The Secret War with Iran

June 30, 2008
Drawing on an astonishing amount of research, Israeli journalist Bergman describes in fascinating detail the three-decade “intelligence struggle” between Iran and the West. It is a grim history dominated by “a series of failures,” including the rise of Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran's alliance with Syria and the regime's success in shielding its nuclear program from international scrutiny. Despite some recent Iranian setbacks—e.g., the 2007 Israeli “Ghost Raid” against a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor—Bergman concludes that Middle Eastern skies “have not looked so gloomy for a long time.” Among the revelations certain to resonate in the U.S. is Bergman's contention that a secret file exists that “proves unequivocally that George H.W. Bush surely knew about all the illegal goings-on” in the Iran-Contra scandal—something Bush has always denied. Bergman stops short of recommending a course of action, but he makes a convincing case that Iran is not only a terrorist state but also the “greatest security challenge the U.S. is facing.” Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued, Bergman's brief against Iran adds a powerful voice to a contentious debate.