 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Gary Sick" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Gary Gordon Sick (born April 4, 1935) is an Americanacademic and analyst ofMiddle East affairs, with special expertise onIran, who served on theU.S. National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and for a couple weeks under Reagan as well.[1] He has authored three books, and is perhaps best known to the wider public for voicing support for elements of the1980 October Surprise theory regarding theIran hostage crisis andthat year's presidential election. He also alleged thatIraq may have had a role in theSeptember 11 attacks.[2][3]
Sick is a retired captain in theU.S. Navy.[4] He received aBA fromUniversity of Kansas in 1957, aMaster of Science degree atGeorge Washington University in 1970, followed by aPhD inpolitical science atColumbia University in 1973.[4]
Sick served on the staff of the National Security Council under PresidentCarter, and was the principalWhite House aide forPersian Gulf affairs from 1976 to 1981, a period which included theIranian Revolution and the hostage crisis.
After leaving government service, Sick served as Deputy Director for International Affairs at theFord Foundation from 1982 to 1987, and is the executive director of theGulf/2000 Project at Columbia University (1993–present), which has published five books and numbers many of the leading scholars on the Persian Gulf among its global membership. He is an adjunct professor of International Affairs and a senior research scholar at Columbia's School of International & Public Affairs, where he has been voted one of the top professors. He is emeritus member of the board of directors ofHuman Rights Watch, and serves as founding chair of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch/Middle East.[5]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Booknotes interview with Gary Sick onOctober Surprise, December 1, 1991,C-SPAN |
On April 15, 1991,The New York Times published anopinion piece by Sick that stated "individuals associated with the Reagan-Bush campaign of 1980 met secretly with Iranian officials to delay the release of the American hostages until after the Presidential election. For this favor, Iran was rewarded with a substantial supply of arms from Israel."[6][7] While the "October Surprise" allegations had been promoted by others as early as 1980, theTimes article immediately elevated the story to national prominence.[7][8] Sick later detailed the allegations in his bookOctober Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan.[7] Sick's allegations were addressed by both houses of Congress.[9][10] TheUnited States Senate's November 1992 report concluded that "by any standard, the credible evidence now known falls far short of supporting the allegation of an agreement between the Reagan campaign and Iran to delay the release of the hostages."[11] TheHouse October Surprise Task Force's January 1993 report concluded "there is no credible evidence supporting any attempt by the Reagan presidential campaign—or persons associated with the campaign—to delay the release of the American hostages in Iran".[12]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)