Tovia Singer interviews Frank Gaffney.
Frank Gaffney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. (born 1953) is the founder and president of the think tank Center for Security Policy, as well as a contributor, contributing editor, and columnist for a number of publications, including the Washington Times, National ReviewOnline, WorldNetDaily, and Jewish World Review. He is a neoconservative.[citation needed]
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[edit]Career
Gaffney is a 1975 graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. Gaffney holds a graduate degree from theJohns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Gaffney began his public service career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson, under Richard Perle. From August 1983 until November 1987, Gaffney held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the Reagan Administration, again serving under Perle.[1] In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; he served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months,[1] although his confirmation was ultimately blocked by theUnited States Senate.
In 1988 Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a self-described conservative national security and defense policy organization. The CSP is subsidized by donors supportive of conservative causes, including theSarah Mellon Scaife Foundation, the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation and the William H. Donner Foundation.[2]
Along with a number of figures who later assumed leading positions in theGeorge W. Bush administration, Gaffney was one of 25 signatories[3] of theJune 3, 1997 "Statement of Principles" from the Project for the New American Century,[4] an educational and political advocacy organization whose stated goal is "to promote American global leadership."[5]
Gaffney appeared on FahrenHYPE 9/11, the conservative documentary that was intended as a rebuttal to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. He is also a regular guest on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" show; in a December 2008 appearance alongside Matthews and journalist David Corn, he strongly defended the Iraq War, saying 4,000 Americans "did have to die."
Gaffney was an executive producer for the documentary Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center. The documentary was created to air as part of the America at a Crossroads series on PBS, but it has not been shown to date.
Gaffney is the lead author of War Footing (Naval Institute Press, 2005), a collection of essays that "...offer ten specific steps that Americans, as individuals and as communities, can take to ensure their way of life and safety and the future well-being of their children and grandchildren."[citation needed]
He is a founding member of the Set America Free Coalition, dedicated to reducing dependence on foreign oil, as well as of the current iteration of theCommittee on the Present Danger.
[edit]Defense of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq
On MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Gaffney said he believed over 4000 American military troops had to die in Iraq over a chemical attack commited by Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf War. (Dec 16 2008)[6]
- My position is it is regrettable that any Americans died. It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die. The threat we knew about was the chemical capability that Saddam Hussein had used against his own people. And that’s the reason I’m still delighted that we did what we did.
Gaffney’s comments came just hours after Vice President Dick Cheney toldABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl that it was irrelevant whether or not Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that the US invasion would have gone ahead anyway.[7]
[edit]References
- ^ a b Frank Gaffney Biography from the Center for Security Policy
- ^ "Recipient Grants: Center for Security Policy, Inc.". MediaTransparency.org. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html
- ^ "Statement of Principles". Project for the New American Century (1997-06-03). Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ "About PNAC". Project for the New American Century. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gaffney_4000_Americans_had_to_die_1217.html
- ^ "Transcript: Cheney Defends Hard Line Tactics", ABC News, December 16, 2008
[edit]External links
- "Funding terrorism with our petrodollars" Video clip in which Gaffney talk about oil dollars funding Islamic terror.
- "Take out Al-Jazeera" September 29, 2003 article in which Gaffney argued for taking Al Jazeera "off the air, one way or another."
- Official biography (Center for Security Policy)
- Profile from IRC
Frank Gaffney Interview
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