Council on Foreign Relations

Defense Contractors and Foreign Governments Funding Pundits and Think Tanks

Originally published on September 21, 2014, at NationofChange.org

In a blatant conflict of interest, defense contractors and foreign governments are hiring pundits and think tanks to advocate for their agendas without media outlets disclosing their fiscal ties. Following a strategy developed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, think tanks funded by military contractors and foreign governments use commentators to influence policy or to generate exorbitant profits. Failure to disclose these financial connections reveals a glaring lack of journalistic integrity on the part of major media corporations.

During last year’s debates to attack Syria, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley made the rounds appearing on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. In a Washington Post op-ed, Hadley openly advocated for war against Syria. Yet none of these news organizations disclosed the fact that Hadley has also served on the board of Raytheon since 2009.

Raytheon produces the Tomahawk cruise missiles utilized during military campaigns. Regardless of whether the U.S. decided to go to war with Syria, Raytheon’s profits and Hadley’s 11,477 shares traded at all-time highs during the debate. A director and member of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council, Hadley is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

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CIA Director Caught Lying and Hacking Senate Computers

Originally published on August 3, 2014, at NationofChange.org

U.S. Senators are calling for the resignation of CIA Director John Brennan after the Inspector General reported the CIA hacked computers belonging to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. After hacking into classified files regarding their Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation (RDI) program, CIA Director Brennan denied his agents committed the cyber attack while accusing the Senate Intelligence Committee of breaching CIA firewalls.

In 2009, former CIA Director Leon Panetta authorized access to millions of documents to the intelligence committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Documenting the RDI program between the years 2001—2006, the reports gave a damning account of kidnapping, torture, and murder committed by CIA operatives. At the same time, Panetta ordered the CIA to conduct its own investigation into the documents, now referred to as the Panetta Review.

The documents reveal CIA officials had lied to intelligence committees regarding the effectiveness of using enhanced interrogation techniques to extract valuable information. CIA operatives and contractors had exceeded their authority in numerous instances by torturing detainees to death.

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Blood and Bananas: Chiquita’s Deadly History of Drugs, Corruption, and Cover-ups

Originally published on February 10, 2014, at WeAreChange.org

On May 3, 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer published an expose titled “Chiquita Secrets Revealed” by Mike Gallagher and Cameron McWhirter. The articles detailed Chiquita’s complicity in international drug trafficking, bribing foreign government officials, suppressing the unionization of workers and poisoning employees with hazardous pesticides.

The investigation included a wide range a sources including over 2,000 copies of voicemail messages between Chiquita executives admitting to their crimes. Mike Gallagher, the lead investigative reporter on the story, claimed he had acquired the voicemails from a former legal counsel for Chiquita who wished to remain anonymous.

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