And by practically designating Hillary heir apparent, Obama made her the most forceful secretary of state since Henry Kissinger, enhanced but unencumbered by Bill's back channel relationships.
Salahuddin began a back-channel relationship with American authorities and talked about returning to the United States to stand trial in the murder of Tabatabai.
The message, whether via an intermediary or back channel, should be that the United States seeks to find a mutually beneficial relationship with Iran, not to overthrow the regime.
When, through a back channel, I briefed the under secretary of defense for intelligence, James Clapper, on the relationship between drugs and the insurgency, he said he had "never heard any of this".
Hayden was furious about this back channel.
The relationships fed his appetite for swashbuckling and provided the North Koreans not only with ample supplies of ribs but also a diplomatic and commercial back channel in the United States.
I approached him through a back channel, through a friend.
He is not ruling out some kind of back channel.
For the Syrians, he added, "the best channel is a back channel — it's ideal.
Back Channel to Cuba, by William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh (North Carolina).
