The PNAC is back - same old liars with a brand new name

[blackbear]

'The PNAC is back - same old liars with a brand new name

There's a new think tank on the loose, guys, and it's called the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. They're on a veritable rampage, penning articles and missives to the editor on a set of issues we are all too familiar with.

It doesn't take long to see these clowns for what they are, another front for the neoconservative agenda: anti-U.N., pro-Iraq war, shills for Israel via proxy (in this case, Lebanon), and pro-Iran invasion.

But let's take a closer look at who is behind this.

Here is the roster.

Board of Directors
Steve Forbes - original signatory, PNAC
Jeanne Kirkpatrick, signatory, PNAC letter to Bush
Jack Kemp, Mr. supply-side economics himself, linked to Kirkpatrick and William Bennett (another PNAC signatory) via Empower America, which also happens to have Steve Forbes as a director

Distinguished Advisors
Louis Freeh
Newt Gingrich, the man who did the PNAC's inside dirty work in 1998, leading the charge for Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998 while simultaneously the Republicans were pushing action against Iraq
Max Kampelman, PNAC signatory on Hong Kong letter
Joe Lieberman, the so-called independent who has supported the neoconservative agenda at every step
James Woolsey, PNAC signatory on Iraq Clinton letter and several others

Board of Advisors
Gary Bauer, PNAC signatory, radical right Christian, and Christian Zionist leader
Eric Cantor, US Rep (R-VA), Israel hawk
Eliot Engel, US Rep (D-NY), one of few non-Southern Iraq war hawks in the Dem Party, Israel hawk
Frank Gaffney, PNAC signatory
Marc Ginsberg, signatory, PNAC letter on Russia
Charles Jacobs, noted anti-Muslim racist
Charles Krauthammer, signatory, PNAC Iraq Clinton letter
Bill Kristol, founder, PNAC
Richard Lamm, former Democratic governor of Colorado, later Reform party candidate for president, noted racist
Jim Marshall, US Rep (D-GA), DINO
Zell Miller, another Democratic traitor who backed W in 2004
Richard Perle, the prince of darkness itself, and of course a PNAC signatory
Steven Pomerantz, former FBI, an intelligence profiteer
Oliver "Buck" Revell, former FBI, another intelligence profiteer

There is also a good profile of FDD on Rightweb.

The formula is the same - neoconservatives, war profiteers, and Israel-firsters banding together to create more war and more terrorism - but this time not in the name of U.S. security but even more cynically in the name of spreading democracy.

We have already seen the results of this policy in Iraq. It is an abysmal failure.

Any questions?......294 comments.....http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/26/18440/0182/114/46 4649

Alice

Good afternoon, boys and girls. Today, our word will be MOSSAD. Can you spell MOSSAD?

According to the FDD, the organization "was founded shortly after 9/11 by a group of visionary philanthropists and policymakers to engage in the worldwide war of ideas and to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by terrorism and Militant Islamism." A 2003 report published by the American Conservative indicates that the origins of FDD can be traced back to an effort to gain support for Israel's response to the Palestinian Intifada and to diminish public outcry against Israeli actions. Its predecessor was known as EMET [which means "truth" in Hebrew]: An Educational Initiative, Inc., which was founded in early 2001 by the same donors who provided the initial support for the FDD. EMET was conceived as a public relations effort to support Israel through offices in Washington and Israel. In addition to its media work, EMET initiated educational tours to Israel for U.S. university students and professors (see Daniel McCarthy, "Most Favored Democracy," American Conservative).

After 9/11, EMET evolved into FDD, with Clifford May as president and Nir Boms as vice president; Boms had been the central figure in EMET. (Boms, a member of Benador Associates, is no longer with FDD.) FDD operates an educational exchange program, similar to what EMET did but on a larger scale, which accepts students and professors who are interested in being activists in Israeli counterterrorism.

Although the FDD's mission statement makes no mention of Israel, the foundation's public statements and operations concern Israel to a great degree. FDD associates and staff are outspoken proponents of the hardliners in Israel, including May, Krauthammer, Perle, and Bill Kristol. FDD adviser Charles Jacobs has been a prominent spokesperson for the National Unity Coalition for Israel (NUCI), which according to Jacobs is "giving voice" to pro-Israel evangelical Christians (New York Times, January 21, 1998).

Numerous FDD principals have been associated with the Project for the New American Century, a neoconservative institute that was one of the leading promoters of the Iraq War and the Bush administration's aggressive security doctrine. These include Woolsey, Gaffney, Kristol, Forbes, Perle, Kirkpatrick, and Krauthammer.

In spring 2002, in an apparent effort to thwart Bush administration initiatives to reopen peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, the FDD aired 30-second television spots that conflated Yasser Arafat with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Opening with the words "The Suicide Strategy," the ads stated: "It was used by terrorists against America on September 11. It's being used by terrorists against Israel day after day. ... The suicide strategy threatens all of us—all those who are hated as 'infidels.' ... If we appease terrorism, we'll get more terrorism. Our way of life is threatened. ... Never appease terrorism" (Inter Press Service, April 26, 2002). The video's producer was Boms, the former officer of public and academic affairs for the Israeli Embassy in Washington who served as FDD's vice president (Alternet, October 10, 2003).

Although the FDD is an ardent critic of terrorism, it has not criticized actions taken by Israel against Palestinians that arguably fall into this category. Wrote Ismail Royer, a former researcher for the Council on American-Islamic Relations: "FDD Senior Adviser Walid Phares has had a long and close relationship with the Guardians of the Cedar, a pro-Israel Lebanese militia. The group, which in 1976 led the massacre of at least 3,000 Palestinian men, women, and children at the Tel al-Za'atar refugee camp near Beirut (and continues to call the massacre a 'cleansing'), is labeled 'an extremist Christian group' by the U.S. State Department. The Congressional Research Service labels them an 'extremist Maronite militia and terrorist organization'" (Antiwar.com, September 26, 2002).

In late February 2004, the FDD submitted a supporting brief to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was considering a Palestinian petition to have the massive wall Israel is building condemned as a breach of international law. ...

According to the FDD, it receives money from "a diverse group of individual philanthropists" and "does not accept any government funding." An investigative report in the American Conservative put the FDD's annual budget at close to $3 million (American Conservative, November 17, 2003). According to the American Conservative report, the FDD relies on the support of 27 individual high-end donors, including Leonard Abramson of U.S. Healthcare; New York financier Michael Steinhardt; Edgar S. Bronfman Sr., patriarch of Seagrams and president of the Jewish World Congress, and his brother Charles Bronfman; and Lynn Schusterman, widow of Oklahoma oil executive Charles Schusterman. In 2002, the FDD received $250,000 apiece from Edgar Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt, and Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus. Other donors who each gave $100,000 included Abramson, Charles Bronfman, Lynn Schusterman, and Dalck Feith (father of Douglas Feith). In its Form 990 tax form for 2004, FDD indicated that Ameriquest Capital had donated a generous $1.55 million to the foundation. The forms also showed Clifford May's salary at more than $305,000 a year in 2004. The FDD also receives funding from the State Department for its democracy programs and has worked in tandem with the U.S.-government funded NED. In 2004, the Sarah Scaife Foundation granted the FDD $125,000 for general operating expenses, and a combined $275,000 in 2005 for program and project support. In 2005 FDD had assets of close to $5.5 million, according to MediaTransparency.org.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1475

9/11.....cui bono + follow the money....it might help to visit a Zoo.

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=16393