Freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich has covered the Middle East for 20 years, including three trips to Iran. He is author of the upcoming book “The Iran Agenda: the real story of U.S. policy and the Middle East crisis.” (Polypoint Press, September 2007). He spent nearly 3 weeks reporting from Iran and northern Iraq in November 2006 on assignment for the Dallas Morning News and Mother Jones magazine.

In preparing his book, Erlich has interviewed President Bashir al Asad of Syria. high Iranian officials, Kurdish leaders, Reza Pahlavi (son of the late Shah of Iran) and former U.S. CIA officials, among others. Erlich argues that the Bush Administration is preparing public opinion for military strikes against Iran, and the major media are failing to report accurately or fairly about the plans.