Even in a world that seems to have befriended evil, there is perhaps no more menacing threat than Iran. Persia has risen and wishes to hold a sword to the throats of anyone not under the sway of Islam.
It is not only Iran's sociopath leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who threatens, however, it is also the Revolutionary Guards of Iran, who serve as point men for his ideology. Spreading a malevolent blanket of hate across the once-progressive Iran, these storm troopers help export terror around the globe. The race for nukes is but one component of their diabolical plan.
So it is that another brave voice is casting a message and warning about Iran.
Sadly, the author of a scintillating new book, "A Time to Betray," must use a pseudonym, Reza Kahlili, for this project. A native Iranian, he now lives in the U.S. His tales of being inside Iran as a CIA operative are surely among the most important and hair-raising anyone will read this year.
Raised in an idyllic setting in Tehran before the Islamic Revolution, "Reza" saw his life unfold in much the same way as freedom fighters through the ages: a close-knit family and friendships and a bright future are shattered by the totalitarian aims of brutal dictators. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini assumed power in 1979, plunging the world into a new kind of war, Reza became a member of the Revolutionary Guards.
Today, his poignant recollections surely tug at the heartstrings. He not only believes the nation's young people want a free Iran, but he has staked his life that it can happen.
In the book's beginning, Reza's account of being shaped as a CIA operative is gripping; for some inexplicable reason, the Agency gave him the code-name "Wally." He was then told bluntly that if his spying operation went awry, he was expendable.
Years before becoming a spy, Reza came to study in America and embraced the free lifestyle of California, but when his father died at 50, he returned home. This traumatic event coincided with growing unrest over the Shah's rule over Iran. Into this volatile mix Reza returned to his home country. Though Reza went back to America to finish his studies, as bitterness toward the Shah increased (in no small part due to political assassinations), Reza and many others of his age began to turn slowly to their Islamist spiritual roots.
It is quite ironic that the highly capable Iranian people were under the heel of both a harsh dictator (albeit one who "kept the peace") and later the Ayatollah. They deserve much better.
Back to Reza and his ultra-dangerous work. The Iranian leadership after the Revolution engaged in torture and terror against its own people to such a degree that the normal human mind can't conceive it. It was into this cauldron of danger Reza willingly went.
Tellingly, after coming to power, the Ayatollah lied convincingly, assuring the world that an Islamic state would be a guardian of freedom!
One of many fascinating stories in "A Time to Betray" involves the failed American attempt to rescue the embassy hostages in 1980. Reza recognized that a natural disaster – in the form of a sandstorm – had derailed the American attempt. His Revolutionary Guard buddies were overjoyed, thinking it was a direct intervention by Allah.
A later, an equally chilling story centered around Reza recalling how the one-time leader of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rafiqdoost, boasted about supplying the munitions for the deadly Marine barracks attack of 1983 in Lebanon. He said they'd sent hundreds of Americans to hell with that one action.
This is what we're up against, my friends, and Reza Kahlili is to be commended for coming out of the darkness to tell us just who we're dealing with, in ghastly detail.
Eventually, out of conviction that his country must be freed from this latest form of tyranny, Reza agreed to become a CIA spy. From being watched during a coded mail drop, to interacting with friends who had no idea – for the moment – that he led a double life, Reza operated in danger, minute by minute. But the information he provided the CIA about Iran's secret police and infrastructure proved invaluable.
Equally harrowing were his dispatches to his CIA contact during the terrible days of the Iran-Iraq war. It is quite fascinating to learn of Iranian thoughts of America from an Iranian insider.
This book reads like a spy novel and is riveting. For readers who enjoy that kind of information, "A Time to Betray" is a "can't miss." Beyond that, it provides a fascinating and crucial window into a world the rest of us cannot access.
"A Time to Betray" is a time to absorb a thoroughly absorbing account of a very brave spy.