The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power by Ronen Bergman Ph.D. (PDF)

Description

In the years since 9/11, the U.S. war on terror has focused on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Coverage of Iran has been devoted almost exclusively to its nuclear ambitions. Yet, as Ronen Bergman’s groundbreaking reporting in this vital investigative history reveals, for thirty years, Iran has been the world’s leading sponsor of global terror and stands as the most formidable sponsor of terror in the world today.Bergman, one of Israel’s top investigative reporters, gained unprecedented access to extra-ordinary sources from top to bottom in the Mossad and intelligence agencies around the world. Based on over ten years of research and more than three hundred exclusive interviews with key intelligence figures, he reveals that Iranian terrorist masterminds have crisscrossed the globe, conducting bombings and assassinations with impunity — even renting apartments and planning bombing attacks in New York City. Iran’s proxy, Hizballah, has virtually taken over southern Lebanon and threatens Israel with high-powered weaponry supplied by Iran. Iran and Hizballah worked closely with al-Qaeda and other Sunni terrorist groups in developing their terrorist operations, and Iranian commandos trained Iraqi insurgents in the crafts of suicide bombing and the building of the roadside bombs that have killed so many U.S. troops in Iraq.In response, and largely beneath the public’s radar, a vast clandestine war has been fought with Iran and Hizballah on one side and the CIA, Israel’s Mossad, and their European counterparts on the other. The full story of that secret war, told for the first time here, will fundamentally change the debate about U.S. national security priorities.A new axis of evil is emerging from Iran and spreading around the world, and Ronen Bergman shows that the CIA and Mossad have so far been unable to thwart it. The Secret War with Iran is riveting and urgent.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly 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. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist The oft-repeated claim that Iran is the “foremost” state sponsor of terrorism has been met with skepticism, perhaps engendered by the intelligence failures preceding the invasion of Iraq. This provocative, disturbing book will give ample ammunition to those who accept that claim. Israeli investigative reporter Bergman’s rather sensational account relies on classified documents and his ties with supposedly reliable sources within the American and Israeli intelligence communities. He describes a murky but ongoing struggle between Iran and its primary surrogate, Hizbullah, on one side, and the U.S. and Israel on the other. Some of the actions covered are well known, such as the attacks upon American institutions in Lebanon. Some of the revelations here are startling, including Israeli cooperation with the regime of the late shah. Many, but not all, of Bergman’s assertions seem credible. He is clearly pursuing an agenda to warn the public of the emerging threat of a nuclear Iran. At a minimum, he proves the case that the world is a dangerous place, and the Middle East is the most dangerous place of all. –Jay Freeman About the Author Ronen Bergman is one of Israel’s leading investigative journalists. The senior security and intelligence correspondent and analyst for Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, and an anchor on a leading Israeli television news program, he is the author of three bestselling books published in Israel. He was awarded a PhD by Cambridge University for his dissertation about the Israeli Mossad. The Secret War with Iran is his first book in English. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The only thing I admit is that Ronen did a lot of work, wrote a lot of material, but I found a number of disappointing matters. First among them, is they way he described the 2006 Second Lebanon war. He stated that Israel did poorly, Hezbolla fighters were fantastic, and finally, that Israel lost the war. That is his opinion. How he define what is victory in a war ? It is not an easy task , but he did it easy. Where are the number of casualties of both sides ?. Not a word. What about the 90% of long range missiles destroyed ?. Not a word. He just wrote that the air strikes were fantastic and that was practically the only thing Israel did brilliantly. What about the bombing and destruction of He