The Secret War With Iran

Title: The Secret War With Iran

Author: Ronen Bergman

Publisher: Oneworld Publications 2010 (First published in Hebrew 2008)

ISBN: 978-1-85168-676-6

Pages: 384

Ronen Bergman is the senior security and intelligence correspondent for Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. An authority on Israeli intelligence, he has published widely on topics such as Israeli military history, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian-funded terrorism. He is a qualified lawyer and holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. This book deals with the various aspects of international terrorism exported by Iran under the guise of fighting Israel and the silent and secret war the western intelligence agencies carrying out against it. Chilling details of many terrorist strikes and equally chilling description of counter-insurgency measures are given in great detail, thanks to the author’s extensive knowledge of Israel’s intelligence operations and the limit to which they allow a particular detail to be known to the public. The narration is clearly one-sided as the Muslim point of view is totally neglected which is only to be expected from an Israeli journalist. However, this makes the reader hesitant to accept the incidents and data given by him at face value. A critically minded reader could easily make out the contours of a thinly veiled propaganda initiative running deep in the text. The narratives are illustrated in such a way that the reader is made to sympathise with Israel’s security agencies in their inability to prevent gruesome terrorist operations. Also, the shortcomings and financial helplessness of Israel’s initiatives are brought out in vivid detail, probably as a trigger to attract considerable help from abroad. Whatever may be the partisanship of Bergman, there is no denying that Israel has been the object of venomous, inhuman and extreme terrorist attacks perpetrated under economic, military and political guidance from Iran.

Iran, Israel and U.S. were partners in an alliance during the Shah regime in Iran. A treaty, christened Ultrawatt was formed with these three partners along with Turkey for the manufacture of missiles and weapons for the Islamic states which will be fabricated in Israel. The Shah’s government was such a hated one in Iran that people rose up in revolt against it under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomaini, who led the coup in exile, first from Najaf in Iraq and thereafter from Paris. Even amidst this struggle, Khomaini’s religious bigotry was evident in his calls to wipe out the Jews. The Islamic Revolution, when it came about in 1979, wiped out the senior corps of army officers. Saddam Hussein attacked them in 1980 to exploit the general atmosphere of confusion which prevailed. Iran sought and obtained a novel scheme to attract manpower for suicidal operations during minefield clearings. They formed a group of underaged boys called Basij who would run over the fields to find out the mines, with paradise offered to those who would be blown to smithereens. Even during Khomaini’s term in office, Israel clandestinely supplied arms to Iran, some of which would be later used against their own soldiers. Israel attacked Lebanon in 1982 to oust armed militias threatening Israel’s northern border. Hezbollah was formed thereafter to counter the Jewish operations, with blessings and financial aid from Iran. Mossad’s efforts to penetrate Hezbollah were not fully successful.

Hostage taking went on with impunity in Lebanon, with U.S. and French citizens targeted the most. Under Imad Moughniyeh, the terror operations of Hezbollah scaled new heights with money pouring in from Iran and from drug trafficking. The negotiations to free the hostages often ended in supplying arms to Iran, which was advantageous to cash strapped industries in Israel. The Iran-contra deal came about in this way in 1986 under U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Contras were the rebels fighting against the government in Nicaragua with American support, though the Congress had forbidden the executive against helping the rebels. Under the deal reached by the President’s cronies, U.S. and Israel would supply arms to Iran at higher than market prices and the profit from this operation would be utilised to arm the contras. The scandal became an international one when it was exposed in American media. The deal provided temporary safety for U.S. citizens in Lebanon, while Iran continued its hunt for rebels and opposition leaders who had obtained asylum in European nations. Most European countries tried to play down the threat until the Mykonos affair put it in limelight. Four Kurdish rebels opposed to Iran were shot dead by terrorists in the Mykonos café in Berlin. Investigations revealed involvement of Iranian diplomats and top officials of the republic.

Israeli intelligence also resorted to kidnappings and torture under custody. The interrogation of Mustafa Dirani is particularly gruesome and loathful when he was even sexually harassed for not giving replies the interrogators expected to get. Hezbollah, however, carried the fight worldwide as exemplified by bomb attacks in Argentina against Jewish interests. Secret war between Israel and Iran spilled over to economic affairs as well. When Iran tried for getting loans from Europe to tide over the difficult financial situation in early 1990s, Israel tried to scuttle the negotiations by painting the real, tough and dangerous condition the Islamic republic’s economy was in, before the banks and financial institutions. Even though Hezbollah is a Shia organisation, Iran supports Sunni terrorists as well. As claimed by the author, Dr. Hassan al-Turabi of Sudan was a facilitator between Iran and Ayman al-Zawahiri who went on to becone number two in Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. Zawahiri also tried to assassinate Hosni Mubarak while he was participating in an Organisation for African Unity summit in Ethiopia. The work of Shiites and Sunnis are focussed under the aegis of World Jihad and exported to terrorise other countries. They also want to dismantle moderate Muslim rulers in the middle east and to replace them with Taliban style extremist regimes.

Suicide bombing was one of the hallmarks of terrorism, particularly in the post-cold war era. Apart from financial help in this world, paradise is offered in the life hereafter as incentives. The martyrs (fidayeens) are offered free use of 72 virgins in paradise. An amusing case is described by Bergman. A suicide bomber was captured in Jerusalem in January 1997 whose explosive belt failed to go off, except for the detonator. He was lightly wounded by the small blast and lost consciousness, waking up in hospital later under heavy police and Shin Bet guard, with doctors and nurses coming and going. He opened his eyes, sat up in bed, lifted the arm that wasn’t connected to an infusion, and said in Arabic: “You can tell them to come in now”. “Tell who”, asked the Shin Bet man, who hadn’t expected the interrogation to begin like this. “It’s okay,” said the failed suicide. “You can bring them all in, I can see them all at the same time now.” Seeing that the interrogator still hadn’t gotten his drift, he made it clearer: “Where are the virgins?” he asked, and could not be persuaded that he was in Haddassah Hospital and not paradise until the investigator showed him his Shin Bet ID card. “Do you think that in Paradise, you’ll be interrogated by the Shin Bet?” he asked the disappointed man (p. 249-50).

Israel withdrew from Lebanon as part of UN brokered peace deal which also bound Lebanon to disarm and dismantle all militias, which were not kept. In the vacuum created by the troop withdrawal, Hezbollah strengthened their positions and indulged in guerilla war against Israel. The kidnappings, rocket attacks and ambushes from the border grew to such heights that Israel was forced again to attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in a major ground offensive in 2006. IDF (Israel Defence Forces) also resorted to a new technique called Grass Widow to shoot down the terrorists. A military vehicle would drive through a Palestinian street, hurling expletives and abusive language against them. When militants come out with arms and attack the vehicle, they’d be conveniently shot down by Israeli snipers already occupying some of the buildings in the street. This tactic was borrowed by U.S. in their fight against rebels in Iraq.

The book’s last part deals with Iran and Syria’s nuclear programs. Iran doesn’t need nuclear power as it possesses 92.86 billion tons of crude oil (9.3% of world reserves) and 73 billion cu.ft of natural gas (second only to Russia). In fact, the Islamic revolution delayed the process. Shah was determined to have the technology and weaponry, but Ayatollah Khomaini declared the indiscriminate killing and suffering in the wake of a nuclear bomb explosion unacceptable to Islamic morals. It was only after his death and change of leadership that Iran again pursued the line. They obtained nuclear technology and equipments from former communist republics, even including Russia. North Korea is an active participant in the effort, delivering nuclear material in return for cash for which Iran is not short of. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani who stole the blueprints of centrifuges from the institution in which he worked in Belgium was also a prominent ally. A Q Khan, a national hero of Pakistan even today, disseminated the nuclear information for cash to rogue states in the middle east. The making of a nuclear bomb involves four steps, a) mining the ore and turning it to yellow cake, b) Uranium conversion – transforming the yellow cake into pure uranium hexafluoride gas, c) Enrichment – Feeding the UF6 into high-speed centrifuges and d) Weapon development by placing the enriched uranium inside the shell and making the delivery and trigger mechanisms ready. Iran has nearly completed the third step at present. Syria also built a nuclear facility with North Korean support, which was blasted off by an Israeli airforce raid.

The book represents in true detail the terror faced by Israel at the hands of Hezbollah and Hamas. There is no doubt in the minds of independent assessors that it should give more concessions and self-rule for the Palestinians, but the terrorists’ way can’t be promoted by anybody around the world. As long as such violent measures are adopted, they won’t obtain support from foreign states. The case for Israel is clearly and forcibly laid out in the book which has a very good index to look down specific topics. The style is entertaining and pleasant. There is an interesting quote of Khomaini as he said, “The despised Shah, that Jewish spy, the American snake, whose head must be crushed with a stone” (p. 11). It is curious to note that the deal with the snake was the exact phrase allegedly used by the Saudi King’s appeal to U.S. in destroying Iran as brought public by Wiki Leaks.

On the negative side, the assertions of the author is always to be gulped with a pinch of salt, due to his being a part of Israeli security establishment. Defamatory remarks against muslim leaders and rulers are to be accepted with due caution. Even though the book claims in its title that it is about the secret war with Iran, what it actually explains is the war against terrorism, of course with Iran’s sponsorship. Israel and Mossad are always portrayed at the receiving end, but some of their actions also exceed human dignity and fails to get support from impartial outsiders. The overall feeling I had after reading the book was that it was a propaganda instrument, cleared by Israeli security agencies.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star