Hawkish analysts tied to arms industry influenced US-led wars: Report

Former CIA director and top US commander in Iraq and Afghanistan David Petraeus granted two [Jewish] right-wing military analysts tied to defense contractors top security access to his Kabul headquarters, relying on their advice to run US-led wars, a report reveals. Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, “a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts,” left their jobs at major conservative and militaristic think tanks in Washington to serve the commander of US-led occupation forces in Afghanistan as top advisers for nearly a year without even getting paid for it, US-based daily The Washington Post reveals in a report on Wednesday. Given top-level security clearances, desks and email accounts in US military headquarters in Kabul, the Kagans “pored through classified intelligence reports, participated in senior-level strategy sessions and probed the assessments of field officers in order to advise Petraeus about how to fight the war differently,” the report says. The report, citing unnamed American military and civilian officials, further entails that the Kagans, who have ties with major US weapon producers and military contractors such as DynCorp International, CACI International and General Dynamics Corporation, used their privileges as senior advisers to Petraeus “to advocate substantive changes in the US war plan, including a harder-edged approach than some US officers advocated in combating the Haqqani network, a Taliban faction in eastern Afghanistan.” The pro-bono relationship, the daily adds, offered “valuable benefits” to the general and the two [Jewish] right-wing analysts.

Kelley B. Vlahos: The Two Faces of Kimberly Kagan - One look at her March 2007 performance on Washington Journal circa Surge I and it’s clear why Kagan has replaced the old neoconservative guard as a primary surrogate for the cause. (9/29/09)

Philip Giraldi: The Bombs-Away Election - "...Other Romney foreign policy advisers include Fred and Kimberly Kagan, Robert Kagan, Robert Joseph, and Elliot Cohen. Paul Ryan has been receiving foreign policy briefings from the Kagans and Elliot Abrams." (11/05/12)

Philip Giraldi: The Forever Wars of Frederick & Kimberly Kagan - That the Kagans are beating the drum for war and still more war is not surprising as that is how they make a living, but it is more disturbing when newspapers and media outlets that pretend to be reputable persist in providing a forum for their cheerleading. The Kagans [have] been leading neoconservative spokesmen since 9/11. Kimberly is currently president for the oddly named Institute for the Study of War while Fred, who claims to have been a co-creator of the surge policy that was applied in Iraq, is the director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. Fred’s brother Robert is at the Brookings Institution and has also been a foreign policy adviser to both John McCain and Mitt Romney. (12/6/12)

Philip Giraldi: Why Remember Iraq? - In an op-ed in the Washington Post on the impending U.S. departure from Iraq one year ago, neocons Kimberly and Fred Kagan delusionally entertained five “American core interests” in the region. They were: that Iraq should continue to be one unified state; that there should be no al-Qaeda on its soil; that Baghdad abides by its international responsibilities; that Iraq should contain Iran; and that the al-Maliki government should accept U.S. “commitment” to the region. As the Kagans are first and foremost apologists for Israel, it should be observed that Iraq’s “international responsibilities” would be understood as referring to the expectation that Baghdad not be hostile to Tel Aviv. (12/13/12)