Be wary, and do not dismiss the contrarian viewpoint.

Time

"By [Ghorbanifar's] own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly. Says Michael Ledeen, adviser to the Pentagon on counterterrorism: "[Ghorbanifar] is one of the most honest, educated, honorable men I have ever known." Others call him a liar who, as one puts it, could not tell the truth about the clothes he is wearing,"...

To fulfill his grand geopolitical vision, he demonstrated a willingness to destabilize an entire region and to risk nuclear war: In 1977 Zbigniew Brzezinski, as President Carter’s National Security Adviser, forms the Nationalities Working Group (NWG) dedicated to the idea of weakening the Soviet Union by inflaming its ethnic tensions. The Islamic populations are regarded as prime targets. Richard Pipes, the father of Daniel Pipes, takes over the leadership of the NWG in 1981. Pipes predicts that with the right encouragement Soviet Muslims will “explode into genocidal fury” against Moscow. Brzezinski laid the groundwork for our present problems by initiating an alliance with Muslim jihadis in Afghanistan. In order to topple the closest thing to a functioning modern government that country has ever had, Brzesinski fomented a rebellion of thugs, zealots and terrorists, who later turned on the United States. Osama Bin Laden first came to prominence in Brzezinski's war.



An interviewer once asked Brzezinski if supporting the Mujahadeen might be a mistake. Brzezinski's answer:



"What's a few riled-up Muslims?"



His obsession with the Soviet Union led to Islamic revolution in Iran: In November 1978, President Carter appointed George Ball head of a special White House Iran task force under Brzezinski. Ball recommends the US should drop support for the Shah of Iran and support the radical Islamist opposition of Ayatollah Khomeini. This idea is based on ideas from British Islamic expert Dr. Bernard Lewis, who advocates the balkanization of the entire Muslim Near East along tribal and religious lines. The chaos would spread in what he also calls an “arc of crisis” and ultimately destabilize the Muslim regions of the Soviet Union. Few on either the right or the left understand that, until roughly a year-and-a-half before the revolution in Iran, the Socialist Tudeh party and the constitutionalist National Front commanded wide public support in that country and stood an excellent chance of gaining power when the Shah's tyranny ended. When the CIA learned of the Shah's precarious health, Brzezinski had the Agency covertly aid the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, a Shi'ite theocract. The goal was twofold: Preventing a Socialist or nationalist government from taking power, and fomenting a jihad against the Soviets.



Brzezinski was (is?) Obama's mentor.

This is that.

Update:

I've paid so much attention to the Italian bonds mystery that I've neglected the uprising that resulted from the controversial election in Iran.My current take on the matter will irritate a good many of you. My advice:I'm starting to suspect that this "uprising" is 1953 all over again. This story gives some of the background for Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the Iranian politician allegedly robbed in the election. Turns out he has close ties to the old Iran-contra gang -- Manuchar Ghorbinfar, Adnan Khashogghi, and dear old Michael Ledeen. Long-time readers know my feelings about Mikey. The following comes frommagazine, January 1987: Keep in mind that Mousavi ordered the execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. This is not a nice guy.One theory -- and it is really more than a theory -- holds that the 1979 Iran revolution was itself a CIA coup. During the last years of the Shah's regime, the Socialist party of Iran stood a good chance of gaining power. The CIA knew that the Shah could not last. America could not tolerate the ascent of Socialism in such an oil rich nation. Moreover, neocon strategic thinkers wanted to see a sharp rise in Islamic fundamentalism on the border of the USSR.At the time, the Ayatollah Khomeini was an obscure exile. One Iranian dissident once told me that the CIA arranged for the widespread duplication and distribution of Khomeini's tapes in Iran. I do not know the basis for his claim, but I suspect that he was right.In my view, Khomeini was put into power on the "better a religious kook than a red" theory. American spooks kept their man Mousavi close to him. Eventually, Mousavi killed all of the Socialists in Iran. That was the reason why he was put into that position.Why do I say that this is more than a theory? Because Zbigniew Brzezinski (Jimmy Carter's Kissinger) pretty much let the cat out of the bag. If I may quote from an older post It's important that you understand this history, becauseAt present, Obama is advised by people who share Brzenzinski's worldview and obsessions.What's past is present.And the future? Recall Joe Biden's prediction of a great foreign policy test for Obama which would come early in his presidency.Nothing in this post should be taken as favoring Iranian theocracy or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, I am -- as always -- 100% against any military attack on Iran by either the United States or Israel. That has been my position for years. And right now, I'm very afraid.The media manipulation is pretty obvious. This CNN story is ominously headlined "Ahmadinejad: No guarantee on rival's safety," which makes it seem as though we've wandered into a Martin Scorcese movie. But when you go on to read the actual words used by Ahmadinejad -- "There is rule of law in this country and all the people are equal before the law" -- you get quite a different impression.