Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke Page A

Darby thought a moment and then replied in a slow Southern drawl, “Well, that would depend on whether you count when I was in my submarine. You know, you can see a lot through a periscope.”
    Eventually, we agreed on a series of exercises, which became larger with time. We also agreed on the development of war plans in the event the Soviet Union acted militarily in the region. Darby completely ingratiated himself with the Israeli military and built bonds of personal trust. When, later, Jack Darby became head of U.S. Submarine Force Pacific, he collapsed and died while jogging around Pearl Harbor. The Israel Defense Forces flew the Darby family to Israel for the dedication of the Jack Darby Memorial Grove in the desert.
    David Ivry had grown concerned at the prospect of Soviet, Syrian, or Iraqi missiles attacking Israel. Together, we successfully proposed the U.S. fund the Israeli development of a missile defense system, as well as the interim deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles. We also managed to get the Pentagon to evaluate the Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle and air-to-ground smart bomb. The Marines bought the former, the Air Force the latter. (A few years later on the Iraqi border with the Marines, I got to “fly” one of the Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles over Iraqi troops.) Ivry also became my advocate in the Israeli cabinet, arguing successfully for my personal requests that they agree to international standards on nonproliferation of missiles and chemical and biological weapons.
    (At the outset of the first Gulf War, Ivry and I conspired to get our governments to agree to deploy a U.S. Army Patriot unit in Israel. No foreign troops had ever been stationed before in Israel. We also worked together to sell Patriots to Israel, and to tie in the Kiriat with American satellites that detected Iraqi Scud missile launches toward Israel. After the war, CIA circulated unfounded rumors that Israel had sold some of the Patriots to China. Many in the State Department who thought that I was “too close to the Israelis” sought to blame me. Ivry called. “I hear you are in trouble. What can I do?” I jokingly suggested that he invite the U.S. to send an inspection team to Israel to do “anywhere, anytime” checking to see if any of the Patriots were missing or had been tampered with. I knew it was a silly idea. Israel would never give another country that kind of unfettered access. Ivry did not think the idea was silly. Again he went to the Cabinet for me. The ensuing U.S. Army inspection concluded that there was no reason to believe that Israel had tampered with or transferred any Patriot missile, software, designs, or associated material. I was cleared, but not without making enemies at CIA and State.)
    Our stronger military relationship with Israel came about only by the Reagan White House imposing it on the Pentagon and State Department. The decision was the right thing to do militarily and morally, but the closer relationship with Tel Aviv did over time inflame some Arab radicals and give them propaganda to help recruit terrorists to their anti-American cause. Thus, between our buildup in the Gulf and our programs with Israel, by the mid-1980s, the United States had a growing military presence in the Middle East. Marines were regularly staging landings in Israel, Air Force and Navy fighters were flying into Israel air bases. Patriot radars scanned the skies. In Egypt, Oman, and Bahrain, the United States had bombs and other war matériel in warehouses and bunkers. A large U.S. Navy squadron plied the Persian Gulf. Reagan had checkmated the Iranians by strengthening Saddam Hussein. He had built new relations with both Israel and key Arab states to allow the U.S. military to operate against any Soviet threat into the Mediterranean or Persian Gulf.
    These actions by the Reagan administration were defensive. What they did in Afghanistan, however, was go on the offensive, in a way