Meet the Syrian Islamist Organization Controlling Senator McCain’s Agenda

Frontpage Mag ^ | September 4, 2013 | Daniel Greenfield

[maggief]

A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a high profile article from one Elizabeth O’Bagy arguing that the majority of the Syrian rebels were actually moderates.

Senator McCain mentioned Elizabeth O’Bagy’s op-ed during the Senate hearings, when he wasn’t playing poker, and tweeted it. That should come as no surprise, considering that O’Bagy is credited with arranging McCain’s infamous photo op with the Syrian rebel leadership.

The Wall Street Journal lists O’Bagy’s role as the Institute for the Study of War. It leaves out the fact that she is the political director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force making her an activist.

O’Bagy doesn’t matter much. She’s a friendly Western face plastered over a foreign organization. Of more interest is Mouaz Moustafa, the smiling man in the Keffiyah on the far right of McCain in this photo.

Mouaz Moustafa is a Palestinian Arab and the Executive Director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force which arranged for McCain’s visit.

[caww]

<....”Well, it certainly didn't take Marco long, did it?”....>

Some stand strong...most yield to the puppeteer's for greater gain down the road...Marco yielded and is theirs now.

[thouworm]

O'Bagy on Neil Cavuto today (hopefully, video will become available to watch):

Highlights:

Among other good questions, Cavuto challenged her on her affiliations with the rebels and exactly who is paying her.

"I don't represent the SETF. I'm not one of their employees, nor do I lobby on their behalf. I work with them as an independent contractor specifically to use my research and my knowledge base to help improve US govt contracts."

"I get a contract fee through these US govt contracts where I am written into the contract as an independent contractor."

Same old, same old with her, and I don't trust her analysis---never have---even though she has spent much time in Syria. She always marginalizes the jihadi rebels and magnifies her (and the CIA's) fave rebels---I am assuming FSA, but she did not mention them by name---as champions of a secular democracy.

From interview:

"...There is no underestimating the atrocities that have been committed on both sides, but I think it's important to really keep in mind that even while there may be some extremists, kinda foes running around the country, there is a large moderate force that is looking to not only kinda further US interests in the region and to work as an allied partner, but actually could serve as a reliable governing partner if built and given the kind of resources and capacity building it would need to serve as that partner."

[snip]

"Personally I would hope that our intelligence agencies have been closely following this, and I know that the CIA has been working on a long vetting process and are finally at the point where they have kinda picked a group or an organization that they feel comfortable working with."

I suspect she is going to be making the rounds on the talk-show circuit because her affiliations have finally been disclosed and her bias is being questioned.

We discussed the WSJ piece and her analysis from the Institute's website on the Live Syria Thread.

[thouworm]

Re: Kimberly Kagen (I mentioned in post 10): "Yesterday, Frank Gaffney interviewed Marc Thiessen, of American Enterprise Institute, about Syria. Thiessen said he gets his info on the FSA from O'Bagy and Kimberly Kagen ..."

That statement caught my attention because I recently heard the name Kimberly Kagen in the context of crediting her and husband with Petraeus' Surge strategy [I can't recall the source].

Gen. David Petraeus posing before the U.S. Capitol with Kimberly Kagan, founder and president of the Institute for the Study of War. (Photo credit: ISW’s 2011 Annual Report)

How tight Petraeus’s relationship was with two neocons in particular, Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, was explored Wednesday in a Washington Post article by war correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran who described how Petraeus installed the husband-and-wife team in U.S. offices in Kabul, granted them top-secret clearances and let them berate military officers about war strategy.

Though the Kagans received no pay from the U.S. government, they drew salaries from their respective think tanks which are supported by large corporations, including military contractors with interests in extending the Afghan War. Frederick Kagan works for the American Enterprise Institute, and Kimberly Kagan founded the Institute for the Study of War [ISW] in 2007 and is its current president.

According to ISW’s last annual report, its original supporters were mostly right-wing foundations, such as the Smith-Richardson Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, but it now is backed by national security contractors, including major ones like General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and CACI, as well as lesser-known firms such as DynCorp International, which provides training for Afghan police, and Palantir, a technology company founded with the backing of the CIA’s venture-capital arm, In-Q-Tel. Palantir supplies software to U.S. military intelligence in Afghanistan.

Neocons Guided Petraeus on Afghan War

The Military-Industrial Complex, Neocons and General Patraeus

The Forever Wars of Frederick & Kimberly Kagan

[maggief]

2011 ISW annual report, including contributors.

http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/2011_AnnualReport_26MAR_email.pdf

Small world ...

Dr. Kimberly Kagan, President and Founder of the Institute for the Study of War

wiki.

At Yale, Kagan met her husband Frederick Kagan, who is an American resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI),[4] son of Donald Kagan, a well-known historian and brother of Robert Kagan, another well-known writer and publicist. Robert Kagan’s wife is Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the United States Department of State. (She was nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in May 2013.[3])

####################################################

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3023686/posts

“Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham were vocal critics of the administration’s messaging after the Benghazi attacks, but on Friday, they issued a laudatory statement about Victoria Nuland”

Victoria Nuland

Spouse: Robert Kagan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7370992.stm

Robert Kagan is an adviser to Senator John McCain and his idea that the United States should continue to take a strong, and possibly a confrontational, role in world affairs accords with McCain’s own views.

Kagan’s brother Frederick was instrumental in persuading President Bush to reinforce US forces in Iraq with last year’s “surge”, against the advice of the Iraq Study Group of “wise men” at the time. The surge was and is a policy supported by John McCain and one of the reasons for his political success.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/24/obama_taps_victoria_nuland_for_assistant_secretary

Obama taps Victoria Nuland for assistant secretary
Friday, May 24, 201

EXCERPT

Following the announcement, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is tasked with confirming her nomination, remained mum on her nomination, though a committee source speaking to The Cable said there is “very little chance” the nomination won’t trigger a fight.

Nuland, however, is something of an awkward target for Republicans. From 2003 to 2005, she served as principal deputy national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney. Her husband is prominent neoconservative writer Robert Kagan, co-founder of the Project for the New American Century and an advisor to Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid.

AEI wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute

Kagan, Keane, and Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman presented the plan at a January 5, 2007, event at AEI. Bush announced the change of strategy on January 10 the idea having “won additional support among some officials as a result of a detailed study by Gen. Jack Keane, the former vice chief of staff at the Army, and Frederick W. Kagan, a military specialist, that was published by the American Enterprise Institute”.[28] Kagan authored three subsequent reports monitoring the progress of the surge.[72]

[maggief]

Covering on Brett Baier now ...

[thouworm]

Good finds!!!

“Small world ...” -—— incestuous even.

The other thing that caught my attention is the funding for ISW. It seems to have shifted over the years.,,,or, perhaps better to say that it has taken on a new dimension.

Also interesting, neither wife Kagen nor husband Kagen took pay for their work (wanted “independence”) with Petraeus...and O’Bagy, in her Syria work. receives pay as an individual contractor within the scope of a larger government contract.

[maggief]

Need to do more research on KagAn and ISW ... and funding.

Baier’s panel will be discussing O’Bagy tonight.

[thouworm]

Thanks for heads-up re: Baier and O’Bagy. I had it DVRed.

Compare and contrast-— lol

Baier: “She [O’Bagy] is also the political director and humanitarian aid coordinator for a Syrian opp lobbying group, The SETF group -— with links to the FSA.”

Excerpt from my post 22-—O’Bagy’s direct quote from Cavuto interview:

“I don’t represent the SETF. I’m not one of their employees, nor do I lobby on their behalf. I work with them as an independent contractor specifically to use my research and my knowledge base to help improve US govt contracts.”

“I get a contract fee through these US govt contracts where I am written into the contract as an independent contractor.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Baier’s said she is the political director for SETF, linked to FSA.

O’Bagy never mentioned any of that on Cavuto, except to say, “ “I don’t represent the SETF.....”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We still don’t have the straight story on her. Will keep my eye out for other appearances she might make. Gaffney said he was going to try to get her on his prog.

[maggief]

Think I’m getting a better understanding what drives “The Maverick”.

http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/2012PCDinner_AwardCeremony.pdf

[PDF]
2012 ISW President’s Circle National Security Leadership Award ...
www.understandingwar.org/sites/.../2012PCDinner_AwardCeremony.pdf
Nov 13, 2012 - an assignment already for the evening, and John and Mary Taylor, who ... is our fearless Chairman, Bill Roberti, and Liz Cheney who are here.

Excuse the link:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35730.htm

Who is behind the Syrian Support Group?

Brian Sayers, referenced by whistle blower David Walt, is the Executive Director of SSG. Mazen Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer, is listed as president of the SSG board. Asbahi was the Obama coordinator for Muslim outreach in the 2008 campaign. He resigned from that position in August 2008 after being question by the Wall Street Journal about his connections to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. He is currently listed as president of SSG’s board of directors and is the named recipient of the SSG special fund raising license from the Department of Treasury.

The SSG web page prominently lists Institute for the Study of War (ISW) policy papers as a justification for the groups aid to Syrian rebels. ISW leadership sounds like a updated version of Partnership for a New American Century (PNAC) regime change crew. The ISW board includes William Kristol, Elizabeth Cheney (daughter of the former vice president), and other leading neo conservatives.

(more at link, sorry for the site reference but perhaps links of interest)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16q6xiJgHe0

ISW Awards Senator Joseph Lieberman for National Security Leadership

Published on Nov 16, 2012

On November 13, 2012, the Institute for the Study of War presented the second annual ISW Award for National Security Leadership to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT).

The award was presented last Tuesday at ISW’s second annual President’s Circle Dinner at the Fairmont Hotel to honor the senator’s service to the country.

The ISW Award for National Security Leadership award honors an individual who embodies exceptional service, intellect, and leadership in national security.

ISW Founder and President Kimberly Kagan and General Dynamics Executive Vice President for Marine Systems John Casey, sponsor of the 2012 award, presented the award to Lieberman.

(Note: Lieberman references Three Amigos - McCain, Lindsey Graham/[Ben Nelson], and Lieberman)

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/06/06/joseph-lieberman-joins-kasowitz/

June 6, 2013

Joseph Lieberman Joins Kasowitz

EXCERPT

Mr. Lieberman said Kasowitz’s approach to legal work resonated with his personal history. A longtime Democrat, he leans to the right on defense and fiscal matters, and in 2006 renounced the party to run as an Independent after a bitter defeat in the Connecticut primary.

“They do some corporate defense work,” Mr. Lieberman said of the firm, “but they have also had the guts to sue some of the biggest banks in the world for their conduct in the credit crisis. That kind of independence… took me back to my independence.”

Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/UnderstandingWarOrg?feature=watch

UnderstandingWarOrg

The Institute for the Study of War is a private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution whose goal is to educate current and future decision makers and thereby enhance the quality of policy debates.

[penelopesire]

Well..well.well...what do we have here? Good find!

[SunkenCiv]

Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt’s Generals:
‘How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?’
Foreign Policy | 15 Aug 2013 | John Hudson
Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055253/posts

Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt’s military — even as Cairo’s security forces massacre anti-government activists.

[by “anti-government activists” is meant church-burning jihadists]

Sen. Cruz Statement on Egypt (Suspend aid over anti-Muslim Brotherhood ‘coup’)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055492/posts

Ted Cruz blames Egyptian violence on Obama’s disregard for foreign aid law
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055589/posts

[plangent]

ping

[uncommonsense]

"McCain needs to be put in a home."

How about GITMO with the rest of his pals?