Presswatch/A Selective Bunch

...These comments — from existing American subscribers — help to explain why the Spectator's readers in the U. S. — although small in number— are among the most loyal...

...44The two things I would most commend in THE SPECTATOR are fullness of coverage (Geographically for current events and culturally for current ideas) and excellence of prose (sharpness of perceptions with pleasurable and provocative rhetoric...

...A medal, therefore, to the San Francisco Examiner, which ran a concise, thoughtful, and serious article on January 31 dealing with the latest Soviet successes, and the parallel American failures in maintaining an ongoing space program...

...441 more often than not disagree with the opinions in THE SPECTATOR's columns, but I appreciate the panache with which they're typically expressed...

...Sorry...

...N ow one may admire or condemn this policy, but it is certainly wrong, on the basis of the memorandum reprinted in the Post, to accuse the President of hypocrisy and Israel of lying...

...The first point is rather more interesting, for while it is quite true that Nir told the Vice President that contactshad been established with the radicals for the purpose of gaining the release of American hostages, immediately following in the memorandum we find Nir saying something of signal importance, which was neatly omitted from Woodward and Hoffman's analysis...

...That is the real tragedy in the Iran story, as the memo shows: the policy started with the establishment of contacts with moderates, and ended by working with radicals to save the hostages...

...They should have been more selective...

...For I had left the impression (unintentionally, to be sure) that while, at some hazy time in the future, someone had spoken about hostages and weapons with Iranians, I had not...

...They weren't entirely sure what it all meant, but there were a few phrases there which looked like they could be used to attack the Administration...

...Similar themes were developed by L'Express in France, in its February 6 issue...

...ARMS DEALS WERE WITH IRAN RADICALS," the headline screamed...

...Just as in the last century, when the maritime powers reigned over the earth, the domination of space will provide the basis for the power of the sovereigns of the next millennium...

...And it is clear from the memorandum that Nir was talking about this period...

...This is good because we've learned they can deliver and the moderates can't...

...Here are some real headlines, and a real bottom line: "Four yearsago, the Americans developed the concept of strategic defense, nicknamed `Star Wars.' This technological concept that drives the Pentagon underlines better than any other the true nature of the space race...

...It is important that we have assets there 2 to 3 years out when change occurs...

...provided a physical base, provided aircraft...

...It took place on a special edition of "Nightline," on December 18, and it was the first occasion I had had to discuss the Administration's Iran policy...

...arms to Iran told Vice President Bush last summer that "we are dealing with the most radical elements" in Iran because "we've learned they can deliver and the moderates can't," according to a top secret memo written by Bush's chief of staff...

...The Post is determined that this story shall not die, and that it shall destroy this Administration...

...Sin of the Month I am guilty of a sin of omission on na32 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR APRIL 1987 tional television, and wish to apologize for it...

...PRESSWATCH A SELECTIVE BUNCH by Michael Ledeen Woodward Rides Again The Iran/contra story, which by now has left the American public with terminally glazed eyes (they can't remember all the names, the stories all seem to blend into one another, and the quantity of air time and ink seems disproportionate to the "news"), has become the personal crusade of the Washington Post...

...So it was, that when I picked up the Post, on February 8, I found perhaps the archetypal story of the genre, written, of course, by the great helmsman, Bob Woodward, steering in tandem with David Hoffman...

...No other newspaper in the world—including Pravda—comes anywhere near to the Post in its daily regurgitation of already-established information in new formats...

...In terms of real news, there was only one truly new piece of information in the memorandum: that Bush had received such a detailed briefing...

...The only two stations in orbit are Soviet...

...We have no real choice than to proceed...

...Here is the full paragraph: Nir [said]: "We are dealing with the most radical elements...

...THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR APRIL 1987 33...

...Just before "Nightline," there had been an hour-long "special" edition of "20/20," on which Barbara Walters had made a series of statements about me that were factually mistaken, and at a certain point on "Nightline," Ted Koppel gave me the chance to correct the record, which I did...

...Their story was based on the discovery of a Top Secret/Sensitive Memorandum of Conversation between Vice President George Bush and Mr...

...What I should have said was that while, at the outset, I had been discussing Iran and related subjects, at a later date I found myself in meetings with Israelis and Iranians at which the subjects of weapons and hostages were discussed (albeit not in terms of a direct swap) . . . and how...

...And the question, as will ultimately emerge when the story is told, of hostages, weapons and so forth, came later, and it emerged out of discussions with Iranians about Iran, and about the relationship between the United States and Iran...

...It is hard to judge journalists' motives, but it's equally hard to avoid the suspicion that Woodward, Hoffman, and the aggressive editors down on 15th St...

...They can deliver . . . that's for sure...

...This is a matter well worth discussing, for it shows how a limited, tactical objective (saving some hostages) overwhelmed a serious, strategic goal (finding ways to improve American influence in Iran, and moving towards better working relations between the two countries...

...Let God Sort Them Out...

...What we were looking for was Iran and what was going on in Iran...

...For Reagan had said—or perhaps he "clarified"—that a "third country" (Israel) had made the actual deliveries of arms in the early autumn of 1985...

...To take the last point first, Nir's recounting of the Israeli actions in the earliest phases of the .story adds nothing to what was already known—indeed what had already been announced by the President himself...

...76% of the satellites are launched by the East...

...The headlines said it all: "Challenger explodes, Ariane fails and the USSR colonizes the suburbs of the earth...

...The description of the Iran effort provided by the Israeli official, Amiram Nir, contradicts the claim by President Reagan that he was dealing with Iranian "moderates" in sending the weapons to Tehran...

...Then, further down in the story, comes another alleged body blow to the Administration's case: What Nir told Bush . . . also undermines the Israeli Government's repeated claims that it played only a minor and passive role in the dealings with Iran...

...Above all, the Soviets are willing to stand by their programs, regardless of temporary distractions: "Unlike the United States, the Soviets have a 'deep, long-range commitment to spaceflight' and plan funding years in advance rather than let it fluctuate with the political winds...

...For a while I wondered what was going on, but I think I am beginning to understand...

...To read the story by Woodward and Hoffman, you would think that the President's entire account of the Iran affair had been shown to be false...

...If Woodward and Hoffman had wanted to level a serious charge against the President, there was one right in front of their noses: the memo showswithout doubt that there was a clear program to swap weapons for hostages, even though there was also a longer-term objective...

...So they hammered away...

...We should think about diversity and establish other contacts with other factions...

...operations...

...Nir is quoted as saying of the Israelis, "We activated the channel...

...One of the points that had been made on "20/20" was that our Iran policy had been, from the very beginning, involved with arms and hostages, and I was at pains to say, inter alia, "I never, at any time, with any Israeli or any Iranian, ever raised questions of hostages or weapons...

...All quite true, but misleading...

...were delighted to have a genuine Top Secret/Sensitive document in their hands, and wanted to exploit it to the hilt...

...We have started to establish contact with some success and now more success is expected since if these groups feel if the extremes are in contact with us then it is less risky for the other groups . . . In other words, the contacts with the radicals were recent, and until then the contacts had in fact been with moderates...

...The deputy prime minister is an emissary...

...Space Wars While an incredible amount of ink and airtime is devoted to "Star Wars," and we go through our ritual dance of self-criticism on the awful failure of Challenger, we are in danger of overlooking the long-term contest with the Soviet Union in space...

...They were called yesterday and thanked and today more phone calls...

...Moreover, the policy of contacting the radicals was helpful not only in freeing American hostages, but also in enabling the Americans and the Israelis to establish contacts across the full spectrum of Iranian politics...

...And this indeed suggests that he was less than forthcoming when he spoke of this matter...

...THE SPECTATOR is the only weekly journal of which I read literally every word...

...ft 0 SPECTATOR 641 like the book reviews most...

...The point I wished to make, as I said in answer to a later question from Barbara Walters, was that the point from the United States was always Iran, and that's an important thing to keep in mind...

...Just like the Soldier of Fortune T-Shirt says, "Kill 'em All...

...Listen to the first two paragraphs: A key Israeli official involved in the sale of U.S...

...In order to do this, the Post must maintain the appearance of daily revelations, whether or not there actually are any...

...100 missiles per year take off from the cosmodromes...

...BUSH TOLD U.S...

...American periodicals do not encourage the kind of committed, witty and short book reviews that are fun to read (and tough to write...

...As usual with the Post, and especially with Woodward's exegesis of secret texts, the quotations are accurate enough but they do not prove the points made in the article...

...So I owe Ted Koppel and Barbara Walters an apology...

...While we constantly work for the very latest technology (and get bored with last year's models), the Soviets plod ahead with relatively clumsier but still workable technology, and move ahead in the race...

...The theme of the story struck me as just about right: the old contest between the (Soviet) tortoise and the (American) hare...

...we gave a front to the operation...

...If anything, the memo lends considerable support to the claims of the Israeli and American governments...

...Amiram Nir, who served as the personal representative of Prime Minister Peres during much of the Iran/contra Michael Ledeen is senior fellow in international affairs at the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies...