[Peace-discuss] Tell Neera Tanden to stop taking warhawk money for CAP

Wed Apr 17 18:38:31 UTC 2019

Correction: I should have said "pro-war forces" rather than "right-wing
forces." The Jewish Currents article put "right wing" in my brain. But this
isn't about "right" or "left." It's about war vs. peace.

===

Robert Reuel Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1

On Wed, Apr 17, 2019 at 1:36 PM Robert Naiman <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
wrote:

> Actually, I think the stuff in our alert from the NYT article was even
> more damning than this Jewish Currents article, in the sense that the
> Jewish Currents article mostly portrays CAP as running with these
> right-wing forces on foreign policy [Netanyahu, Saudi, UAE] without
> addressing motivation, whereas the NYT article [also] tied this to CAP's
> funding - i.e., the NYT made the same assertion, and on top of that made a
> documented accusation about mercenary motivation.
>
> > In particular, the Times notes that “From 2016 through last year [during
> which time Saudi-UAE were starving tens of thousands of Yemeni children to
> death], the center accepted nearly *$2.5 million from the United Arab
> Emirates* to fund its National Security and International Policy
> initiative, according to previously unreported internal budget documents.”
> It’s actually the UAE, even more than its close ally the Saudi regime, that
> has starved 85,000 Yemeni children to death by blockading Yemeni civilians.
> >
> > The Times notes that in November 2015,* Tanden invited Benjamin
> Netanyahu to CAP in order to cultivate Jonathan Lavine, a managing partner
> at Bain Capital, a pro-Netanyahu donor, who gave CAP $1 million.* On the
> day of the Netanyahu visit, Tanden told CAP’s founder, John Podesta, that
> the “far left hates me” for hosting Netanyahu, but *the invitation “may
> have sealed the deal with” Lavine*. The next month, *Tanden wrote a
> jubilant email to Podesta, telling him Lavine was joining the CAP board.
> “So Netanyahu was worth it,” Tanden said. Lavine’s foundation remains a big
> donor to CAP, the Times says.*
>
> ===
>
> Robert Reuel Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
> (202) 448-2898 x1
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 8:01 PM C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <
> peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>
>> It’s a good bit worse than that:
>>
>> <
>> https://jacobinmag.com/2019/04/center-for-american-progress-tanden-israel-omar
>> >.
>>
>> —CGE
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Apr 16, 2019, at 7:16 PM, Just Foreign Policy <
>> info at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Urge Members of Congress to tell Neera Tanden to stop taking warhawk
>> money for CAP.
>> >
>> > Sign the petition
>> >
>> >
>> > Dear C. G.,
>> >
>> >
>> > The “Center for American Progress” in Washington wants Members of
>> Congress, major U.S. media, and the American people to see them as the
>> canonical “Democratic think tank.” But CAP President Neera Tanden hasn't
>> represented the majority of Democrats on war and peace. On war and peace,
>> she represents a particular special interest group: corporatist-militarist
>> “Democrats” who mindlessly support the endless regime change wars of the
>> Blob, corporatist-militarist “Democrats” who don’t believe in obeying the
>> War Powers Clause of the Constitution or the War Powers Resolution of 1973,
>> because that would be an obstacle to endless war.
>> >
>> > The New York Times reports:
>> > “In 2008, Neera Tanden, then a top aide on Hillary Clinton’s first
>> presidential campaign [i.e., against Barack Obama], accompanied Mrs.
>> Clinton to what was expected to be an easy interview at the Center for
>> American Progress, the influential group founded by top Clinton aides. But
>> Faiz Shakir, the chief editor of the think tank’s ThinkProgress website,
>> asked Mrs. Clinton a question about the Iraq war, an issue dogging her
>> candidacy because she had supported it. Ms. Tanden responded by circling
>> back to Mr. Shakir after the interview and, according to a person in the
>> room, punching him in the chest.”
>> >
>> > The Times characterizes CAP as “a legacy Clinton organization,” noting
>> that it was “founded in 2003 [the same year that the Bush Administration
>> illegally invaded Iraq, with the vigorous and outspoken support of both
>> Bill and Hillary Clinton] by top advisers to Bill and Hillary Clinton” and
>> that “its donor rolls overlap substantially with those of the Clintons’
>> campaigns and foundation.” The Times also notes that CAP “has taken in
>> millions from interests often criticized by liberals, including Wall Street
>> financiers, big banks, Silicon Valley titans, foreign governments, defense
>> contractors and the health care industry.”
>> >
>> > In particular, the Times notes that “From 2016 through last year
>> [during which time Saudi-UAE were starving tens of thousands of Yemeni
>> children to death], the center accepted nearly $2.5 million from the United
>> Arab Emirates to fund its National Security and International Policy
>> initiative, according to previously unreported internal budget documents.”
>> It’s actually the UAE, even more than its close ally the Saudi regime, that
>> has starved 85,000 Yemeni children to death by blockading Yemeni civilians.
>> >
>> > The Times notes that in November 2015, Tanden invited Benjamin
>> Netanyahu to CAP in order to cultivate Jonathan Lavine, a managing partner
>> at Bain Capital, a pro-Netanyahu donor, who gave CAP $1 million. On the day
>> of the Netanyahu visit, Tanden told CAP’s founder, John Podesta, that the
>> “far left hates me” for hosting Netanyahu, but the invitation “may have
>> sealed the deal with” Lavine. The next month, Tanden wrote a jubilant email
>> to Podesta, telling him Lavine was joining the CAP board. “So Netanyahu was
>> worth it,” Tanden said. Lavine’s foundation remains a big donor to CAP, the
>> Times says.
>> >
>> > Something has to give here. It can’t be the case that CAP is allowed to
>> speak for “Democrats” while its agenda is set by “Wall Street financiers,
>> big banks, Silicon Valley titans, foreign governments, defense contractors
>> and the health care industry.”
>> > Urge Members of Congress to tell Neera Tanden to stop taking warhawk
>> money for CAP by signing our petition.
>> >
>> >
>> > Thanks for all you do to help U.S. foreign policy become a bit more
>> just,
>> > Hassan El-Tayyab, Sarah Burns, and Robert Reuel Naiman
>> > Just Foreign Policy
>> >
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > © 2019 Just Foreign Policy
>> >
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