The Iran-Contra Saga Continues : PERILOUS STATECRAFT An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair by Michael Ledeen (Charles Scribner's Sons: $19.95; 307 pp. 0-684-18994-1
December 18, 1988 | Larry Bensky | Bensky is national affairs correspondent for Pacifica radio. He won a George Polk award for his reporting of the Iran-Contra hearings. and
Los Angeles Times
Like some ancient, bardic epic that changes in interpretation--but not essence--as generations of tellers embellish it, the Iran-Contra morass seems destined to receive both additional intriguing details and less comprehensive definition as time goes by.
Now, we have an "insider's account" and an "untold story" to add to the stream of literature exploring the still inconclusive saga.
Even before the recent death of Israeli security expert and weapons broker Amiram Nir, a central figure in both accounts, these two books were especially tantalizing for close followers of Iran-Contra. One is written by a man long known to have been deeply involved in the secret international contacts at the heart of the affair; he was a frequently rumored upcoming witness at the public hearings but was never called to testify. The second is by an Israeli journalist seemingly in position to reveal an important missing link in the story: a definitive account of Israel's pivotal role in the matter.
Nir's death--he was killed in a plane crash while purportedly negotiating a commercial avocado arrangement in Mexico--raises the grim specter of further mystery in the matters that both Ledeen and Segev treat fully. It is clear from both accounts that he was a close collaborator with Oliver North not only on Iran-Contra but on other deeply hidden U.S.-Israel security matters. It is also quite possible that Nir's knowledge, if revealed inside or outside a courtroom, might have made North and his cohorts extremely uncomfortable.
Indeed, the last words of Ledeen's book are, "Insofar as anyone may have something dramatically new to add to our knowledge of Iran-Contra, it is likely to be Amiram Nir." And Ledeen ought to know.
An indication of Michael Ledeen's standing in Washington during the last eight years can be gleaned from references to his activities, contained in his new book, as well as from the now released depositions of his closed-door testimony to the Iran-Contra committee. What emerges clearly is that this self-described consultant on terrorism and courier for national security officials seems to have enjoyed virtually open doors and open classified document files, spread before him from Washington to the capitals of Europe.
As a close associate of Oliver North, out of whose office he worked, and as a courier for both the CIA and the NSC, as well as a longtime crony of intelligence officials from Israel to Italy and beyond, Ledeen would seem to be in a perfect position to tell us where many of the still missing bodies in the Iran-Contra affair are buried . . . or are still stalking real or imagined prey. ...