Ari Ben-Menashe
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Several spooky sources contributed to the October Surprise story line,
according to which the 1980 Reagan-Bush presidential campaign made a
deal with the Iranians to delay the release of American hostages until
after the November elections, to help assure the defeat of Jimmy Carter.
A key figure in that story, and one whose usefulness as a source has
been attacked and defended, was former Israeli intelligence operative
Ari Ben-Menashe42 Ben-Menashe
is a source used by Harry Martin.
One journalist who took Ben-Menashe's allegations more seriously than
most was Craig Unger, author of an October 1991 Esquire article
titled "October Surprise." Following several attacks on the
Surprise theory, Unger wrote a long, interesting article called "The
Trouble with Ari," which appeared in The Village Voice in
July 1992. There, more clearly than in his Esquire piece, Unger
explains the dilemma a source of this kind poses for the journalist.
After reminding readers that some of Ben-Menashe's claims can be corroborated
and that he was "the guy who started talking about the clandestine
American arms pipeline to Iraq's Saddam Hussein. . . long before the
story started breaking in the press this spring," Unger writes:
Ari has put five or six dozen journalists from all over the world
through roughly the same paces. His seduction begins with a display
of his mastery of the trade craft of the legendary Israeli intelligence
services. A roll of quarters handy for furtive phone calls, he navigates
the back channels that tie the spooks at Langley to their counterparts
in Tel Aviv. His astute analysis and mind-boggling revelations can
stir even the most jaded old hand of the Middle East. . . But trust
him at your own risk....
"Listen to him, trust him, print his story verbatim--then sit
around and watch your career go up in flames.
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