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) states that it 'monitors and exposes the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods'. Its 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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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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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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Today it describes itself  'dedicated to exposing and monitoring threats to U.S. political and economic freedoms and its national security from within and without'. <ref> [http://acdemocracy.org/mission/ Mission], American Center for Democracy], AMD website, accessed 4 February 2015 </ref>
  
 
==Criticism==
 
==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>
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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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==Mission==
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==Principals==
 
==Principals==

Revision as of 02:57, 4 February 2015

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'. Its stated objective is 'to supplement government efforts to defend democratic institutions from global threat of radical Islam and terrorism'.[1]

According to its website, 'The ACD was established in 2003 and includes the Center for The Study of Corruption & the Rule of Law (CSC)'.[2]

Today it describes itself 'dedicated to exposing and monitoring threats to U.S. political and economic freedoms and its national security from within and without'. [3]

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."[4]

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.[5]

Mission

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

  1. ↑ Mission Statement, About Us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009
  2. ↑ Mission Statement, About Us, American Center for Democracy, accessed 23 December 2009.
  3. ↑ Mission, American Center for Democracy], AMD website, accessed 4 February 2015
  4. ↑ American Center for Democracy, RightWeb, accessed 23 December 2009
  5. ↑ 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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