This article is within the scope of WikiProject Syria, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Syria on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SyriaWikipedia:WikiProject SyriaTemplate:WikiProject SyriaSyria articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Palestine, a team effort dedicated to building and maintaining comprehensive, informative and balanced articles related to the geographic Palestine region, the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine on Wikipedia. Join us by visiting the project page, where you can add your name to the list of members where you can contribute to the discussions.PalestineWikipedia:WikiProject PalestineTemplate:WikiProject PalestinePalestine-related articles
This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Latest comment: 11 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Though the article cites four sources for the claim that the CIA was behind Za'im's coup, these sources all ultimately rely on the claims of Miles Copeland (Damascus CIA station chief at the time) and Stephen Meade (Assistant Military Attache in the U.S. embassy in Damascus). In his book on the history of covert action in Syria, however, Andrew Rathmell makes a strong case for withholding judgment regarding the CIA's responsibility for the coup.[1] Rathmell notes that while Copeland initially asserted that he and Meade were behind the coup, he later claimed that he only advised Za'im on the planning. Rathmell also notes several CIA sources who say that Copeland was prone to exaggeration, quoting a former CIA director as saying that "'if you can sort out fact from fiction in [Copeland's book] 'The Game of Nations', you are a clairvoyant.'" Rathmell casts doubt on the purported rationale for the CIA's backing of the coup, arguing that all of the issues that supposedly motivated the coup (e.g., approval of the Tapline) were moving toward a satisfactory resolution under the 'Azm administration. Rathmell concludes: "Without access to CIA archives it is not possible to determine precisely what role the Agency played before the coup. Nonetheless, from the evidence available, it appears that the United States' role was far more limited than is often believed." Rathmell takes into account Little's argument (cited in this article) and makes full use of the available unclassified sources. In light of this, I believe the article should be edited to reflect more uncertainty regarding the United States' role in the coup. Kzndr (talk) 01:35, 17 May 2013 (UTC)Reply