"I don't see this plan for democracy happening right now. I think Iraq needs a Saddam-lite."
"...Bush's team allegedly wanted "to divide up Syria, give part of Iraq to Turkey, overthrow the monarchy in Saudi Arabia, restore the Hashemites to the Hijaz."
"The underlying motivation" for this, Baer said, "is Israel. They think the demographics are going badly for Israel, for the U.S."
"I don't agree that Hezbollah itself is a terrorist organization. It delivers powdered milk; it takes care of people. It's a social organization; it's a political organization. It fights corruption. ....Hezbollah itself does not care about American citizens running around Lebanon, as it doesn't care today. I mean, as an ex-CIA officer, I can go see Hezbollah, I can talk to them. They don't care. ..."
"What can we do about (Iran)? We can only cope with these problems inasmuch as we solve the problem of Israel and Palestine. If we can implement U.N. Resolution 242, we can internationalize Jerusalem, do something about the right of return of Palestinians to Palestine. And then go to the Middle East and say, "All right, now it's time to implement other U.N. resolutions." ... But it really does boil down to Israel, in a lot of ways. ... "
Are you suggesting that Baer is nothing more than the garden-variety "knowledgable source on intelligent matters", with Arabist leanings, who services leftist media fantasies?