Bernard Kerik's Foreign Policy and Courting of Gay Interests: Resources

President Bush’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, Bernard Kerik, has done a tremendous job in spinning a life grounded in mediocrity and elevated through cronyism, into the PR illusion of a heroic march for "security." The following is intended only as a starting point and resource for those curious about the qualifications of Mr. Kerik.

Courting Gay Interest Groups. Kerik, as New York City police commissioner, courted gay and lesbian groups (for example, attending a gay community reception for him at a club called "G") and vowed to review the department’s connections to the Boy Scouts in comments made to Lesbian & Gay New York Online (LGNY). See http://www.homestead.com/lesbiansRus/files/schools_move_against_anti.htm.

Early Background. According to his biography, Mr. Kerik was born the illegitimate son of a prostitute who was murdered in his youth, was a high school dropout (now with a GED), served a brief stint in the military as a soldier in Korea (where he reportedly fathered an illegitimate child), and then became a police officer in New York and, in 1994, the head of the "Investigations" unit for the prisons in New York City (1995-1998) – rising thereafter to head the prisons for the city.

Cronyism. Kerik’s career was launched largely because he made the fateful choice in 1993 to become the veritable campaign chauffeur for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He had previously served for years as a "bodyguard" in Saudi Arabia (an odd move in retrospect). His "career" was launched with an appointment to head the "investigations" unit of the Department of Correction in New York City (focused on so-called gang "intelligence" and not the auditing of the rampant corruption and abuses by staff). After 9/11, both Giuliani and Kerik walked away and quickly profited from the turn of events. Kerik joined Giuliani Partners LLC (and, according to his Taser bio, also became CEO of "Giuliani-Kerik LLC"). http://www.macreport.net/featured/TASR/board.asp#BBK Kerik earned his new-found fortune by being appointed to the board of Taser International, which manufactures stun guns, and received options that he is reported to have quickly exercised to reap a $2.5MM+ windfall. http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/03/technology/taser/ While hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers (and workers from CT and NJ) were laid off or had business wrecked by 9/11 (many of which never received a dime of help from anyone, despite all the government programs), Mr. Kerik has profited quite handsomely from his role as police commissioner. This is all the more ironic in light of criticism he has received concerning his "leadership" and "management skills" during the crisis.

Questionable "leadership" skills. Evidence of a chaotic police command structure during the 9/11 attack prompted Reagan-era Secretary of the Navy John Lehman to direct some pointed criticism at Mr. Kerik. It was Lehman, who as part of the 9/11 commission, criticized Kerik (and a fire chief jointly) for leadership skills as "not worthy of the Boy Scouts" (also a veiled reference to the scandal over New York City’s and Kerik’s attitudes towards the Scouts). (Quoted at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/6647778).

Pro-Israel. On an oddly-timed trip to Israel only a little more than a week before 9/11, he spoke on the subject of terrorism with Public Security Minister Uzi Landau and Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishki and sought to, in Kerik’s words reported publicly:"demonstrate my deep solidarity with the State of Israel." (http://www.ourjerusalem.com/news/story/news20010902.html). The trip was "oddly-timed" because sometime that summer it was hurriedly pushed up to around Labor Day after originally being scheduled for early October (which might have significance in light of various reports of uncertain accuracy about an Israeli warning about the looming attack and/or activities just before 9/11 in the city’s emergency command center in WTC Tower 7 [movements of equipment in particular]).

Covers up police abuses. Mr. Kerik had originally been brought in to serve as Police Commissioner from the NYC Department of Correction largely because of pressure on Giuliani for someone to take the fall for the slaughter of Amadou Diallo. That is, by a twist of fate, had Diallo not been shot Kerik would still be languishing in the Department of Correction. The political buck for the abuse of police powers stopped on the desk of Giulani’s crony, Howard Safir, in 2000, who resigned as Police Commissioner after calls for the same had reached a fever pitch. Kerik spent the early part of 2001 covering his flanks within the ranks of the NYPD: that April he shocked the conscience of much of the nation by refusing to fire or even discipline the cops who shot Diallo.

Scandals. His hand-picked Deputy Commissioner at the NYC DoC is now reported to be serving a prison term for looting a Correction Foundation of funds. Later, as Police Commissioner, the City’s Conflicts of Interest Board levied a fine on him of $2,500 for using police officers to do research for his 2001 book The Lost Son (which was published by Judith Regan).

Chimera of "Success" in Iraq. Kerik’s most recent claim to fame was a very short stint in Iraq in 2003, ostensibly to assist Paul Bremer stop the looting. That they did – after almost everything that was lootable had been looted. Kerik’s tenure in Iraq was generally unremarkable, except for his marginal success in equipping Iraqi police units and his reported role in bringing in the American practice of paying for tips. He was apparently picked for the task because of his prior experience spending four years in Saudi Arabia, although his Arabic skills are reportedly very weak despite four years of "immersion." Even though he had served as head of New York’s prisons, it is not clear from the press coverage whether he had any role in organizing and setting up prison facilities like Abu Ghuraib. What has been reported is that his involvement with the Iraqi police reconstruction was a small part of what has become an unmitigated disaster. Many thousands of insurgents and "bad people" (to quote a police chief in Baghdad) infiltrated police ranks in the mad rush in mid-2003 (under Kerik) to scale up the force, and whole units have since either defected to join the insurgency of melted away, while corruption, incompetence, and apathy remain rampant and endemic. For the quote and some details on this Iraq angle see http://www.freep.com/news/nw/iraq12_20030912.htm

Politician in Bureaucrat’s Clothing. Apart from Kerik’s Orwellian comments about how any criticism at all is akin to aiding enemies (of his supreme leader of the moment, not of America), he became infamous for his remark in April 2004 to the New York Daily News that "if you put Sen. Kerry in the White House, I think you are going to see that happen." "That" = "another terrorist attack." Not "could" or "might," but "are." The report was of a statement about the prospects of "another terrorist attack," about which Kerik is quoted as saying:" If you put Sen. Kerry in the White House, I think you are going to see that happen ... and I don’t want to see another Sept. 11." http://www.nydailynews.com/04-22-2004/news/politics/story/186253p-161336c.html

Comment on Border Security. What border security experience? He’s from New York City – that gaping hole in our border armor that no one in the NYPD has taken serious measures to close in decades. The NYPD polices a territory in which there are as many as 2 million invaders (illegals) on a given day – at least half of them living and working in "plain view."

Try reading conservative editorial line papers from the New York metro region, too. The NYPost just ripped him for the payday from Taser (for doing next to nothing) -- it's positively vicious compared to this tame piece. Elements of the conservative right in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast are skeptical, too.

Right. I got that. But somebody, somewhere, paraphrased those sources cited throughout the article and cut selected information (paragraphs) from the original articles. Apparently, but perhaps not, that was New Republican Archive. Without going in and reading each article cited to see what information wasn't included or what context may have been lost, I was asking if you knew anything about New Republican Archive. There's a pretty hard push from the Dems to make Kerik look bad, and I'm interested to know the agenda of a source I've never seen before.

For example, this appears to be the opinion of someone (as best as I can tell) unidentified from New Republican Archive. Is it your opinion that this is a credible source for information? Do you have much familiarity with them?

which might have significance in light of various reports of uncertain accuracy about an Israeli warning about the looming attack and/or activities just before 9/11 in the city’s emergency command center in WTC Tower 7 [movements of equipment in particular]).

Now Bernard Kerik Had foreknowledge of 9-11? Pass the tin foil, I'm beginning to think I'm the one needing it.

The point is that it's not just the Dems. Where are you based? Around here (I follow NH, MA, and NYC papers with conservative editorial lines), there is a lot of skepticism about Giuliani and Kerik.

Archive...Republican focus...Other reports on the site are conservative and pro-Republican, and pro-liberty (but also not hesitant to bash ridiculous Liberal policies coming out of Washington). Some local MA-based coverage. The best one is the statistical study of correlations between SATs, GOP affiliation, and home valuations in MA -- it pays to own a home in a town with "republican values" is one positive comment. Showed that higher SAT scores are correlated to GOP affiliation.

Don't get confused by the MA connection. It's based in Acton -- the Northwest suburbs close to Rte.495 and westward. Consider the territory as having much in common with the conservative towns in New Hampshire (only a few towns North).

I understand the doubts about Giuiliani and want to scream when I hear Republicans touting him as a 2008 candidate, but he and Kerik both seem like acceptable candidates for Homeland Security chief. I would think that in NYC if you're going to have a political career you're going to cozy up to some folks that in a red state would probably be jailed. It seems to me that Kerik has made a pretty good life for someone who from the get-go wouldn't have gotten very good odds. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Kerik's all right for Homeland Security. If he wants to run for President or VP I'd give him another look - but I have no doubts that he would do everything he could to keep the citizens of the country safe from another 9/11, and isn't that what we want from Homeland Security?

That's "might" "uncertain accuracy" etc. You draw an inference that is not supported. It reads like the point was only that some curious actions were being taken just prior, and what it all means is not conjectured. So are you saying that Kerik -- the NYC Police Commissioner -- was certain to have been kept 100% out of the loop of even vague strategic threat assessments (like the Aug. 6 PDB) and chatter? If so, then you underestimate greatly just how important New York is in the nationwide operational management of counter-intelligence/counter-terror -- to the CIA and FBI (both with key staff in the city for those tasks prior to 9/11) as well as the role of the NYPD intelligence section (that's why the NYPD was the first non-Federal law enforcement agency in the nation to gain access to INTERPOL databases this past summer).

No one can quibble with the conclusion. It's how we get there that's the rub. He's untested/unclear in his attitudes towards open borders -- and he has played Liberal games, and comes from NYC. Isn't that what the battle in the House was all about? The verdict is out...so we'll see.

It's also a bit hard to stomach the huge payday he got from Taser for doing next to nothing for them, a company that some of the Street analyst commentary I've seen has indicated should seek more USG contracts (having been criticized by some for having a business that hasn't done as well as hoped securing such contracts).

You draw an inference that is not supported.

I'm drawing an inference that's not supported?

So are you saying that Kerik -- the NYC Police Commissioner -- was certain to have been kept 100% out of the loop of even vague strategic threat assessments (like the Aug. 6 PDB) and chatter?

No I didn't say that. The article didn't say that either.The article says;

If the writer of the article meant to imply that Mr.Kerik learned of a threat through regular channels and just happened to visit Israel earlier that year he failed miserably, because I just don't see that there. What I see there is a thinly veiled Zionist conspiracy theory expanded to include Bernard Kerik.

Pure fantasy...Just because Kerik was visiting Israel doesn't imply squat about "conspiracies." We cooperate all the time, and he was NYC Police Commissioner at that critical moment in history. Sharing intel is not "conspiracy." There is a story out that Egypt warned us. So just by saying that I'm advancing an Egyptian conspiracy theory?

There is a reasonable middle ground that is worth exploring. The "inference" implied that even suggesting Kerik had strategic warning -- even though the White House admits that at least hundreds of key government officials knew something was up (Aug. 6 PDB, all the FBI and CIA chatter and efforts, etc.) -- was itself tantamount to advancing some anti-Zionist "conspiracy" theory. In fact, the "black and white" alternative to that train of thought is that Kerik was kept out of the loop (the illogic holding that he must be to prevent even discussing "Zionist conspiracy" crap) is more problematic since one would have expected the chiefs in DC and NYC to be kept abreast of even NON-SPECIFIC strategic warnings. The truth is not always black and white.

Pure fantasy...Just because Kerik was visiting Israel doesn't imply squat about "conspiracies."

Except that the trip, the aledged "odd timing" of the trip and the basis of the conspiracy theory are all in the same paragraph. If it was not meant to be linked togather, they shouldn't have been in the same paragraph.

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