Payback: America's Long War in the Middle East (review)

164 SAIS REVIEW Payback: America's Long War in the Middle East By John Cooley. John K.Washington: Brassey's, 1991. $25.95/Hardcover. Reviewed by Joseph E. Gleason, MA. Candidate, Old Dominion University. As ajournalist for the Christian Science Monitor and ABC News, John Cooley has reported the news from the Middle East for over thirty years. InPayback: America's Long War in the Middle East, Cooley details the recent history of the region and analyzes the policy failures and successes ofseveral United States' administrations. Although pre-1979 history is included as background information, Payback focuses on the region since the Islamic revolution in Iran. The title of the book says a great deal about the author's assessment of U.S.-Middle Eastern interaction. In Cooley's view, U.S. policy in the Middle East over the past decade has been marred by misunderstanding and mistakes. For its errors, the U.S. has been subject to paybacks of various degrees from a variety of actors in the region. It is appropriate that Payback opens in Iran, as U.S.-Iranian relations are a central theme in Cooley's analysis. From the outset, Cooley clearly criticizes the U.S. relationship with the Shah, arguing that the emphasis on strategic issues ignored the conditions and desires ofthe Iranian people. As the Gulfregion became increasingly importantto U.S. policymakers, Iranwas transformed intothe "policeman ofthe Gulf to safeguard U.S. interests. In Cooley's analysis, the use ofmilitary strength to introduce stability into the Middle East is often counterproductive. The development of regional policemen, and the use of U.S. military forces in Lebanon and the Gulf are criticized by the author. The closeness between the United States and the Shah sets the stage for the first payback in the book; the fall of the Shah and the rise of anti-U.S. Islamic forces in the region. The focus oíPayback is the confrontation between Islamic Iran and the United States, from the embassy seizure in Tehran to the shooting down of the Iranian Airbus and beyond. As background, Cooley provides a briefhistory ofU.S. relations with Iran, including the strategic relationship, arms build-up, and roots ofIslamic discontent. As well as U.S. relations with Iran, Cooley details Israeli cooperation with Iran, both before and after the Islamic revolution. The relationship between Persian Iran and Jewish Israel was seen in both countries as leverage against the power of the Arab states. After the Iraqi invasion of Iran, the relationship with Israel flourished, even though Iranian officiais continually condemned Israel in public. Cooley provides exceptional insight into Iranian-Israeli cooperation in security affairs. It was the Israeli-Iranian relationship that opened the way for the Irangate fiasco, when the U.S. government attempted to trade much needed weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages held by Iranian directed groups in Lebanon. The arms for hostage disaster had a major impact on U.S. credibility in the region. According to Cooley, both the Iranians and the Iraqis distrusted the United States followingthe disclosure ofthe arms transfers. For its part, Iran was skeptical ofthe quality ofweapons it received. At the same time, Iraq began to question the value of the intelligence the United States had supplied the regime in Baghdad at a time when U.S. arms were being sent to Iraq's adversary. Cooley contends that neither side ever regained their confidence in the U.S. government, fueling future confrontation and conflict in the region. BOOKREVIEWS 165 The long war referred to in Cooley's title centers around the conflict between the U.S. and Iran following the Islamic revolution. The U.S. experience in Lebanon reflects both of the author's themes; payback and the long war with Iran. In an effort to defend the Christian government in Beirut, the United States unleashed devastating military force. The payback was equally devastating. Iranian controlled militias waged war against the U.S. in Lebanon. The embassy bombings, the destruction ofthe Marine barracks, and the kidnapping ofvarious U.S. citizens illustrate the payback for U.S. actions in Lebanon. Lebanon also illustrates Cooley's point that not all U.S. interaction with the region...