George W. Cave

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George W. Cave
Born (1929-08-06) August 6, 1929 (age 94)[1]
New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University
Espionage activity
Allegiance United States
Service branchDirectorate of Operations (CIA)

George W. Cave (born August 6, 1929) is an American retired

CIA operations officer and authority on Iran who later reluctantly took part in the Iran–Contra affair at the behest of CIA Director William J. Casey.[2]

Education

Cave attended Milton Hershey School where he graduated in 1947 and was named Alumnus of the Year in 2001.[3] He majored in Middle Eastern studies at Princeton University, where he studied from 1952 to 1956,[4] and joined CIA after graduation.

Career

One account claims Cave served the CIA in

IBEX system, that Iraq was preparing to invade.[8]

By 1977, when he was working in Jeddah, he had six children, three of whom were in college.[9]

Iran-Contra Affair

In March 1986, at the behest of CIA Director William J. Casey, Cave joined the unofficial, but presidentially approved, covert operation to provide American-made missiles to the Islamic Republic of Iran that constituted part of the Iran-Contra affair. The weapons sales were part of a deal that was supposed to include the release of several American citizens being held hostage in Lebanon by Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran. Cave was one of the participants who hoped that the operation would also eventually lead to improved U.S. and Israeli political relations with the Iranian regime. Over several months, he served as an Iran expert, Persian-English interpreter, and sometime negotiator, in numerous meetings with Iranian representatives in Europe and Washington, D.C. In May 1986 he was part of the delegation that traveled clandestinely to Tehran in hopes of meeting with senior Iranian officials. In November 1986, an exposé of the Tehran mission in a Lebanese news magazine brought the secret deals to an abrupt halt.[10]

In the aftermath of the scandal, in-depth probes by Congress and an Office of Independent Counsel focused intently on Cave's role but generally concluded he had not played a fundamental role. He had been brought in at the CIA director's insistence, had not been aware of all of the plans or tactics of the main actors (such as manipulating weapons pricing), and had objected to the involvement of Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. His depositions to congressional investigators and testimony in legal proceedings, such as at the trial of senior CIA official Clair George, provided important factual information about the operations and the roles of various NSC, CIA, and other players.[11][12][13]

Published novel

Cave published his first novel, October 1980 in December 2013.[14] In his final interview Duane Clarridge, former CIA operations officer and Iran-Contra figure, hinted that this novel was a largely accurate depiction of how Reagan's October Surprise transpired.[15]

Selected works

  • Cave, George W. (1972). Sufi Poetry. Rawalpindi: R.C.D. Cultural Association.
  • Cave, George W. (1975). "Personal observations on changes in Iran between 1958 and 1975".
  • Cave, George W. (2013). October 1980. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
    ISBN 978-1-4827-8213-4
    .
  • Cave, George W. (2017). The Seat of the Scornful: A Second Chance. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
    ISBN 978-1540503893
    .

References

  1. ^ "CounterSpy Winter 1975" (PDF). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  2. ISBN 978-0700625901
    .
  3. ^ "MHS Chronology" (PDF). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. ^ Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (5 March 2016). "Participant Biographies" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Plumbing the CIA's Shadowy Role". Time. December 22, 1986. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  6. ISBN 9780300044126
    . Retrieved 9 June 2019. adlesick george cave.
  7. ^ The National Security Archive (2002). "Chronology: Iran: The making of U.S. policy, 1977-1980". Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  8. ISBN 9780307889775
    . Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Princeton Alumni Weekly". 1977.
  10. ISBN 978-0393318609
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0788126024
    .
  12. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  13. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  14. ^ "October 1980". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  15. ^ Schou, Nicholas (April 24, 2016). "The 'October Surprise' Was Real, Legendary Spymaster Hints in Final Interview". Newsweek.
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