Biden and Trump vs Iran, Part 5

Den of Spies

Make no mistake about how explosive the October Surprise charges were and are. When Craig Unger first addressed the issue back in 1991 for an article in Esquire, he was sued by former National Security Advisor Robert McFarland. That case took over 2 years to adjudicate since, after he lost the defamation trial, McFarlane appealed and lost again. McFarlane then appealed to the US Supreme Court, but they refused to hear the case. (Unger, p. 168)

In this series, in addition to examining the October Surprise plot, I have tried to show a kind of concise history of American/Iranian relations after World War II. I think any objective observer would say that the key event in that history was the overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh by the CIA in 1953. Mossadegh was a popular leader who was trying to install a republic in Iran. If he had done so, that would have been a large step forward for his country, but also an example for the region. It would have shown that Islam did not always have to be of the fundamentalist variety.

As I have also tried to show, the American ambassador to Iran, Henry F. Grady, was opposed to any coup. And he felt that his boss, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, had made a mistake contemplating such an overthrow with the British for as long and as seriously as he did. Thus encouraging the British to presuppose that, whoever followed Truman, would likely look at the idea more positively. Grady was correct on that issue. And was replaced by Acheson with Loy Henderson who aided in the eventual Eisenhower/John Foster Dulles 1953 coup.

The main reason for the coup and, in fact, perhaps the only reason for it, was because Mossadegh had moved to nationalize Iran’s oil reserves. In other words, he wanted more of the profits from that natural resource to go to the people of Iran. For this he was disposed of and the Shah of Iran was recalled from Italy by CIA Director Allen Dulles and placed back on the throne. He was then supported for over two decades by the USA. The only exception being the presidency of John Kennedy, which actually contemplated placing Mossadegh back in power. And, in retrospect, that is probably what Kennedy should have done.

The 1953 overthrow was a colossal error. But it was magnified by the military and intelligence and police aid given to the restored Pahlavi dynasty. The shah had to resort to brutal tactics to keep the lid on the dissent over the overthrow; this included both political and religious protests. In all the years I have been following presidential races, the only candidate I have ever seen who tried to point out this overthrow as a cause for the anti--American attitude in the area was Ron Paul. And he did it more than once in his political career--including during a GOP presidential primary debate. (The Mossadegh Project, August 16, 2021, article by Arash Norouzi)

The fact that the Shah profited so much from the rise in oil prices allowed him to purchase tens of billions in American weaponry from presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter. (Nixon was so loyal to the Pahlavi dictatorship he attended the Shah’s funeral.). Unger describes this arsenal as the largest navy in the Persian Gulf, the largest air force in Western Asia, and the fifth largest army in the world. (Unger, p. 120) It was this formidable military arm that the revolutionary forces wished to replenish in their dealings with Reagan campaign chair Bill Casey. In other words, the need for this October Surprise dialed back to our original—and then multiplied-- mistake.

One of the most startling aspects of the Ronald Reagan years was that the administration was supplying weapons to both sides during the Iran/Iraq war. Donald Rumsfeld, then a private citizen, was sent by Reagan to aid Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran. (Daily Mail, 12/31/002, article by William Lowther)

But yet, as belatedly admitted to by both the White House and then congressional hearings, Reagan secretly approved the sale of arms to Iran from 1981-86. Since Iran was under seal of embargo, this sale of arms was illegal. The profits from this sale were then used to fund the CIA backed Contra forces trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Again, like the previous October Surprise caper, the excuse for this was that these arms sales were part of an operation to free several American hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Iran/Contra scandal first broke in Lebanon in November of 1986, and this is what caused the White House to admit what had happened. At first Reagan stated this was not an arms for hostages arrangement. He later admitted it was. We will never know the entire truth about this so-called Iran/Contra affair since huge reams of paper were shredded once it was discovered. Dozens of people were indicted and convicted in this episode. But near the end of his term President George H. W. Bush pardoned them. Bush had been Vice-President during the sorry episode. He may have done this in order not to have himself implicated. (Lawrence Walsh, Firewall, p. 290)

This covert relationship with Iran, dealing in arms for hostages, was one of the most sickeningly hypocritical aspects of the Reagan campaign and his presidency. Reagan and his manager Bill Casey both tried to picture Jimmy Carter as weak, thus humiliating America in the eyes of the world over the hostage crisis. Yet, it was they who were negotiating with these people who were denouncing America daily, live on TV. And they then continued to sell them arms well into the eighties.

Craig Unger, like Robert Parry before him, clearly implies that Iran/Contra was a continuation of what was done for the October Surprise. In both scandals, both American hostages and American arms sales were involved. (Unger, pp. 123-25) One of the reasons Robert McFarlane may have sued Unger was that he had pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor counts for withholding information as part of the Iran/ Contra cover up. (Unger, p. 125) As Unger notes in his book, and as I have described, Newsweek was part of the cover up in the October Surprise. They accepted Casey’s alibi excuse, one which did not stand up under scrutiny.

As Unger notes, this seems to have happened again during Iran/Contra. Robert Parry described an incident that took place at a banquet sponsored by Newsweek for their reporters, executives and some Washington staffers and pols. During a conversation, Lt. General Brent Scowcroft said words to the effect that if he were John Poindexter, Reagan’s National Security Advisor during the scandal, he should probably say he did not divert the funds. Parry was working at Newsweek at the time, and he asked Scowcroft: “Are you saying you would advise Poindexter to perjure himself before congress?” After a short silence, executive editor Maynard Parker said he thought it was not good for the country to have this scandal brought out. (Unger, p. 124) Its nice to know that news executives admit that it is they who will decide what is good for the country, no matter what the truth is. Parry left Newsweek in June of 1990.

Contrary to what Donald Trump likes to say, Iran did not recently attain its missile technology and arsenal. They began to develop it during the Iran/Iraq war. And they looked to the east to attain it, that is Russia and China. They first acquired Soviet Scud missiles from Libya, then North Korea. This evolved into the Shahab 1 and 2 rockets, also Soviet designed. In the late eighties, the Iranians themselves altered this into the Qiam 1 and 2. The second version has a detachable warhead, making it less vulnerable to missile defense. That version has a range of up to 500 miles and can carry a 1,300 lb. warhead. Later, the Iranians themselves developed the Shahab 3, the Emad 1, and the Sajii series.

The last has a range of about 1200 miles and can carry a 1650 pound payload. Also, the Iranian missile designers are now shifting to solid fuel rockets. These launch faster, and can be deployed from mobile missile pads. And the newer Fateh missile is a hypersonic weapon. These fly at great speeds, up to Mach 6 and beyond, and can be guided in flight. Therefore, they are very difficult to intercept. (The Iran Primer, April 12, 2024, by Michael Elleman.) Also, the new Khoramshahr line is exceedingly accurate with a 30 meter error probability at a 1200 mile range. To top it off, in the late eighties, both Russia and China began to advise Iran on nuclear development.

This is why Barack Obama wanted a deal with Iran limiting their development and manufacture of atomic warheads. Because this missile arsenal, employing nuclear warheads, could prove almost frighteningly effective against Israel. It was also a hope that this could help improve relations with Iran. (Politico, April 16, 2024, article by Nahal Toosi) President Trump withdrew from the deal in May of 2018. In January of 2020, Iran declared it would not abide by the arrangement’s limitation. Trump thought that by applying maximum pressure on Iran, he could impact their actions. That did not seem to be successful. (Ibid)

What was President Biden’s policy toward Iran? Well, Biden made a half-hearted effort to revive the nuclear deal. That did not work. In fact, in the face of sanctions initiated by Trump, Iran again migrated east to negate their impact, drawing closer to Russia and China, and they ended up joining BRICS. In return, Moscow has given Iran the parts for the Su-35 fighter/interceptor and the S-300 air defense missile system. (BBC News, October 25,2024, article by Raffi Berg)

All of this folly of US policy toward Iran was made worse with the attack by Hamas on Israel October 7, 2023. That provoked not just an Israeli invasion of Gaza, but cross border firefights between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon. Over 1500 people have died in these cross border attacks. (Al Jazeera Explainer, October 26, 2024, article by Mersiha Gadzo.

But a very curious development took place on April 1, 2024. On that day the Iranian consulate in Damascus was leveled by an Israeli missile attack. This killed 13 people, including a high level Iranian General and his deputy. Foreign consulates are usually considered out of bounds for military attacks since they are sovereign territory. Some considered this an act of war by Israel on Iran. (CNN Report of April 1, 2024 by Brett Wilkins)

To my knowledge President Biden did not condemn this attack. Just as he did not speak out against massive civilian casualties during Israel’s war in Gaza. When confronted with this silence by Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Biden said Israel has the right to defend itself. She, in turn, said this was supporting a Palestinian genocide. (CNN Report of November 4, 2023, by Rashard Rose)

Iran retaliated for this consulate attack about 2 weeks later. They launched 300 missiles and drones toward Israel, after warning them five hours in advance. They allegedly used their bottom of the line weaponry. What they were after was readings on where Israel’s missile defense and radar systems were. Israel then assassinated leaders of both Hamas and Hezbollah. On October 2, Iran launched a second retaliatory attack, this one included at least one hypersonic missile.

One almost dreads what will happen in a second Trump administration. Just recall, Benjamin Netanyahu slept in Jared Kushner’s bedroom while rising up the ladder in New York and Washington. And Jared was not away at the time. He was there. He gave up his room and slept in the basement. (Jerusalem Post, February 14, 2017, story by Ron Kampeas) Kushner’s idea in Trump’s first administration was that the Palestinian cause would seemingly go away if ignored, and he could arrange truces between Israel and various Arab despots. Two of the despotic countries, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, along with Qatar, “contributed generously to his business ventures….” (Consortium News, November 30, 2024)

Is this any way to run a diplomatic corps?

(Thanks to Leo Zahn for informing me about about Craig Unger’s book, which caused this series.)