Difference between revisions of "American Center for Democracy"

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The [[American Center for Democracy]] (ACD) states that it "monitors and exposes the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods." It's stated objective is "to supplement government efforts to defend democratic institutions from global threat of radical Islam and terrorism."<ref>[http://www.public-integrity.org/mission-statement.php Mission Statement], About Us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009.</ref>
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The [[American Center for Democracy]] (ACD) was founded in 2003 by neoconservative writer [[Rachel Ehrenfeld]] to monitor and expose 'the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods'.  
  
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According to its website, "The ACD was established in 2003 and includes the [[Center for The Study of Corruption & the Rule of Law]] (CSC)."<ref>[http://www.public-integrity.org/mission-statement.php Mission Statement], About Us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009.</ref>
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A key focus is on radical Islam: ACD's stated objective in 2009 was 'to supplement government efforts to defend democratic institutions from global threat of radical Islam and terrorism'. <ref>[http://www.public-integrity.org/mission-statement.php Mission statement], About us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009</ref>
  
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RightWeb describes ACD founder [[Rachel Ehrenfeld]] as "a controversial writer associated with a number of neoconservative outfits like the [[American Enterprise Institute]]. Her work, which often focuses on terrorism financing, has been criticized for having an overt bias toward U.S. and Israeli interests and for being sensationalist."<ref>[http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/American_Center_for_Democracy American Center for Democracy], RightWeb, accessed 23 December 2009.</ref>
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Today ACD says it is 'dedicated to exposing and monitoring threats to U.S. political and economic freedoms and its national security from within and without'. <ref name="Center"> [http://acdemocracy.org/mission/ Mission], American Center for Democracy], AMD website, accessed 4 February 2015 </ref>
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Former CIA director [[James Woolsey]], a long-time ACD board member says that 'the ACD’s ability to predict future threats is second to none'. <ref name="Center"/>
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==Criticism==
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RightWeb describes ACD founder [[Rachel Ehrenfeld]] as "a controversial writer associated with a number of neoconservative outfits like the [[American Enterprise Institute]]. Her work, which often focuses on terrorism financing, has been criticized for having an overt bias toward U.S. and Israeli interests and for being sensationalist."<ref>[http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/American_Center_for_Democracy American Center for Democracy], RightWeb, accessed 23 December 2009</ref>
  
 
A key critique cited by RightWeb is Michael Massing's 1993 response to Ehrenfeld in the ''New York Review of Books'':
 
A key critique cited by RightWeb is Michael Massing's 1993 response to Ehrenfeld in the ''New York Review of Books'':
 
::It is not Ms. Ehrenfeld's conservatism to which I object, but her extremism. In ''Narco-Terrorism'', for instance, she maintains not only that the Soviet Union was involved in drug-related violence—an unremarkable assertion—but that Marxist-Leninists are responsible for most of the world's drug-related violence. In fact, many of the world's violent trafficking organizations, like the Colombian cartels, are decidedly right-wing in orientation. In ''Evil Money'', Ms. Ehrenfeld makes a series of sensational claims—that Sierra Leone has become "an international terrorist center," that BCCI "cemented the symbiotic relationship between Peruvian terrorists and drug traffickers," that Abu Nidal trained Shining Path members in urban guerrilla warfare, helping to set up a "dormant terrorist infrastructure" in the United States. In my review, I noted how little evidence Ms. Ehrenfeld offered to back up these claims. She does no better in her letter, preferring to take cover behind the claim of confidentiality—a lame excuse in any language.<ref>Michael Massing, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2656 'Evil Money' By Rachel Ehrenfeld, Peter Dale Scott, Reply by Michael Massing], The New York Review of Books, 23 December 2009.</ref>
 
::It is not Ms. Ehrenfeld's conservatism to which I object, but her extremism. In ''Narco-Terrorism'', for instance, she maintains not only that the Soviet Union was involved in drug-related violence—an unremarkable assertion—but that Marxist-Leninists are responsible for most of the world's drug-related violence. In fact, many of the world's violent trafficking organizations, like the Colombian cartels, are decidedly right-wing in orientation. In ''Evil Money'', Ms. Ehrenfeld makes a series of sensational claims—that Sierra Leone has become "an international terrorist center," that BCCI "cemented the symbiotic relationship between Peruvian terrorists and drug traffickers," that Abu Nidal trained Shining Path members in urban guerrilla warfare, helping to set up a "dormant terrorist infrastructure" in the United States. In my review, I noted how little evidence Ms. Ehrenfeld offered to back up these claims. She does no better in her letter, preferring to take cover behind the claim of confidentiality—a lame excuse in any language.<ref>Michael Massing, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2656 'Evil Money' By Rachel Ehrenfeld, Peter Dale Scott, Reply by Michael Massing], The New York Review of Books, 23 December 2009.</ref>
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==Areas of interest==
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Economic Warfare | CyberSpace Security(Purposeful Interference (GPS) ) | EMP| WMD| WME| Energy/Electric Grid | Finance | Banking | Commodities | Trade | U.S. Policy | Economic Sanctions | Anti-Corruption | Cultural Warfare | Free Speech | Lawfare | Muslim Brotherhood | Political Islam| al Qaeda | Jihad| Islamic State| Anti- Semitism|Middle East Conflicts | Anti-Corruption | Hamas Hezbollah | Illegal Drugs/Drug Legalization|International Institutions (UN, IMF, World Bank, EU) | International Law | Markets & Companies | Money Laundering/Transparency/Tax Evasion | Shari’a Banking & Finance | Terrorism & Terrorist Funding | Transnational Crime
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==Regions==
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Africa |Australasia | China & North Korea & Northeast Asia | Latin America | Middle East & ; Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria & Turkey, UAE/Qatar | Russia & Ukraine & East Europe | South & Central Asia | Southeast Asia | United States, Canada & Mexico | Western Europe & Scandinavia
  
 
==Principals==
 
==Principals==
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===Advisory Board===
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===Advisory board===
 
*[[Thomas McInerney]] (US Lt. Gen.-Ret.)
 
*[[Thomas McInerney]] (US Lt. Gen.-Ret.)
 
*[[Ana Palacio]]
 
*[[Ana Palacio]]
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==Contact==
 
==Contact==
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*Website: [http://www.public-integrity.org/ www.public-integrity.org]
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*Website: [http://acdemocracy.org/ American Center for Democracy]
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Old website address [http://www.public-integrity.org/ www.public-integrity.org]
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==Notes==
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<references/>
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[[Category:Neocons]][[Category:Islam Critics]]

Latest revision as of 03:25, 4 February 2015

The American Center for Democracy (ACD) was founded in 2003 by neoconservative writer Rachel Ehrenfeld to monitor and expose 'the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods'.

A key focus is on radical Islam: ACD's stated objective in 2009 was 'to supplement government efforts to defend democratic institutions from global threat of radical Islam and terrorism'. [1]

Today ACD says it is 'dedicated to exposing and monitoring threats to U.S. political and economic freedoms and its national security from within and without'. [2]

Former CIA director James Woolsey, a long-time ACD board member says that 'the ACD’s ability to predict future threats is second to none'. [2]

Criticism

RightWeb describes ACD founder Rachel Ehrenfeld as "a controversial writer associated with a number of neoconservative outfits like the American Enterprise Institute. Her work, which often focuses on terrorism financing, has been criticized for having an overt bias toward U.S. and Israeli interests and for being sensationalist."[3]

A key critique cited by RightWeb is Michael Massing's 1993 response to Ehrenfeld in the New York Review of Books:

It is not Ms. Ehrenfeld's conservatism to which I object, but her extremism. In Narco-Terrorism, for instance, she maintains not only that the Soviet Union was involved in drug-related violence—an unremarkable assertion—but that Marxist-Leninists are responsible for most of the world's drug-related violence. In fact, many of the world's violent trafficking organizations, like the Colombian cartels, are decidedly right-wing in orientation. In Evil Money, Ms. Ehrenfeld makes a series of sensational claims—that Sierra Leone has become "an international terrorist center," that BCCI "cemented the symbiotic relationship between Peruvian terrorists and drug traffickers," that Abu Nidal trained Shining Path members in urban guerrilla warfare, helping to set up a "dormant terrorist infrastructure" in the United States. In my review, I noted how little evidence Ms. Ehrenfeld offered to back up these claims. She does no better in her letter, preferring to take cover behind the claim of confidentiality—a lame excuse in any language.[4]


Areas of interest

Economic Warfare | CyberSpace Security(Purposeful Interference (GPS) ) | EMP| WMD| WME| Energy/Electric Grid | Finance | Banking | Commodities | Trade | U.S. Policy | Economic Sanctions | Anti-Corruption | Cultural Warfare | Free Speech | Lawfare | Muslim Brotherhood | Political Islam| al Qaeda | Jihad| Islamic State| Anti- Semitism|Middle East Conflicts | Anti-Corruption | Hamas Hezbollah | Illegal Drugs/Drug Legalization|International Institutions (UN, IMF, World Bank, EU) | International Law | Markets & Companies | Money Laundering/Transparency/Tax Evasion | Shari’a Banking & Finance | Terrorism & Terrorist Funding | Transnational Crime

Regions

Africa |Australasia | China & North Korea & Northeast Asia | Latin America | Middle East & ; Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria & Turkey, UAE/Qatar | Russia & Ukraine & East Europe | South & Central Asia | Southeast Asia | United States, Canada & Mexico | Western Europe & Scandinavia

Principals

Advisory board

Team

Fellows

Affiliations

ACD links page

The ACD links page contains the following selection of websites:

The Terror Finance Blog Ariel Center for Policy Research (Contributing Experts) The Center for Advanced Middle East Studies (CAMES)
Crusade Media David Frankfurter Gerard Group International
The Intelligence Summit International Compliance Association (ICA) Islam Quest Blog
Jihad Watch Little Green Footballs One Jerusalem
The Reality Show Thieme Works  

Publications

A list of ACD articles appearing in the media appear here

  • Rachel Ehrenfeld, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed, and How To Stop It (The book the Saudis don't want you to read) - Expanded Edition.

External Resources

Contact

Old website address www.public-integrity.org

Notes

  1. ↑ Mission statement, About us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mission, American Center for Democracy], AMD website, accessed 4 February 2015
  3. ↑ American Center for Democracy, RightWeb, accessed 23 December 2009
  4. ↑ Michael Massing, 'Evil Money' By Rachel Ehrenfeld, Peter Dale Scott, Reply by Michael Massing, The New York Review of Books, 23 December 2009.
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