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Witness: From the Shah to the Secret Arms Deal : An Insider's Account of U.S. Involvement in Iran
From the Shah to the Secret Arms Deal : An Insider's Account of U.S. Involvement in Iran
396 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Mansur Rafizadeh
4 booksRafizadeh was educated at Tehran University Law School and, after immigrating to the United States, he studied at Harvard and New York University. He was heavily involved in Iranian politics from the 1950's until shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. In his 1987 autobiography, Witness, Rafizadeh said he had been the U.S. director of SAVAK (the Shah's intelligence agency/secret police). He also claimed to be a covert agent for the CIA.
After publication of his book, Rafizadeh settled in a rural area of upstate New York where he and his brother owned a large dairy farm. They were also co-owners of Nirvana Natural Spring Water.
After publication of his book, Rafizadeh settled in a rural area of upstate New York where he and his brother owned a large dairy farm. They were also co-owners of Nirvana Natural Spring Water.
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January 26, 2016خاطرات منصور رفیع زاده آخرین رئیس شعبه ساواک در آمریکا
March 8, 2015
I've marked this as non-fiction, though I suspect there is much fiction to this book. But this is the first time I've been able to hear the "anti-Shah" side of the story from a westernized Iranian.
It's been very hard getting through this. Every time I pick it up I think I'll be able to finish, but then I can read only 10 pages or so and I'm bored. There is little point in finishing it other than to simply finish it. This is yet another egotistical memoir of an "exceptional" person, who isn't really all that exceptional. I have nothing against Iranians, but they do tend to be rather self-aggrandizing. Knowing that, I feel I'm quite possibly reading a fairy tale. There's no way to know how much of this is true, and if it's not true, why do I need to read it at all? This is the problem I'm having in completing the book.
How is it that Rafizadeh is able to accomplish so much, overcome so many challenges, bridge so many gaps, when all the others failed? He seems to always be in the right place at the right time, knows just what to say, trusted by all regardless of their alliances... even able to seduce a nun without trying!! How is it that an unknown, brand-new-to-this-country college boy manages to find himself making political suggestions to President Kennedy? Incredible. Literally incredible. And with all his adversaries dead, who's to object?
I enjoyed the first half of the book, when he was describing his childhood and early adulthood. He has a writing style that's easy to read, and he added enough color that he successfully painted his world for me to imagine. But then the tale devolved into a "he said and then he said" word-for-word relating (and obviously it wasn't really word-for-word -- who knows what was really said?) of tedious, drawn-out anti-drama. And through it all, he depicted the US as a bunch of bumbling idiots. When things worked in favor of the Iranians, it was by their superior strategic skill. Meanwhile, the US representatives were at odds with each other, crippled by in-fighting, always duped by others, and when things worked in our favor it was by pure coincidence. It couldn't POSSIBLY be that perhaps the US had duped Iran, and along with it Rafizadeh. No, he's far too clever for that. Right. In fact, everything would have worked out if everyone had just listened to him.
It's been very hard getting through this. Every time I pick it up I think I'll be able to finish, but then I can read only 10 pages or so and I'm bored. There is little point in finishing it other than to simply finish it. This is yet another egotistical memoir of an "exceptional" person, who isn't really all that exceptional. I have nothing against Iranians, but they do tend to be rather self-aggrandizing. Knowing that, I feel I'm quite possibly reading a fairy tale. There's no way to know how much of this is true, and if it's not true, why do I need to read it at all? This is the problem I'm having in completing the book.
How is it that Rafizadeh is able to accomplish so much, overcome so many challenges, bridge so many gaps, when all the others failed? He seems to always be in the right place at the right time, knows just what to say, trusted by all regardless of their alliances... even able to seduce a nun without trying!! How is it that an unknown, brand-new-to-this-country college boy manages to find himself making political suggestions to President Kennedy? Incredible. Literally incredible. And with all his adversaries dead, who's to object?
I enjoyed the first half of the book, when he was describing his childhood and early adulthood. He has a writing style that's easy to read, and he added enough color that he successfully painted his world for me to imagine. But then the tale devolved into a "he said and then he said" word-for-word relating (and obviously it wasn't really word-for-word -- who knows what was really said?) of tedious, drawn-out anti-drama. And through it all, he depicted the US as a bunch of bumbling idiots. When things worked in favor of the Iranians, it was by their superior strategic skill. Meanwhile, the US representatives were at odds with each other, crippled by in-fighting, always duped by others, and when things worked in our favor it was by pure coincidence. It couldn't POSSIBLY be that perhaps the US had duped Iran, and along with it Rafizadeh. No, he's far too clever for that. Right. In fact, everything would have worked out if everyone had just listened to him.
May 23, 2007
khaterate namayandeye savak dar emrica
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews