EDITOR’S NOTE:Read Matt Taibbi’s introduction ofWho’s That Source here. The ratings have been precisely calibrated with Racket’s in-house proprietary shill-o-meter, so please direct gripes to the editor in chief.
Analysts from Washington think tanks and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have appeared dozens of times in the New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, and Bloomberg as subject matter experts on the Iran War — and counting. While they are usually presented as neutral policy experts, their funding structures and advocacy histories are rarely disclosed.
As the United States moves deeper into conflict, the public conversation is increasingly shaped by experts whose institutions are funded by donors with clear interests. The question is not whether these institutions produce substantive research. Many do. The question is whether readers are given sufficient context to understand the financial and political ecosystems in which that research is produced.
While interest groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have been well studied, and their biases are well known, other more obliquely-named interest groups may be harder to parse.
As more money flows to defense contractors and trickles down to think tanks, and as Gulf states seek to strengthen their position in Washington, discerning who the media regards as subject matter experts will only become more important. This is an evolving document, and will be updated.
Racket News reached out to all organizations for comment and zero replied.
Name: Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Source type: As an offshoot of West Point based out of the New York campus, the CTC provides cadets with the opportunity to minor in counterterrorism. Its core missions are to educate, research, and advise policy.
The Pitch: The Washington Free Beaconreported last monththat Iran had ballistic missiles capable of delivering chemical or biological weapons — a claim we haven’t heard a peep about since. To bolster its story, the Free Beacon reported that — per the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point — Iran has for a decade researched and developed "anesthetics used to incapacitate victims by targeting the central nervous system."
The Catch: Though West Point is a federally funded service academy, the CTC’s $11.6 million endowment is completely privately funded. However while most donors are West Point alumni, billionaire and West Point graduate (class of 1977), Vincent Viola, is both CTC’s founder and primary donor. Upon retiring from the army as a Major and earning hisjuris doctor, he foundedVirtu Financial, a global finance firm providing at-the-market (ATM) equity to clients in, but not limited to Canada, Greece, Australia, and Israel. In 2016, Trump planned to appoint him as the Secretary of the Army. However, he withdrew his name from the shortlist due difficulty divesting from conflicts of interest.
Source: Racket News
