Reply #5: Scary Guy....

[JawJaw]

I must admit, Ledeen stood out as a particularly scary NeoCon when I caught a BBC documentary on these guys " The War Party"a few months back. (Click on the "transcript" download for the full gory details)


Day 2
20th March



BRADSHAW: The next morning – Washington at war. The TV news sets a confident tone. Time for a
walk on the wild side with Ultra Neo-conservative Michael Ledeen. He's been called a mysterious,
ideological adventurer. In the 70s he was involved in the shadowy world of rightwing Italian politics. In
the 80s his secret meetings with the Israel government led, inadvertently he says, to the notorious Iran-
Contra Affair. The second day of the war and Michael Ledeen is about to go on TV talking about more
regimes to topple.

MICHAEL LEDEEN
American Enterprise Institute
This is a conflict between freedom and tyranny. We're fighting tyrants. I believe that if the tyrants are
removed that there'll be a great deal more peace and chances for peace in the Middle East.

BRADSHAW: And the tyrants – if you can name names.

LEDEEN: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia are the big four and then there's Libya. There's a North
Korean problem too that we'll have to deal with although that's not directly related to the Middle East
except in so far as North Korea has helped them. You can't solve all problems I grant that. I mean I'm a
student of Machiavelli, I wrote a book on Machiavelli and I know the struggle against evil is going to go on
forever.

BRADSHAW: Post 9/11 Michael Ledeen's shadowy Neo-con talents are back in favour. He's listened to in
the Pentagon and it seems the White House. The Washington Post recently reported he's an adviser to
White House political guru Karl Rove.