conquered the world, and they believe the U.S. is next to fall. There should be no dealings, even oil shipments, with Islamic countries. Islam is not a religion, but a pretense. It is an evil political feudal fascism disguised as a religion. Americans and free people everywhere needs to be alerted and educated to this serious threat on our freedoms. We cannot simply accept Islam as just another peaceful religion, never. This book should be required reading in every high school, college and university, and by the public.

Those who are not yet aware of the existential threat from Iran's powerful must read this important book. It's not going to be the "light entertainment" that so many crave, but without this knowledge a person is lacking in a basic understanding of the most important and most dangerous political forces in the world today. Read the book and pass it around to all of your friends!

Ladeen's credibility is shattered beyond repair after his lies and deception about Iraq. This is another source of his unfounded and delusional imagination which does not worth the paper it is written on.

Concise, well-written, well-organized so that the situation in the M.E./Iran and its neighbors becomes quite clear. The author has done great research and a complete job. Has sparked my interest in foreign policy. Great job.

This would be a great addition for any student of the Middle East. Many of us think we are knowledgable of this part of the world from our past studies. But we are really just beginning to grasp it. This book is a great help in that area. Any media people who report in this area should see this as required reading.
The book takes us through the events of the Middle East from the 1979 capture of US hostages up through the present with continuity. It describes each administrations responses to the events. It is amazing how the US has and continues to pander to Iran. This book also describes how Iran has had their hand into practically every major event against Israel and the US. They are extremely organized and very focused on their goal...world subjugation. The book shows that, unlike us, Iran does not have this obscene sense of political correctness. That has enabled them to succeed in their war efforts while we look weak. The book shows the reader how Iran is firmly convinced that we will not fight them seriously and lays out the evidence for that. Iran truly sees itself at World War with the West and oddly enough, we don't. It's a good book and sort of a wake up call to those who think we can talk ourselves out of this.

There is nothing new or interesting in this book. Just a lot of re-hash of old stories and events. The conclusions it reaches are probably true, but the telling of the story is poor. Not very insightful or analytical. Mothing new or compelling.

This is a book that should be used as a technical manual to free Iran from the grip of its theocratic dictatorship. Excellent and factual. Mr. Ledeen has, again, made the point about Iran.

Another neocon freak, who has been agitating for war with Iran almost as long as for the Iraq War, publishes his magnum opus on the subject. This book, full of evidence cooked up by Ledeen and his poker buddies at the American Enterprise Institute, covers why we should head on to Tehran, given the success achieved in Iraq. Considering the current level of credibility of this group of clowns, the only place this book rightly belongs is on a pile of texts scheduled for book burning. The fact that Amazon's tag suggestions for this book include (and I'm not joking) the terms "bird vomit", "horrible", and "why america is hated" says it all.

This work is exceptional. Having consumed a variety of books related to Iran this one is well written and addressed the dymanics of internal Iranian politics well. It is an eye opener in terms of the dissident movement that already exists in Iran and a plan for overcoming the current issues with Iran WITHOUT military action.

History has shown over and over that appeasement is a dangerous strategy. In an articulate, well-laid out and easy to digest document the author has loudly rang an alarm bell that cuts through the fog that so often clouds our present foreign policy. Let the past speak loudly and guide our actions of the future.

Read it and remember

Michael A. Ledeen's book should be required reading for the US Department of State, accurately referred to as Foggy Bottom. Those who think him an alarmist will eventually learn.

One has to keep in mind that the leader of Iran is from an obscure Shia sect that believes the 12th Imam will return to lead the world to something better. Unfortunately Ahmadinejad is said to believe he must create a burning armaggedeon before the 12 imam returns... yes, this is the same Ahmadinejad who is trying to build nuclear arms... I suggest an internet search of 12th Imam if you are curious, very scary stuff.

to a complex issue with no easy answers. The leaders of Iran seem bent on confrontation with the West and appear to be nearly at war with us on several fronts already. Time bomb, indeed. Clearly we can not afford to wait until the acquire nuclear weapons.

Michael Ledeen's essential thesis in this book is that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an unchanging, intransigent, and implacable enemy of modernity and of the West. Since the revolution that brought the Mullahs to power, US policy has naively hoped that forces of moderation would gain the ascendancy and that a negotiated common ground would be found. Nearly thirty years later, Iran retains its hardened position, torturing its people, engaging in international terrorism, and developing a nuclear capability to dominate the region. Ledeen argues that since the Islamic Republic has not changed, it is time for US policy to promote regime change in Iran.

This is all well and good, but the key question is how to accomplish this goal.

The author proceeds from the assumption, articulated by Machiavelli, that "tyranny is the most unstable form of government". This being the case he argues that not much is needed to oust the mullahs, writing, "The Iranian people need three things from us to catalyze their wide-ranging protests into an effective revolutionary force: hope, information, and some material support".

Hope, according to Ledeen, is provided by nothing more than a declaration that the United States wants regime change in Iran, transmitted into the country by radio such as the Voice of America.

Information, in the author's view, also depends on radio broadcasts and the Internet to let the Iranian people know what's going on in their country, and to provide "how to" information from leaders of other revolutionary movements.

The needed material support to bring about the downfall of the regime includes nothing more than "satellite phones, laptops, servers, phone cards, software to beat the regime's `filtering' of the Internet, and so forth". Ledeen helpfully points out that "Such material should be distributed to the key groups: students, teachers, workers (especially truck drivers and oil and textile workers), key religious leaders, both inside Iran and to their supporters outside".

Sorry. This seems just a bit too easy.

Particularly after Ledeen's effective portrayal of the government as ruthless, tenacious, and highly organized in its grip on power, this analysis seems to exhibit the same naïveté that he is so critical of in the US policy of the last thirty years.

And there are other problems with this book.

Many controversial statements are made without supporting documentation, and this cannot help but erode the credibility of the author's argument.

This is unfortunate. Ledeen is correct that the Islamic Republic represents a profound threat that must be confronted before it is too late. It is too bad that his book is not likely to persuade those who do not yet understand this.

Having met Ledeen many years ago in Miami when working on a very difficult problem of commercial aircraft being used to import drugs from South America, I was impressed with his ability to use his experience in working with and understanding bureaucrats, bad guys, bullies, and buffoons to try to come up with ways to solve a serious threat to national security as well as the security of the airline that was being used as a "mule" for bad guys who knew how to manipulate a dysfunctional dynamic.
Having read and reviewed his earlier book about a similar dysfunctional system known as the CIA The War Against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened. Where We Are Now. How We'll Win. I wanted to see what Ledeen's take on Iran and issues we face today in confronting a regime that declared war on the USA in 1979, and is still at war with us even if few politicians have the will to acknowledge that fact.
Ledeen has done a good job of explaining the Iranian involvement in using terrorists to do its dirty work, as well as getting into the complexities of dealing with a nuclear Iran while Europe covers its eyes again.
While I don't hold out as much hope as he does that the forces favoring Western-style democracy can carry the day given the fact that half of the population was born after the "Islamic Revolution" he makes some good arguments which makes buying this book worthwhile. Of course there are those who will continue to point to the CIA involvement in Iran in the 50's as somehow more evil than the KGB's involvement there at the same time, but those are the same people who attribute Khomeini's hatred of the Shah as being based on the Shah's secret police, when in fact Khomeini's biggest beef with the Shah was appointing females as judges and trying to introduce Western notions of freedom in a society that had elements such as the Mullahs who wanted to take Iran back to the "good old days" of Mohammed.
A good book that hopefully will help those who are not blinded by their hatred of the USA be able to understand the issues involved in the Iranian conundrum as Europe sleeps again.

I am uncomfortable with the central theme of "The Iranian Time Bomb." Michael Ledeen compares the religious fanatical leaders of Iran with their significantly more secular counterparts in the former Soviet Union. The Communist thugs, however, enjoyed life and were not even slightly interested in committing suicide on behalf of the cause. Outright cynicism was the norm at the end of the regime. They seemed more interested in drinking the best vodka, eating premium caviar, and entertaining their mistresses than wiping out the West. The author may want to instead remember the last hours of Adolph Hitler and his loyal inner circle. What would have likely occurred if they possessed weapons of mass destruction? I think we already know the answer to this question. Just how nihilistically inclined are the Iranian mullahs? Are they willing to annihilate the whole planet? Do they love death more than life?

The polling data indicating, "that upward of 70 percent of Iranians want greater freedom and better relations with the United States", legitimately encourages Ledeen. But do these people control the military? When push comes to shove, will they be able to disable the weapons pointed at our direction? We know this much: the Iranian regime has unofficially declared war on the United States. Constantly the mullahs push the envelope a little further. Our own elected officials, including the present administration, have for far too long looked the other way. Ledeen provides Americans with the information they so desperately need. Is he overly optimistic about reforming the current reactionary government of Iran? Whatever, the United States is very hesitant to preemptively order its military forces to strike at Iranian targets. At the very most, we will fund revolutionary activity within the country. This is, alas, why Michael Ledeen's book is so important. We are simply not going to do anything more then what he suggests! There is another work I highly recommend that will further help one to understand how the United States got itself trapped in this mess. It is the 1985 book by Amir Taheri entitled, The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution.

The review of this book for "The Times" (9-9-07) suggests that the "star" system and the numerical tracking of positive and negative evaluations of this book may be flawed. "The Iranian Time Bomb" is an extremely biased book, and yet it is easy for clusters of like-minded fans to make it appear more useful than it really is.

The U. S. has gotten things wrong serially in Iran, by kicking out a democratically elected leader in the early '50s, by not supporting the Shah resolutely in 1978, and by not helping the moderate president, Khatami. Now Michael Ledeen (and co.) would have us err again, and again.
For what benefit? For a freer Iran? Surely not. Iranians say, "One revolution in the last thirty years is enough!" Pressures to change that government only makes it stronger. If we really wanted to alter the regime, we first need to begin thinking about "the law of unintended consequences." When you push history, history has a way of pushing back.

Iran may hold the key to resolving many problems in that part of the world. Without that key, do we just burn down the door?

Could the possibility of some resolutions, on terms other than those favored by M. Leedeen, be the real point of his doctrinaire outlook?

One more major misstep on the part of the U. S. toward Iran could be expensive for us, beyond calculation.

Michael Ledeen's ties to Zionism is a clear predictor of what his views are on American foreign policy - "sacrifice everything for Israel"! Sickening. Already over 3 thousand lives and a TRILLION US dollars have been wasted on this policy being set in Tel Aviv. The drumbeat of opposition to this has already grown too loud for the insulated neocons in the media to ignore - their days are numbered and this book is discounted....for a reason.

Michael Ledeen thinks that Iran's "mullocracy" can be toppled without U.S. force, and that American's military choices are limited to a focus on Iran's nuclear program or general bombing to destroy Iran's fascist government. He also believes that the only exportable U.S. "weapon" is "the American democratic revolution."

Like former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, I disagree. If the U.S. tackles Iran militarily, its campaign should not be hobbled in advance. Moreover, Iran is one of world's states least likely to sprout an American style democracy.

Everything else in this book, though, is not only intelligent, but necessary to U.S. national survival. Democrats and Republicans alike have got to stop playing footsie with the Islamic theocrats, and pretending that some miracle will moderate Islamic fascism.

There are many reasons for Islamic stridency, not least of all the history, theology and ideology fundamental to all forms of Islam, Shi'ite and Sunni alike (as explained brilliantly in Dr. Andrew Bostom's The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims and his forthcoming The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History).

But among the most pertinent reasons just now is the refusal of U.S. governments for the last 30 years to even examine the problem. The former President most at fault is Jimmy Carter (The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry), but certainly, others have done their bit, more than accommodating Islamic radicals whom they wishfully insist on terming "moderates." Especially Bill Clinton, (The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House) but also Ronald Reagan--who was far too consumed with defeating communism to see the next (far more dangerous) ideological war had already started--not to mention many State Department and other officials, wearing blinders, nighttime light blinders, that is.

Pretending we can negotiate with people who want to destroy the West only empowers them.

I strongly recommend reading Islamic religious history in books like Bostom's. But Michael Ledeen also offers a critical political analysis of the modern American weakness, a collective refusal to see the elephant sitting right in front of us.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Michael Ledeen thinks that Iran's "mullocracy" can be toppled without U.S. force, and that American's military choices are limited to a focus on Iran's nuclear program or general bombing to destroy Iran's fascist government. He also believes that the only exportable U.S. "weapon" is "the American democratic revolution."

Like former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, I disagree. If the U.S. tackles Iran militarily, its campaign should not be hobbled in advance. Moreover, Iran is one of world's states least likely to sprout an American style democracy.

Everything else in this book, though, is not only intelligent, but necessary to U.S. national survival. Democrats and Republicans alike have got to stop playing footsie with the Islamic theocrats, and pretending that some miracle will moderate Islamic fascism.

There are many reasons for Islamic stridency, not least of all the history, theology and ideology fundamental to all forms of Islam, Shi'ite and Sunni alike (as explained brilliantly in Dr. Andrew Bostom's The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims and his forthcoming The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History).

But among the most pertinent reasons just now is the refusal of U.S. governments for the last 30 years to even examine the problem. The former President most at fault is Jimmy Carter (The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry), but certainly, others have done their bit, more than accommodating Islamic radicals whom they wishfully insist on terming "moderates." Especially Bill Clinton, (The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House) but also Ronald Reagan--who was far too consumed with defeating communism to see the next (far more dangerous) ideological war had already started--not to mention many State Department and other officials, wearing blinders, nighttime light blinders, that is.

Pretending we can negotiate with people who want to destroy the West only empowers them.

I strongly recommend reading Islamic religious history in books like Bostom's. But Michael Ledeen also offers a critical political analysis of the modern American weakness, a collective refusal to see the elephant sitting right in front of us.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Ledeen comes from the corporatist think tank the American Enterprise Institute; so it's not difficult to predict that Ledeen will advocate for more war profiteering. War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
Our growing warfare state, including an ominous expansion of private military companies like Blackwater Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army is set on brutalizing Iran to generate more revenue, and to punish Iran for daring to denominate their oil wealth in Euros. Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq And The Future Of The Dollar
The 29% of the U.S. population that supports the Bush regime will uncritically applaud Ledeen's book and his appearances on our corporate media. Thankfully, most Americans don't subscribe to authoritarianism and Ledeen's Machiavellian notion of "leadership." Machiavelli on Modern Leadership : Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago Rather, most people act on their decent human impulses, and their faith which guides them to examine the log in their own eye instead of condemning others for the speck in their's. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

This book offers no context, no history, no honesty - just emotionally potent oversimplifications for an audience that he knows wants to be deceived. It would've been interesting to read about the real concerns of our war lords, like the possibility that China will respond in a negative way to America's state terror. China is using it's "soft power" in the world to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World (A New Republic Book)
On top of that, Venezuela has suggested that it will halt oil deliveries to the U.S. if our empire attacks Iran. Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S.

Anyway, for people who are curious as to why Ledeen and his friends like Dennis Prager and Sean Hannity are so eager to kill more human beings, simply follow the money. Why We Fight

"The world in arms is not spending money alone; it is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
-Dwight Eisenhower

Michael Ledeen thinks that Iran's "mullocracy" can be toppled without U.S. force, and that American's military choices on Iran are limited to a focus on Iran's nuclear program or general bombing to destroy Iran's fascist government. He also believes that the only exportable U.S. "weapon" is "the American democratic revolution."

Like former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, I disagree. If the U.S. tackles Iran militarily, its campaign should not be hobbled in advance. Moreover, Iran is one of world's states least likely to sprout an American style democracy.

But everything else in this book is not only intelligent, but necessary to U.S. national survival. Democrats and Republicans alike have got to stop playing footsie with the Islamic theocrats, and pretending that some miraculous event will moderate Islamic fascism.

There are many reasons for this, not least of all the history, theology and ideology fundamental to all forms of Islam, Shi'ite and Sunni alike (as explained brilliantly in Dr. Andrew Bostom's The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims and his forthcoming The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History).

But among the most pertinent reasons just now is the refusal of U.S. governments for the last 30 years to even examine the problem. The former President most at fault is Jimmy Carter (The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry), but certainly, others have done their bit, more than accommodating Islamic radicals whom they wishfully insist on terming "moderates." Especially Bill Clinton, (The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House) but also Ronald Reagan--who was far too consumed with defeating communism to see the next (far more dangerous) ideological war had already started--not to mention many State Department and other officials, wearing blinders, nighttime light blinders, that is.

I strongly recommend reading Islamic religious history in books like Bostom's. But Michael Ledeen also offers a critical political analysis of the modern American weakness, a collective refusal to see the elephant sitting right in front of us.

--Alyssa A. Lappen