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Home » 2013 » October » 11 » Conflicts of interest in the Syria debate
3:16 PM
Conflicts of interest in the Syria debate
http://public-accountability.org/2013/10/conflicts-of-interest-in-the-syria-debate/
Stephen Hadley

Identified as: Former national security adviser to George W. Bush

Undisclosed industry ties: Hadley has served on the board of defense contractor Raytheon since 2009. Raytheon manufactures the Tomahawk cruise missiles that were potentially to be used in airstrikes against Syria. He also sits on the Special Activities committee of Raytheon’s board, the stated purpose of which is "provide oversight of the Company’s business activities which involve matters that have been classified for purposes of national security by an agency or instrumentality of the government customer (‘Classified Business’).” Members of the committee must obtain "applicable security clearances.”2 Hadley also chairs the company’s Public Affairs Committee, which reviews "political, social and legal trends and issues that may have an impact on the business operations, financial performance or public image of the Company.”3 Hadley owns 11,477 shares of Raytheon stock, worth close to $900,000, and earned $128,500 in cash compensation from the company last year.4

Hadley is a principal at RiceHadleyGates LLC, an international strategic consulting firm. The firm advises companies on their international strategies, including foreign policy and national security matters. One example of its work highlighted on its website: "Providing information and analysis to help a client manage the changes to its business brought about by the Arab Awakening.”5 He is also an advisor, focused on Policy Research & Analysis, to the consulting firm APCO Worldwide and director and member of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council (see below).6

Media commentary: Hadley has been a vocal and highly visible supporter of war with Syria. He published an opinion piece for the Washington Post headlined "To stop Iran, Obama must enforce red lines with Syria.” He has also done interviews with Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, and CNN, conveying a similar message.7 House Majority Leader Eric Cantor invited Hadley to brief staffers on Syria, according to the National Journal.8 National Security Advisor Susan Rice tweeted Hadley’s remarks in support of the strike, according to the Wall Street Journal.9 From Bloomberg Television’s Political Capital with Al Hunt (9/6/2013):

HUNT: How would it be read in Tehran if we don’t strike?

HADLEY: I think that’s one of the biggest problems. And that’s why, if I were – and when I talk to Republicans, I say if you are concerned about Iran and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, you better be voting in favor of this resolution, because having – the president having set down a red line for chemical weapons use in Syria, if he does not enforce it, the – the red line, if you will, that we’ve put down with Iran on its nuclear program doesn’t look credible. We’ve said that Iran needs to give up its nuclear program, and if it does not do so, all options are on the table, including the military option. If we don’t enforce the red line in Syria, that threat looks empty. And if that threat looks empty, I think there’s very little chance that we can get Iran to be willing to negotiate away its nuclear weapons program.10

Disclosure: CNN’s John Berman noted that Hadley is "with the consulting firm RiceHadleyGates”, but failed to disclose his position with Raytheon. None of Hadley’s ties to the defense industry were noted in his other three appearances.

James Cartwright

Identified as: Retired General and former Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Undisclosed industry ties: Cartwright has served on the board of Raytheon since January 2012. He served on the Public Affairs Committee and the Special Activities committees (described above, under Stephen Hadley) until recently. Cartwright owns 5,374 shares of stock and earned $124,000 in cash compensation from Raytheon last year.11

Cartwright has a number of other defense industry affiliations, as well. He is currently an advisor to defense and intelligence contractor TASC, consulting firm Accenture, and Enlightenment Capital, a private equity firm with defense investments. He is also a director of the Atlantic Council (see below).12

Cartwright is currently the target of a federal investigation into leaks regarding the Stuxnet virus.13

Media commentary: Cartwright appeared on ABC’s This Week Syria experts panel on September 1, 2013, the same day John Kerry made appearances on all of the Sunday shows. Cartwright echoed concerns that a limited strike would not be an effective deterrent, but agreed with host George Stephanopoulos that the United States needed to strike Syria to maintain credibility and send a message to Iran:

STEPHANOPOULOS: And General Cartwright, so much of this idea of hitting back at Assad, in part because of those horrific pictures, but also the word credibility comes back into play. All of the military, all the entire region, also looking at Iran and wondering the kind of message it sends to Iran if we do not, if we do not strike in the wake of an attack like this.

CARTWRIGHT: I think it’s critical here and that’s probably one of the audiences we have to pay close attention to.14

Frances Townsend

Identified as: CNN national security analyst; member of the CIA and DHS advisory committees

Undisclosed industry ties: Townsend, former assistant for homeland security to George W. Bush, is a senior vice president at MacAndrews & Forbes, an investment firm. MacAndrews & Forbes owns AM General, which manufactures military vehicles. Townsend also serves as an operating advisor to Monument Capital Group, an investment firm with a global security and defense sector investment focus, and on the advisory board of Decision Sciences, a cargo screening company with defense contracts.

Townsend was the chair of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a private intelligence contractor association, until 2012.15

Media commentary: As CNN’s national security analyst, Townsend has made multiple appearances on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss Syria.16 Townsend has stated that she sees action as "inevitable,” but has also questioned the effectiveness of a limited air strike on most appearances, instead promoting a "full comprehensive strategy” without limits set by Congress. She has expressed on multiple occasions her concern that a limited strike will threaten US national security. From CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 (8/28/2013):

TOWNSEND: When we have used these standoff assaults before, like after the East Africa bombing, it has a short-term effect, but not a long-term strategic effect. And that’s what you really want to do. You don’t want to just deter the Syrians. You want to deter Hezbollah, al Qaeda, Iran from using these kind of weapons as well.17

From CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 (9/3/2013):

TOWNSEND: That’s right, so you worry about the release of what chemical weapons they have, the use of Hezbollah, you know, asymmetric attacks not only inside Syria but are in the region and around the world against Western targets.18

She has also commented on the quality of the intelligence on Syria, calling it a "pretty compelling narrative” and questioned the trustworthiness of Russia’s plan to deal with Syria’s chemical weapons.19

General Anthony Zinni

Identified as: Retired U.S. Marine Corps General and Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command

Undisclosed industry ties: Zinni is an outside director at BAE Systems, which was the third largest military services company in the world in 201120 and received $6.1 billion in federal contracts in 2012.21 He was previously chairman of the board and acting CEO between 2009 and 2012. He is a member of the Advisory Board of DC Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in defense contractors. According to its website, "DC Capital’s investment strategy emphasizes certain sectors that it believes offer the most compelling growth opportunities for investment, including but not limited to: Intelligence, Homeland Security, Information Technology, and Operations and Maintenance.”22

Zinni is also a Distinguished Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (see below).23

Media commentary: Zinni has made multiple appearances on CNN and was quoted in the Washington Post. He has expressed support for the strike, but questioned the likelihood of it being a "one-and-done.”24 He has also appeared on CBS’s This Morning with a similar message:

ZINNI: Well, we have to do something because the President laid a red line down. This is an unacceptable act. And– and so I think we’re committed, or look, we can– he’ll continue to test us. I think we need to think in terms of a longer campaign, not that this shot might be just one act and then finished25

In his most recent appearance, on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley, Zinni expressed concern that Iran might see U.S. indecision on Syria as a "potential opportunity to exploit:”

CROWLEY: Is that the signal, you think, that Iran has gotten from the U.S. over the past couple of weeks?

ZINNI: I think it’s probably been confusing for them. They probably see an opportunity here. I think prior to this they would have been convinced that we intended to act if they crossed the red line there. Knowing the Iranians, they see everything as a potential opportunity to exploit. And I’m sure they are calculating much how they could take advantage of this and maybe push the edge of the envelope.26

Jeremy Bash

Identified as: Former Chief of Staff to the Defense Department and CIA under Leon Panetta

Industry ties: Bash is co-founder and managing director of Beacon Global Strategies. According to its website, Beacon is a "strategic advisory firm specializing in matters of International Policy, Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Cyber, Intelligence, and Homeland Security,” though its clients are not disclosed.27 Defense News notes the firm is "built on providing advice to companies, primarily defense contractors, focused on international defense business as well as cyber, although their first client was Bash’s former boss, Panetta.”28

Media commentary: Bash has made multiple appearances on CNN and MSNBC to discuss Syria. He has expressed strong confidence in U.S. intelligence on Syria. He has expressed support for the strike, including his "hope” that Congress will vote to approve it, and commented on its effectiveness in the interest of national security as a deterrent to other governments, citing Iran in particular.29 From MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews (8/30/2013):

MATTHEWS: Jeremy Bash, your thoughts on that. Let`s see — keep the focus here on deterrence. We have a military capability. Can we, should we use it in this way to signal our potential future enemies, Don’t go nuclear because we’re not going to let this bum go chemical?

BASH: Well, Chris, it`s good to be with you. I’ve probably sat through several hundred intelligence briefings over the last eight years on Capitol Hill, at the CIA, and at the Defense Department. Not one has been as nearly definitive as this one and not one has been nearly as horrifying as this. This really ranks up there as one of the most convincing and compelling intelligence cases for using military action in this way. And in terms of your question about deterrence and talking about Iran, let me point out two things. In 2003, Iran suspended its nuclear program. We know that definitively. Why did they do that? In part because that was the same year we invaded Iraq. We were in both countries around Iran, and they feared our military. Now, that wasn’t the objective of the Iraq war, but it was one of the intended — that was one of the consequences.30

Disclosure: CNN’s Jake Tapper noted that Bash founded Beacon Global Strategies and called it "a consulting firm.” CNN and MSNBC failed to disclose the connection in Bash’s five other appearances.

Nicholas Burns

Identified as: Former Under Secretary of State; professor at Kennedy School of Government, former U.S. ambassador to NATO

Undisclosed industry ties: Burns is a Senior Counselor to the Cohen Group, a global consulting firm with Aerospace & Defense and Homeland Security among its practice groups. The Cohen Group has previously been registered as a lobbyist to the U.S. government on behalf of defense contractors Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, United Technologies and others. James Loy, senior counselor to the Cohen Group, and Joseph Ralston, Cohen Group vice chairman, are both directors at Lockheed Martin.

Burns is also a director for Entegris, which is "the leading manufacturer of graphite and silicon carbide materials and products for use in Aerospace applications,” according to their website.31 He serves on the board of the Atlantic Council (see below).32

Media commentary: Burns has made appearances on CNN and Fox News in addition to penning op-ed columns for the Boston Globe. He has expressed strong support for a strike on Syria and suggested that inaction may threaten national security.33 From one of Burns’s Boston Globe op-ed pieces (9/7/2013):

From a foreign policy perspective, the decision isn’t even close — the United States must act by attacking President Bashar Assad’s air force, artillery, and command and control assets within Syria. The goal is to intimidate him, degrade his military capacity, and deter him from ever using these weapons again. There are risks, to be sure, in any use of force. But this will not be another Iraq — the United States will not put ground troops into Syria. And the risks are even greater if we do nothing.34

From CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley (9/1/2013):

BORGER: And Nick Burns, let me ask you, what are the implications of this kind of delay for our allies in the region, or in Syria, for that matter?

BURNS: Well, Gloria, there are some risks here. Risk one is that Assad will misread this, not understand what the president is trying to do as David has described in terms of domestic affairs and believes that we’re a paper tiger. And that will embolden him. The second risk is that Iran, Hezbollah and Russia, the coalition supporting Assad, will also feel that they have got license to continue what they’re doing. So the president needs to counteract those.35

William S. Cohen

Identified as: Former Secretary of Defense during the Clinton Administration; former Republican Senator and Congressman from Maine; served as a Director of the Council on Foreign Relations

Industry ties: Cohen is Chair and CEO of the Cohen Group, a global consulting firm with Aerospace & Defense and Homeland Security among its practice groups, both led by Cohen. The firm’s website asserts Cohen’s particular credentials in those areas. The Cohen Group has previously been registered as a lobbyist to the federal government on behalf of defense contractors Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, United Technologies and others. James Loy, senior counselor to the Cohen Group, and Joseph Ralston, Cohen Group vice chairman, are both directors for Lockheed Martin. Cohen is also a trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.36

Media commentary: Cohen has made multiple appearances on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV to discuss Syria in recent weeks. He has expressed confidence in the US intelligence on Syria, but advised consulting with the UN and Congress and determining more clear objectives before taking action.37 From CNN Newsroom (9/11/2013):

COHEN: Nonetheless, the president is where he is right now and if he is forced to take action because the Russians are stalling and Assad is not complying, then he should use the Desert Fox operation that President Clinton initiated against Saddam Hussein with a four-day campaign that did real damage to Saddam’s capabilities. And I think that’s what the president has in mind.38

Disclosure: MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell and CNBC noted the Cohen Group affiliation, but did not identify it as a defense consulting firm. The affiliation was not disclosed in Cohen’s other four appearances on CNN, Bloomberg TV and MSNBC.

Wesley Clark

Identified as: Retired General; former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO; senior fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA

Undisclosed industry ties: Clark founded a consulting firm Wesley K Clark & Associates in 2004, which, according to its website, "uses his expertise, relationships, and extensive international reputation and experience in the fields of energy, alternative energy, corporate and national security, logistics, aerospace and defense, and investment banking.”39 He currently serves as CEO of the firm. Clients are not disclosed on its website.

Clark sits on the boards of many companies, most of them focused on the energy sector, and serves as an energy sector advisor to the Blackstone Group. He serves on the board of MFG.com, a sourcing company, which landed a Department of Defense contract shortly before he joined its board.40 He is also a director of the Atlantic Council (see below).41

Media commentary: Clark has made appearances on CNN and NPR and penned an op-ed for Zocalo Public Square that was published in USA Today. He has expressed condemnation of Syria’s use of chemical weapons and support for Obama’s response on moral grounds.42 From Clark’s op-ed in USA Today (8/29/2013):

But President Obama has rightly drawn a line at the use of chemical weapons. Some weapons are simply too inhuman to be used. And, as many of us learned during 1990s, in the words of President Clinton, "Where we can make a difference, we must act.”43

From CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront (9/4/2013):

CLARK: Because I think if the United States is going to lead, this is the time to lead, and what the president is doing is leading. Everyone signed this chemical warfare convention. It outlaws the use of chemical weapons. It’s actually been in law since 1925. And this is a chance for the United States and the world community to show that we meant the piece of paper when we signed it. And that’s what this is about, U.S. leadership. It is not about the strike. This is about bringing the United States and the world together to make a statement. This is not going to be permitted in the 21st Century.44

Roger Cressey

Identified as: former National Security Council staff/White House counterterrorism official; NBC News counterterrorism consultant

Undisclosed industry ties: Cressey was until recently a senior vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton, "supporting the firm’s cybersecurity business and international government clients,” according to its website.45 His profile is no longer available on the Booz Allen Hamilton website, but was as of September 21, 2013. He is currently listed as a partner with Arlington-based risk and crisis management firm, Liberty Group Ventures LLC.46

Media commentary: Cressey has appeared on MSNBC and was quoted in NBC News commenting on the nature of Syrian rebels and whether regime change may be a consequence of the US strike.47

From NBC News (9/9/2013):

President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have said that any U.S. reprisal for Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons against his people would be limited and not aimed at regime change. But Cressey, the NBC News consultant, and other experts say that attacks – likely to be in the form of cruise-missile strikes on Syrian command-and-control facilities — could have that effect, coming at a time when the rebels have been gaining ground, even making headway in Alawite strongholds like Latakia. "You don’t have to advertise regime change,” said Cressey, "but you can strike a series of targets that are critical to the regime’s survival, that ultimately will help the rebels.48

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