Meet: The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

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Mon Jun-16-08 04:15 PM
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Meet: The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

Who helped shape our disastrous policy in Iraq? Why, John McCain did!

A November 2002 press release, archived by Glen Greenwald:

Committee for the Liberation of Iraq Press Release -- 11/12/2002

The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a new non-governmental organization, has been formed to advocate freedom and democracy in Iraq. A distinguished group of Americans who share a common view on the importance of liberating Iraq and building pluralistic institutions will serve on the Committee's Advisory Board. The Committee will meet with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, at the White House later today to discuss Iraq policy.

Chaired by former Secretary of State George Shultz, Advisory Board members represent a diverse, bi-partisan coalition including former Senator Bob Kerrey, Teamsters President James Hoffa, Jr., retired General and former "Drug Czar" Barry McCaffrey and noted Middle East expert Dr. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University (complete list attached). The Committee was formed to promote regional peace, political freedom and international security through replacement of the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations.

"The problem in Iraq is not just Saddam Hussein's weapons - it is Saddam Hussein's regime. The Iraqi people are the first victims of this tyranny," said CLI President Randy Scheunemann. "For too long, Iraqis have suffered from the regime's brutality, Saddam's criminal pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and his drive for regional hegemony." Scheunemann concluded: "We believe it is time to confront the clear and present danger posed by Saddam Hussein's regime by liberating the Iraqi people."

Bruce Jackson, CLI Chairman, added. "The work of the Committee does not end with the disarmament of Iraq. We have to work to restore to the Iraqi people the freedom to make basic democratic choices. Freeing the Iraqi people and rebuilding the institutions of self-governance can only be accomplished with bi-partisan support and with the support and counsel of America's friends and allies in Europe and around the world."

Now, let's look closer at just who was in the CLI. From SourceWatch:

Personnel

* Mahdi Al-Bassam, Iraq Liberation Action Committee
* Barry Blechman, DFI International, a company that offers "tailored research, analysis, knowledge management, and consulting services to senior decision-makers in industry and government. Our Corporate Services Group supports clients in the defense, aerospace, telecommunications, and high-tech industries. DFI Government Services assists US government leaders in the development and implementation of national security programs and policies."<2>
* Eliot Cohen, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
* Thomas A. Dine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
* General Wayne Downing, U.S. Army (retired), has been a lobbyist for the Iraqi National Congress, the CIA-bankrolled opposition to Saddam Hussein
* Rend Rahim Francke, Iraq Foundation
* Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
* Lt. General Buster Glosson, U.S. Air Force (retired)
* James R. Hoffa, Jr., International Brotherhood of Teamsters
* Bruce P. Jackson, chairman, is the former vice president of weapons contractor Lockheed Martin. He also chaired the Republican Party Platform's subcommittee for National Security and Foreign Policy when George W. Bush ran for president in 2000.
* Howell Jackson, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
* B Kerrey, former Democratic U.S. Senator
* Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, American Enterprise Institute
* William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard
* Bernard Lewis, Princeton University
* General Barry McCaffrey, U.S. Army (retired); former U.S. "drug czar"
* John McCain, U.S. Senator
* Will Marshall, Progressive Policy Institute
* Richard N. Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense
* Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute
* Randy Scheunemann, CLI's executive director, is former chief national-security adviser to U.S. Senator Trent Lott who has also worked for Donald H. Rumsfeld as a consultant on Iraq policy. While working for Lott in 1998, Scheunemann drafted the "Iraq Liberation Act" that authorized $98 million for the Iraqi National Congress.
* Gary Schmitt is executive director of the Project for the New American Century
* George P. Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state under Ronald Reagan
* Richard Shultz, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
* Stephen Solarz, former Member of Congress
* Ruth Wedgwood, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
* Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic
* Chris Williams, Johnston and Associates
* R. James Woolsey, Jr., former CIA Director
* Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, and current Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

More analysis from RightWeb:

Although the CLI's advisory panel included several hardline Democrats such as former Rep. Stephen Solarz and former Sen. Robert Kerrey, it was dominated by neoconservatives and Republican Party stalwarts like Jeane Kirkpatrick, Robert Kagan, Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle, William Kristol, and James Woolsey. Serving as honorary co-chairs were Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ).

According to analyst Jim Lobe, CLI seems to have been a PNAC spin-off that consisted mainly of neoconservatives and heavy-hitters from the Christian Right "whose public recommendations on fighting President George W. Bush's 'war against terrorism' and alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the second intifada have anticipated to a remarkable degree the administration's policy course." (See "Committee for the Liberation of Iraq Sets Up Shop," FPIF Policy Report, November 2002.)

The committee's mission statement began: "The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq was formed to promote regional peace, political freedom, and international security by replacing the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations."

~snip~

Though the CLI certainly followed through with its promises to advocate war in Iraq, its supposed commitment to Iraq's post-"liberation" economy and democracy were clearly all empty promises and lip service, as sharply evidenced by the committee's quick closure.

Did you note the bolded name of Randy Scheunemann? Who is this fellow? RightWeb states:

A well-connected lobbyist and political insider with strong ties to the neoconservative political faction, Randy Scheunemann has been involved in a number of advocacy campaigns aimed at pushing an aggressive U.S. foreign policy agenda in recent years, helping found the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI), an advocacy outfit that emerged in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to push for war in Iraq. Along with other like-minded groups, including the now mostly defunct Project for the New American Century (for which Scheunemann served as a director), CLI played a key role in forging coalitions of political figures behind a neoconservative-inspired Middle East agenda that had at its core toppling Saddam Hussein. CLI members included several prominent congressional figures, including Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

A long-standing associate of McCain, Scheunemann serves as an adviser to McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, helping bolster the senator's arguments for continuing the war in Iraq. Criticizing various Democratic-supported ideas aimed at reducing U.S. troop levels in Iraq, Scheunemann said in April 2007: "It's ludicrous. Because the idea that we will be able to better prevent sectarian violence and fight al-Qaida better from Kuwait than how we are doing it now is laughable" (quoted in "McCain's Bulldog," New York Observer blog, April 11, 2007). Scheunemann also does not shy away from criticizing McCain's Republican primary opponents. Commenting on Mitt Romney's support for "timetables and milestones" for the Iraqi government, Scheunemann asserted that McCain "does not believe in timetables or deadlines, secret or otherwise. He has made it clear that setting a timetable or deadline is nothing more than setting a date certain for surrender" (Jason Horowitz, "The Iraq-eteers," New York Observer, April 15, 2007).

To summarize, John McCain helped sell the war. John McCain was part of the group that left the Iraqi people at the mercy of contractors, carpetbaggers, neocons and left the door open to civil war and opportunist terrorists. The McCain campaign's foreign policy advisor is Randy Scheunemann - a man that has no intention of ending this was. John McCain was and is responsible for the deaths of untold innocent civilians as well as 4101 American soldiers.

Links:
http://utdocuments.blogspot.com/2008/04/committee-for-liberation-of-iraq-press.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Committee_for_the_Liberation_of_Iraq
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1458.html
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1347.html
http://icasualties.org/oif/