Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) bills itself as a nongovernmental organization comprised of a "distinguished group of Americans" who want to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein. In a news release announcing its formation, the groups said it wants 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." It has close links to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), important shapers of the Bush administration's foreign policy.

Many CLI, PNAC and AEI members were previously involved with the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf (CPSG), a hard-right group created in 1990 prior to Operation Desert Storm.

The Washington Post reported in November 2002 that "the organization is modeled on a successful lobbying campaign to expand the NATO alliance. Members include former secretary of state George P. Shultz, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.). ... While the Iraq committee is an independent entity, committee officers said they expect to work closely with the administration. They already have met with Hadley and Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Committee officers and a White House spokesman said Rice, Hadley and Cheney will soon meet with the group." [1]

Personnel

• 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. Randy is currently John McCain's top foreign policy adviser.
• Mahdi Al-Bassam, Iraq Liberation Action Committee
• Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, and current Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
• 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
• 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

Contact information

Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
918 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Tel: (202) 543-1037
Fax: (202) 543-1038
E-mail: committee@liberationiraq.org
http://www.liberationiraq.org

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Other Related SourceWatch Resources

• Balkan Action Committee
• Citizens for a Free Kuwait
• Coalition for a Democratic Majority
• Committee for the Free World
• Committee on the Present Danger
• Institute on Religion and Democracy
• Prodemca (Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America)
• Project for the Republican Future
• White House Iraq Group
• Emergency Committee for Israel

External links

• Jim Lobe, "Committee for the Liberation of Iraq" Sets Up Shop, Foreign Policy In Focus, November 2002. See TALK for copy of article.
• Peter Slevin, "New Group Aims to Drum Up Backing for Ousting Hussein," Washington Post, November 4, 2002, p. A15.
• Kurt Nimmo, "The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq: PR Spinning the Bush Doctrine," Counterpunch, November 19, 2002.