Inside the Revolution

by Joel C. Rosenberg

  321 Ibid, August 14, 2006 story.

  322 See Mehdi Khalaji, Apocalyptic Politics: On the Rationality of Iranian Policy, p. 35; Melman and Javedanfar, The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran, p. 43; Naji, Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader, p. 92; Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future, p. 67.

  323 See Khalaji, p. 34.

  324 Cited by Khalaji, p. 4.

  325 See Khalaji, p. 4; Melman and Javedanfar, p. 44.

  326 See the Institute’s Web site, http://www.intizar.org/en/.

  327 Interviews with teachers at the Bright Future Institute; see Melman and Javedanfar, pp. 43–44.

  328 Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini, Al-Imam al-Mahdi, the Just Leader of Humanity, trans. Dr. Abulaziz Sachedina (Qum, Iran: Ahul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project, electronic online version), http://www.al-islam.org/mahdi/nontl/Toc.htm, accessed April 15, 2006.

  329 The World Towards Illumination, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, http://english.irib.ir/IRAN/Leader/Illumination.htm, accessed January 2, 2007 (as of June 2008, the Web posting had been removed); see posting on Joel C. Rosenberg’s blog: “Iran Says 2007 Could Bring Islamic Messiah, Possibly This Spring,” January 2, 2007; see also, “Waiting for the Mahdi: Official Iranian Eschatology Outlined in Public Broadcasting Program in Iran,” MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1436, January 25, 2007.

  330 The series did not specify whether this person was President Ahmadinejad or someone to come.

  331 See Yaakov Lappin, “Iran: Mahdi Will Defeat Archenemy in Jerusalem,” YnetNews.com, December 31, 2006.

  332 The World Towards Illumination, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

  333 Cited by A. Savyon and Y. Mansharof, “The Doctrine of Mahdism: In the Ideological and Political Philosophy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Mesbah-e Yazdi,” MEMRI Special Dispatch Series - No. 357, May 31, 2007.

  334 Cited by Y. Mansharof and A. Savyon, “Escalation in the Positions of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—A Special Report,” MEMRI Special Dispatch Series - No. 389, September 17, 2007.

  335 Ibid.

  336 Ibid.

  337 See transcripts of President Ahmadinejad’s speeches to the U.N. and Columbia University as reported in the Washington Post, September 24, 2007.

  338 See The Iraq Study Group Report, p. 32.

  339 See Kathleen Ridolfo, “Analysis: Iraqi Defense Minister Continues Accusations against Iran, Syria,” RFE/RL, January 19, 2005.

  340 See “Most Foreign Insurgents Come from Iran,” Al-Taji, May 8, 2006, cited by IranFocus.com, May 9, 2006.

  341 Cited by Jafarzadeh, The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis, p. 85.

  342 See “Report: 70 Percent of Insurgents in Iraq Come from Gulf States via Syria,” Associated Press, May 23, 2007.

  343 Cited by Ali Akbar Dareini, “Iran Ready to Fill Any Vacuum in Iraq,” Associated Press, August 28, 2007.

  344 See “Iraqi Forces Discover ‘Largest’ Iranian EFP Cache,” IranFocus.com, April 9, 2008.

  345 Cited by Peter Spiegel, “Petraeus Calls Iran-Backed Groups Biggest Threat in Iraq,” Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2008.

  346 “Hayden: Killing Americans Is Iran’s Policy,” Associated Press, May 1, 2008.

  347 In March 2008, Ahmadinejad actually told a Spanish newspaper that he would have no problem seeing Barack Obama elected president of the United States instead of John McCain. After it became clear that he had gone too far and might actually damage Obama’s chances, Ahmadinejad had to publicly state that he had not intended to endorse the junior senator from Illinois. (See “Ahmadinejad: I Never Endorsed Obama,” Press TV, March 5, 2008. See also “Iran Avoids Support for US Presidential Hopefuls,” Fars News Agency, March 11, 2008.)

  348 Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Report Says Iran Halted Nuclear Weapons Program in 2003,” International Herald Tribune, December 3, 2007.

  349 Sen. Richard Shelby, interview with PBS NewsHour, June 3, 1998. See also “CIA Caught Off Guard on India Nuclear Test,” CNNInterctive.com, http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9805/12/india.cia/index.html, accessed March 24, 2008; and “U.S. Intelligence and the Indian Bomb: Documents Show U.S. Intelligence Failed to Warn of India’s Nuclear Tests Despite Tracking Nuclear Weapons Potential Since 1950s,” National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 187, George Washington University, available online at: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB187/index.htm, accessed March 24, 2008.

  350 For examples, see Amb. John Bolton, “The Flaws in the Iran Report,” Washington Post, December 6, 2007; and Gerald M. Steinberg, “Decoding the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program,” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, www.jcpa.org, December 5, 2007.

  351 “Good and Bad News about Iran,” New York Times editorial, December 5, 2007.

  352 “‘High Confidence’ Games: The CIA’s Flip-Flop on Iran Is Hardly Reassuring,” Wall Street Journal editorial, December 5, 2007.

  353 “Intelligence on Iran,” Washington Post editorial, December 5, 2007.

  354 “Iran Hands IAEA Nuclear Blueprints,” Associated Press, November 14, 2007.

  355 See Patricia McNerney, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Security and Nonproliferation, “Testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security,” April 24, 2008.

  356 “IAEA ‘Alarmed’ by Iran’s Alleged Nuclear Weapons Work: Diplomat,” Agence France-Presse, May 29, 2008.

  357 “Report: Iran Says It Now Has 6,000 Centrifuges,” Associated Press, July 27, 2008.

  358 See David Morgan, “U.S. Says Iran Has Missile That Could Hit Europe,” Reuters, July 15, 2008.

  359 “Iran Launches Satellite Carrier into Space,” Press TV, August 17, 2008.

  360 “Abizaid: We Can Live with a Nuclear Iran,” ABC News.com, September 17, 2007, http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/09/abizaid-we-can-.html, accessed June 26, 2008.

  361 Cited by Tom Curry, “Would Deterrence Work against Nuclear Iran?” MSNBC, July 6, 2007.

  362 Hillary Clinton, interview on Good Morning America, ABC, April 22, 2008.

  363 Joe Biden, speech delivered at the Iowa City Public Library, December 3, 2007, http://www.cfr.org/publication/14976/joe_bidens_speech_on_iran.html, accessed August 26, 2008.

  364 See Paul McGeough, “Down Syndrome Youth Used as Suicide Bomber,” The Age (Sydney, Australia), February 2, 2005.

  365 “Minister: Suicide Bomber a Handicapped Child,” Associated Press, January 31, 2005.

  366 Kim Gamel, “Female Bombers Strike Markets in Baghdad,” Associated Press, February 1, 2008.

  367 Female suicide bombers are becoming more common in Radical operations. Between 1985 and 2006, more than 220 women were suicide bombers worldwide, about 15 percent of the total, according to Mia Bloom, author of Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror.

  368 “U.S.: ‘Demonic’ Militants Sent Women to Bomb Markets in Iraq,” CNN, February 2, 2008.

  369 Goss was referring to William Buckley, the CIA’s Beirut station chief, who was kidnapped by Hezbollah on March 16, 1984, and later died in captivity due to illness and torture in June of 1985.

  370 Porter Goss, interviews with the author. I submitted twenty-five written questions to Goss by e-mail. He sent written answers to those questions—cleared by the CIA—on February 11, 2008. I then conducted a videotaped interview with Goss on February 12, 2008, for use in this book, at our Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem in April 2008, and for a documentary film based on this book.

  371 See Michael Ledeen, “Iran Is at War with Us,” National Review Online, March 28, 2006, http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200603280728.asp, accessed August 23, 2008; see “Iran’s Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 68, Appeared on State TV Monday Looking Pale and Feeble, after Suffering
a Cerebral Stroke Last Wednesday Jan. 3,” Debka File report, January 13, 2007, http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3708, accessed August 23, 2008; see “Iran Denies Reports on Khamenei Death,” Al Bawaba, January 7, 2007, http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iran/208173, accessed August 23, 2008.

  372 Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. In 2004, he confessed to selling blueprints, equipment, and technical advice to Iran, Libya, and North Korea to develop their nuclear weapons programs.

  373 For a detailed and excellent analysis of the Saudi threat, see Dore Gold’s book Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism.

  374 See J. Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, “Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community,” testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, February 27, 2008.

  375 Cited by James Pethokoukis, “So How Goes Bin Laden’s War on the U.S. Economy?” U.S. News & World Report, September 11, 2007.

  376 Ibid.

  377 Cited by Randall Hamud, Osama bin Laden: America’s Enemy in His Own Words, pp. 163–164.

  378 Cited in “Ahmadinejad: Doom Will Befall US Economy,” Press TV, April 23, 2008.

  379 Cited in “Iran Threatens to Close Strait of Hormuz if Attacked,” MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 2029, August 19, 2008.

  380 For historic oil prices, see Lawrence Kumins, “Oil Prices: Overview of Current World Market Dynamics,” CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, October 26, 2001. For historic gas prices, see “Crude Oil Production and Crude Oil Well Productivity: 1954–2006,” Annual Energy Review, Table 5.2, U.S. Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec5_7.pdf.

  381 See “Iran Threatens to Stop Oil Flow via Hormuz Strait,” Jerusalem Post, January 8, 2007; “Iran Threatens to Close Straits of Hormuz with Missile Launch,” Oil and Gas Journal, August 4, 2008; “Iran Threatens US Ships in Hormuz,” Al Arabiya, January 7, 2008, http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/01/07/43906.html, accessed August 23, 2008.

  382 See “Crude Oil Production and Crude Oil Well Productivity: 1954–2006.”

  383 See Charles Krauthammer, “McCain’s Oil Epiphany,” Washington Post, June 20, 2008.

  384 See Dr. Suzanne Weedman, energy program coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, testimony before the Energy Subcommitte of the House Science Committee, May 3, 2001.

  385 See “It’s Domestic Energy, Stupid” editorial, Investor’s Business Daily, June 11, 2008.

  386 See text of President Jefferson’s first inaugural address, March 4, 1801, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jefinau1.htm, accessed August 31, 2008.

  387 Ibid.

  388 See John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? pp. x–xi.

  389 Ibid, p. 47.

  390 See “Iraqi Vote Mirrors Desire for Democracy in the Muslim World,” press release, Pew Global Attitudes Project, February 3, 2005.

  391 Ibid.

  392 7. Robert F. Worth, “Relations With Turkey Kindle Hopes in Syria,” New York Times, December 14, 2009.

  393 8. “Arms from Turkey, Syria, Iran to Hezbollah,” UPI, August 12, 2010.

  394 See Benazir Bhutto, Reconciliation, p. 270.

  395 It should be noted that Benazir Bhutto’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto—educated at Berkley and Oxford—was a Sunni Muslim who married a Shia Muslim (his second wife). Benazir was born to Zulfikar’s second wife. While Benazir was studying at Harvard in 1971, Zulfikar was elected president of Pakistan and served until 1973. His was an enormously controversial tenure, filled with charges of corruption and human-rights abuses. He was eventually arrested, convicted, and executed on charges of murder. During his time in office, however, he authored Pakistan’s current constitution and made efforts to move his country bit by bit toward a Turkish-style democracy, Islamic-friendly but secular in nature.

  396 Ibid, pp. 269–270.

  397 Ibid, p. 2.

  398 Ibid, pp. 31, 37–38.

  399 Ibid, pp. 79–80.

  400 Ibid, pp. 132, 134, 142.

  401 Ibid, pp. 26–27.

  402 Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, p. 153.

  403 See David Horovitz, “Reformed al-Zawahiri Disciple in Israel,” Jerusalem Post, January 8, 2008.

  404 See Eli Lake, “Senior al Qaeda Theologian Urges His Followers to End Their Jihad,” New York Sun, December 20, 2007.

  405 See “Major Jihadi Cleric and Author of Al-Qaeda’s Shari’a Guide to Jihad: 9/11 Was a Sin,” MEMRI Special Dispatch Series - No. 1785, December 14, 2007; http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP178507, accessed July 9, 2008.

  406 See Abdul Hameed Bakier, “Imprisoned Leader of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad Challenges al-Qaeda,” Terrorism Monitor, The Jamestown Foundation, December 10, 2007.

  407 Hossein Khomeini, event hosted by Michael A. Ledeen, American Enterprise Institute, September 26, 2003, http://www.aei.org/events/filter.,eventID.630/transcript.asp, accessed July 25, 2008.

  408 Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), August 4, 2003; cited in MEMRI Special Dispatch Series - No. 548, August 6, 2003.

  409 See Khomeini transcript.

  410 See Khomeini transcript.

  411 Michael Ledeen, interview with author, September 2, 2008.

  412 See “Bush: U.S., Europeans Speaking with ‘One Voice’ on Iran,” CNN, March 11, 2005; Anne Gearan, “Rice Praises European Plan on Iran,” Associated Press, May 10, 2006; “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Backs European Nuclear Talks on Iran,” Associated Press, September 27, 2006.

  413 Interview on Al Arabiyah, cited in “Ayatollah Khomeini’s Grandson: Grandfather’s Revolution Devoured its Children, Strayed from Original Course,” Iran Press News, June 15, 2006; see also, Philip Sherwell, “Ayatollah’s Grandson Calls for U.S. Overthrow of Iran,” London Telegraph, June 19, 2006.

  414 See interview on Al Arabiyah, cited in “Ayatollah Khomeini’s Grandson: Grandfather’s Revolution Devoured its Children”; see also Eli Lake, “Unlikely Pair Emerges as Foe of Iran Regime,” New York Sun, June 13, 2006.

  415 See Dafna Linzer, “Ex-Iranian Official Talks to Western Intelligence: Deputy Defense Minister Instrumental in Founding of Hezbollah, Officials Say,” Washington Post, March 8, 2007; “Defector Spied on Iran for Years,” Ynet News, March 11, 2007; “Iranian Defector Enabled IAF Syria Strike,” Al Jerida (Kuwait), cited by Arutz Sheva, September 28, 2007; “Report: Defecting Iranian Official Gave Info before Alleged Syrian Foray,” Jerusalem Post, September 28, 2007; “Israel: Asghari Gave Syrian Intelligence,” Stratfor, September 28, 2007.

  416 See “Top Iranian Defector on Iran’s Collaboration with Iraq, North Korea, Al-Qa’ida, and Hizbullah,” MEMRI Special Dispatch Series - No. 473, February 20, 2003.

  417 See “Son of Iranian General Defects to US,” BBC News, July 3, 1998. See also Voice of America interview, February 24, 1999, available at http://www.fas.org/news/iran/1999/990224-iran.htm, accessed June 26, 2008

  418 Ibid, VOA interview.

  419 The danger to Iranian dissidents and defectors is real. Iran has been known to assassinate, kidnap, and torture such critics. A report by the Foundation for Democracy in Iran found that between 1979 and 1996 alone, “some 70 Iranian exiles and political activists [were] killed by Iranian government agents overseas.” The group also noted that a U.N. subcommittee on human rights officially condemned Iran’s extraterritorial killings in a resolution passed on April 24, 1996. The resolution stated that the international community “deplores the continuing violence against Iranians outside the Islamic Republic of Iran” and affirmed that governments “are accountable for assassinations and attacks by their agents.” (See “FDI releases report on assassinations,” Action Memorandum 011, Foundation for Democracy in Iran, May 6, 1996.) In 2007, Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal reported that “Ahmad Rezai has . . . reportedly returned to Iran, though whether he did so voluntarily or under dures
s isn’t clear.” I e-mailed Stephens in September 2008. At that point, he said the trail on Rezai was still cold. I can only hope and pray that he is safe. (See Bret Stephens, “Iran’s al Qaeda,” Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2007.)

  420 See World Fact Book, Central Intelligence Agency, updated July 24, 2008, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html, accessed July 26, 2008; and “Population and Growth,” Iran Daily, March 15, 2006.