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{{Short description|American defense policy analyst (born 1953)}} | |||
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{{for|the American soldier|Frank Gaffney (Medal of Honor)}} | {{for|the American soldier|Frank Gaffney (Medal of Honor)}} | ||
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'''Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.''' (born April 5, 1953 in ]) is the founder and president of the American ], columnist at the ], blogger at ] and radio host on ]. | |||
| name = Frank Gaffney | |||
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| image = Frank Gaffney by Gage Skidmore.jpg | |||
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| caption = Gaffney speaking at ] in 2018 | |||
| birth_name = Frank J. Gaffney Jr. | |||
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|04|05}} | |||
| birth_place = ], ], U.S. | |||
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| education = ], ] (])<br>], ] (]) | |||
| occupation = Defense policy analyst | |||
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| known_for = ], popular ], conservative political commentary | |||
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| title = ] (1983–87) | |||
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| awards = ] (1987)<br />]'s ] (2003)<ref name="aboutGaffney">{{cite web|title=Frank Gaffney|date=June 7, 2013|url=https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/about-us/frank-gaffney/|publisher=]|access-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818010847/https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/about-us/frank-gaffney/|archive-date=August 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
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'''Frank J. Gaffney Jr.''' (born April 5, 1953) is an American defense policy analyst and founder of the ] (CSP). He founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023, and thereafter as executive chairman.<ref name="csp">{{cite news|url=https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/center-for-security-policy-improves-its-approach-to-changing-national-security-challenges/|title=Center for Security Policy improves its approach to changing national security challenges|date=August 19, 2022|publisher=Center for Security Policy|access-date=April 11, 2024|archive-date=April 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421205027/https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/center-for-security-policy-improves-its-approach-to-changing-national-security-challenges/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the ] in multiple posts, including as ] for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy from 1983 to 1987, and seven months as ] during the ]. He was awarded the ] in 1987. In later years, he has been described as an ] <!-- do not change "conspiracy theorist" without first gaining consensus on the talk page -->].<ref>{{cite news |title=4 Conspiracy Theories Promoted by Frank Gaffney, Ted Cruz's New Adviser |url=http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.709566 |access-date=July 21, 2016 |work=] |date=March 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817135851/http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.709566 |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr |title=Frank Gaffney Jr |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=September 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908010433/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite news |last1=Carden |first1=James |title=The Iran Deal Opponents Are Going to Fight to the Bitter End |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/the-iran-deal-opponents-are-going-to-fight-to-the-bitter-end/ |access-date=September 28, 2015 |work=] |issue=September 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929051858/http://www.thenation.com/article/the-iran-deal-opponents-are-going-to-fight-to-the-bitter-end/ |archive-date=September 29, 2015 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite news |last1=Woodruff |first1=Betsy |title=Glenn Beck Thinks Grover Norquist Is a Muslim Brotherhood Mole. Now, the NRA Is "Investigating." |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/03/16/nra_investigates_grover_norquist_as_glenn_beck_says_he_is_a_muslim_brotherhood.html |access-date=September 28, 2015 |work=] |date=March 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926130621/http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/03/16/nra_investigates_grover_norquist_as_glenn_beck_says_he_is_a_muslim_brotherhood.html |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/23/bachmann-gaffney-and-the-gop-s-anti-muslim-culture-of-conspiracy.html |title=Bachmann, Gaffney, and the GOP's Anti-Muslim Culture of Conspiracy |website=The Daily Beast |date=July 23, 2012 |access-date=July 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711192335/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/23/bachmann-gaffney-and-the-gop-s-anti-muslim-culture-of-conspiracy.html |archive-date=July 11, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
==Education and career== | |||
A 1975 graduate of the ] of ].{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}, Gaffney holds a graduate degree from the ]'s ].<ref name=SAIS>{{cite book|last=Ruppert|first=Michael C.|year=2004|title=Crossing the Rubicon|page=531}}</ref> | |||
==Early life and education== | |||
Gaffney began his public service career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator ], under ]. From August 1983 until November 1987, Gaffney held the position of ] for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the ], again serving under Perle. In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of US ] for International Security Policy. He served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months,<ref name=CSP> ]</ref> though his confirmation was ultimately blocked by the ]. | |||
Gaffney was born in ], Pennsylvania in 1953 to Virginia Gaffney (''née'' Reed) and Frank J. Gaffney.<ref name=nyt1/><ref name="politicoarena"/> His father was a ] ] and long-time partner at the ] of Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, which was founded by his wife's father, Earl Reed; in 2013, it merged with Clark Hill PLC.<ref name=nyt1>{{cite news|title=Devon Gaffney, Research Director, Engaged to Marry Jay Cross in June|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/09/style/devon-gaffney-research-director-engaged-to-marry-jay-cross-in-june.html|access-date=December 12, 2015|work=]|date=9 April 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222213819/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/09/style/devon-gaffney-research-director-engaged-to-marry-jay-cross-in-june.html|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="postga">{{cite news|last1=Gigler|first1=Dan|title=Lawyer with a Passion for Classical Music|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20011103&id=SfFRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6710,949544|access-date=December 12, 2015|work=]|date=November 3, 2001|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415205912/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20011103&id=SfFRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6710,949544|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Clark Hill dropping Thorp Reed from name in Pittsburgh|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2014/05/30/clark-hill-drops-thorp-reed-name.html|work=Pittsburgh Business Times|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221110034/http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2014/05/30/clark-hill-drops-thorp-reed-name.html|archive-date=February 21, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaffney's grandfather, Joseph Gaffney, was a ] in ].<ref name=nyt1/> In the early 20th century, as a known ] in Philadelphia, he ] from ] ] groups who alleged that Catholics were "gaining control of American institutions while rewriting the nation's history".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soIQzXxudHkC&pg=PA80|last1=Evenson|first1=Bruce|title=When Dempsey Fought Tunney: Heroes, Hokum, and Storytelling in the Jazz Age|date=1996|publisher=University of Tennessee Press|isbn=9780870499180|page=80}}</ref> | |||
Gaffney attended the ] at ], where he graduated with a ] in 1975.<ref name=a>{{cite web|url=http://townhall.com/columnists/frankgaffney/|title=Frank Gaffney|access-date=November 23, 2012|publisher=TownHall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115171422/http://townhall.com/columnists/frankgaffney/|archive-date=November 15, 2012|url-status=live | |||
In 1988, Gaffney established the ] (CSP), a conservative ] and ] organization. The CSP is ] by donors supportive of conservative causes, including the ], the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation and the William H. Donner Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=489|title=Recipient Grants: Center for Security Policy, Inc.|accessdate=2007-07-12|publisher=MediaTransparency.org}}</ref> | |||
}}</ref><ref name="politicoarena">{{cite web | |||
|title=Arena Profile: Frank Gaffney|url=http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/frank_gaffney.html|publisher=]|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423061413/http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/frank_gaffney.html|archive-date=April 23, 2017|url-status=live | |||
}}</ref> In 1978, he received an ] in International Studies from ]'s ].<ref name="Ruppert">{{cite book | |||
|last1=Ruppert|first1=Michael C.|author-link1=Michael Ruppert|title=Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil|date=2004|publisher=]|location=], BC|isbn=978-0-865-71540-0|page=531|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ezyLJrAu1SIC|access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref><ref name=CSP_Gaffney>{{cite web | |||
|website=Center for Security Policy | |||
|title=Frank Gaffney Jr | |||
|url=https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/author/imp_frank_gaffneyjr | |||
|access-date=2023-06-06 | |||
}}</ref><ref name=ReaganGaffney>{{cite web | |||
|website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum | |||
|title=Nomination of Frank J Gaffney Jr | |||
|access-date=2023-06-06 | |||
|url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/nomination-frank-j-gaffney-jr-be-assistant-secretary-defense | |||
|date=1987-04-17 | |||
|archive-date=2023-06-07 | |||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607024539/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/nomination-frank-j-gaffney-jr-be-assistant-secretary-defense | |||
|url-status=live | |||
}}</ref> | |||
==Career== | |||
Gaffney appeared on '']'', the ] documentary that was intended as a rebuttal to ]'s ] film '']''. He is also a regular guest on ]'s "]" show. | |||
Gaffney began his government career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator ], under ]. From August 1983 until November 1987, Gaffney held the position of ] for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the ], again serving under Perle.<ref name="Shadow Elite">{{cite book|last1=Wedel|first1=Janine R.|author-link1=Janine R. Wedel|title=Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government, and the Free Market|date=December 1, 2009|publisher=]|location=]|isbn=978-0-465-09106-5|pages=–191|edition=First|url=https://archive.org/details/shadowelitehowwo0000wede|url-access=registration}}</ref> | |||
In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of ].<ref name=ReaganGaffney /> He served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months. During this time, despite his official post, he was excluded by senior Reagan administration officials from the then-ongoing ] talks with the ]. Gaffney was ultimately forced out of ]; '']'' reported in November 1987 that, within four days of ]'s appointment as Secretary of Defense, "Gaffney's belongings were boxed and he was gone".<ref name="newsw">{{cite news|last1=Watson|first1=Russell|title=At Long Last an Arms Deal|work=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Disarmed but Undeterred; His Once Pervasive Power Waning, The Hard-Liner Awaits the Summit|newspaper=]|date=November 23, 1987}}</ref> Following his departure from government, he immediately set about criticizing Ronald Reagan's pursuit of an arms control agreement with the USSR.<ref name="newsw"/> | |||
Gaffney was an executive producer for the documentary ''Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center''. The documentary was created to air as part of the '']'' series on ], but it has not been shown.<ref> C-SPAN</ref> | |||
===Center for Security Policy=== | |||
Gaffney is the lead author of ''War Footing'' (Naval Institute Press, 2005), a collection of essays that "offer ten specific steps that Americans, as individuals and as communities, can take to ensure their way of life and safety and the future well-being of their children and grandchildren."<ref> The Heritage Foundation</ref> | |||
{{main|Center for Security Policy}} | |||
In 1988, Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a ]-based ] ] that has been widely described as engaging in ] by a range of individuals, media outlets and organizations. Its activities are focused on exposing and researching perceived ] threats to the United States. The Center has been described as "not very highly respected" by ] and "disreputable" by '']''. It has faced strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, but has also had its reports cited by political figures such as US President ] and former Congresswoman ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Trump's 'Muslim lockdown': What is the Center for Security Policy?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35037943|access-date=December 10, 2015|work=BBC News|date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212201215/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35037943|archive-date=December 12, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cruz's cynical Trump detente: They're good buddies now, but wait until The Donald's support drops|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/08/28/cruzs_cynical_trump_detente_theyre_good_buddies_now_but_wait_until_the_donalds_support_drops/|access-date=December 10, 2015|work=Salon|date=August 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227043440/http://www.salon.com/2015/08/28/cruzs_cynical_trump_detente_theyre_good_buddies_now_but_wait_until_the_donalds_support_drops/|archive-date=December 27, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cockburn|first1=Alexander|title=The Politics of Anti-Semitism|date=2003|publisher=AK|isbn=978-1902593777|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofantise00alex/page/132}}</ref> In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy.<ref name=GaffneyBoard>{{cite web|website=ProPublica - Nonprofit Explorer|title=Center for Security Policy - IRS Form-990 yr2010|access-date=2023-06-06|date=2011-08-26|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521601976/2011_12_EO%2F52-1601976_990_201012}}</ref> CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/religious-rights/252605-anti-muslim-bigotry-has-no-place-in-politics/|title=Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in politics|website=The Hill|date=September 3, 2015|author=Terri A. Johnson and ]|access-date=September 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006111445/http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/religious-rights/252605-anti-muslim-bigotry-has-no-place-in-politics|archive-date=October 6, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the CSP was classified by the ] (SPLC) as a "hate group".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2016/02/17/splcs-intelligence-report-amid-year-lethal-violence-extremist-groups-expanded-ranks-2015|title=SPLC's Intelligence Report: Amid Year of Lethal Violence, Extremist Groups Expanded Ranks in 2015|access-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811080453/https://www.splcenter.org/news/2016/02/17/splcs-intelligence-report-amid-year-lethal-violence-extremist-groups-expanded-ranks-2015|archive-date=August 11, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notorious ]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Frank Gaffney Jr|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=December 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208040627/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as influential parts of the ] movement.<ref name="vox">{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/13/14559822/trump-islam-muslims-islamophobia-sharia|title=Trump's counter-jihad|date=February 13, 2017|work=Vox|last=Beauchamp|first=Zack|access-date=October 31, 2022|archive-date=June 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608051716/https://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/13/14559822/trump-islam-muslims-islamophobia-sharia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pertwee">{{cite journal|title=Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution|first=Ed|last=Perwee|year=2020|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=43|issue=16 |pages=211–230|doi=10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688|s2cid=218843237 |doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
On March 16, 2016, Republican presidential candidate ] announced he would name Frank Gaffney to be one of his National Security Advisors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ted Cruz Names Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist As Top Foreign-Policy Adviser |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/cruz-names-anti-muslim-paranoic-as-top-adviser.html# |access-date=March 19, 2016 |work=New York Magazine |date=March 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318141854/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/cruz-names-anti-muslim-paranoic-as-top-adviser.html |archive-date=March 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cruz said that Gaffney "is a serious thinker who has been focused on fighting jidahists , fighting jihadism across the globe".<ref>{{cite web |last=Krieg |first=Gregory |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/21/politics/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-national-security/ |title=Ted Cruz defends foreign policy adviser Frank Gaffney – CNNPolitics.com |publisher=Edition.cnn.com |date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818105905/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/21/politics/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-national-security/ |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2015, Nation Institute Fellow Eli Clifton characterized as unscientific a CSP-funded poll that Donald Trump had been citing, which purportedly showed widespread support for Sharia law among U.S. Muslims and a need for intervention in that community. It added that, "Between Trump’s calls for a national registry of Muslims and a ban on Muslim immigration, it appears that through coincidence or outright collaboration, Trump is building an immigration and anti-Muslim policy framework that closely mirrors the statements and proposals advocated by" Gaffney and the CSP.<ref name="Clifton"/> | |||
He is a founding member of the Set America Free Coalition, dedicated to reducing dependence on foreign ], as well as of the current iteration of the ].<ref> Set America Free</ref> | |||
Discussing what he calls prominent professional participants in Islamophobia, Professor Todd Green wrote mentioned "Frank Gaffney and David Yerushalmi, both of whom head organizations that are responsible for spreading misinformation about Islam and that seek to enact anti-Muslim laws, including the infamous anti-Sharia". ] served as legal counsel for the CSP<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-yerushalmi#.UalaAKVfmCI|title=David Yerushalmi|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=July 11, 2020|archive-date=July 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714071423/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-yerushalmi#.UalaAKVfmCI|url-status=live}}</ref> and has been accused of spreading misinformation about Islam and encouraging the enactment of anti-Muslim laws, including anti-] legislation in the United States.<ref name=Green>{{cite book|last1=Green|first1=Todd|title=The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West|date=2015|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=9781451469905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrgFCAAAQBAJ&q=%22Frank%20Gaffney&pg=PT177|page=211|access-date=April 23, 2023}}</ref> | |||
==Angolan presidential election, 1992== | |||
{{Main|Angolan presidential election, 1992}} | |||
In November 1992, Gaffney's Center for Security Policy organization released a report detailing ] in ]. Election officials stopped registering voters 40 days before the election. Polling stations had identical voting results. The MPLA retained a monopoly on television election-coverage. CSP also found widespread vote buying by the MPLA, the discarding of as many as 25% of casted ballots, and electricity blackouts during voter counting. ] special envoy ] said she "had never witnessed a more unfair election, even in ]."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_15_18/ai_84971467/pg_5/|title=Chevron oil and the Savimbi problem|accessdate=2009-06-26|author=James P. Lucier|publisher=Unknown via CBS | date=2002-04-29}}</ref> | |||
Gaffney and the CSP have been noted to have wielded influence on several prominent individuals of the ].<ref name="vox"/><ref name="pertwee"/> Gaffney was himself hosted on ]'s radio show at least thirty-four times during Bannon's time in '']'',<ref name="pertwee"/> and ], ] and ] have all been described as "devotees" of Gaffney's ideas.<ref name="vox"/> Following ]'s appointment as National Security Advisor, Gaffney was criticised as the source of where Bolton's beliefs originated on a number of subjects. This included the ] and many anti-Islamic beliefs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cortellessa|first1=Eric|title=Liberal Jewish groups slam Bolton for 'bellicose ideology, anti-Muslim bigotry'|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-jewish-groups-slam-bolton-for-bellicose-ideology-anti-muslim-bigotry/|newspaper=]|date=March 29, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005752/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-jewish-groups-slam-bolton-for-bellicose-ideology-anti-muslim-bigotry/|archive-date=June 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wadhams|first1=Nick|title=A Tillerson Ally Survives the Purge With Help From Friends|newspaper=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/a-tillerson-confidant-survives-the-purge-with-help-from-friends|agency=]|date=March 15, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426075715/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/a-tillerson-confidant-survives-the-purge-with-help-from-friends|archive-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Nguyen|first1=Tina|title="Revenge of the Nationalists": The Pro-Trump World Dances on Tillerson's Grave|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/revenge-of-the-nationalists-the-pro-trump-world-dances-on-tillersons-grave|magazine=]|date=March 15, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316025706/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/revenge-of-the-nationalists-the-pro-trump-world-dances-on-tillersons-grave|archive-date=March 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Project for a New American Century== | |||
{{Main|Project for the New American Century}} | |||
Along with a number of figures who later assumed leading positions in the ], Gaffney was one of 25 signatories<ref>{{cite book|last=Loo|first=Dennis|coauthors=Howard Zinn and Peter Phillips|title=Impeach the President, the case against Bush and Cheney|year=|page=259}}</ref> of the June 3, 1997 "Statement of Principles" from the ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm|title=Statement of Principles|accessdate=2007-07-12|date=1997-06-03|publisher=Project for the New American Century}}</ref> an educational and political advocacy organization whose stated goal was "to promote American global leadership."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newamericancentury.org/aboutpnac.htm|title=About PNAC|accessdate=2007-07-12|publisher=Project for the New American Century}}</ref> | |||
He stepped down as president of the CSP in January 2023 in favor of Tommy Waller, but remains its executive chairman.<ref name="csp"/> | |||
==Gaffney–Norquist dispute== | |||
In 2002, Gaffney publicly accused ], an anti-tax activist and prominent Republican strategist, for alleged ties to radical Islamist groups attempting to influence the Bush Administration. Gaffney said a press release by the ] credited ], a Bush-White House aide, for getting them access to the administration. Norquist banned Gaffney from the weekly "Wednesday Meeting" of the ] that Norquist hosted. Norquist later wrote an open letter, accusing Gaffney of "racial prejudice, religious bigotry ethnic hatred," calling Gaffney a "sick, little bigot.... His whole life screams of bigotry, and what he said is just part of a pattern.... Frank Gaffney and ] share the same view on the relationship between the United States and Islam. I agree with ] in rejecting Osama bin Laden's and Frank Gaffney's worldview." In 2011, Gaffney accused Norquist of "helping the ] spread its influence in the nation's capital."<ref name=Sullivan/> ], President of the ], later commented on the Gaffney-Norquist dispute, saying, "I, for one, don't see it. If you read the transcript , you can see if Frank was right or wrong, but there was nothing racist or bigoted about it." Norquist's comments so angered Keene that he stopped talking to Norquist.<ref name="split">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york031903.asp|title=Fight on the Right|accessdate=2007-07-12|authorlink=Byron York|date=March 19, 2003|publisher=National Review Online}}</ref> | |||
====Fax wars==== | |||
In a front-page story in '']'', ] dismissed Gaffney's assertions regarding Bush, stating "there's no there there."<ref>{{cite news|first=Tom|last=Hamburger|coauthors=Simpson, Glenn R.|title=In Difficult Times, Muslims Count On Unlikely Advocate|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 11, 2003}}</ref> In an article appearing in the January 2007 edition of '']'' about neoconservatives who pushed for the ], Gaffney said of Bush, "He doesn't in fact seem to be a man of principle who's steadfastly pursuing what he thinks is the right course. He talks about it, but the policy doesn't track with the rhetoric, and that's what creates the incoherence that causes us problems around the world and at home."<ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Rose|title=Neo Culpa|publisher=Vanity Fair|date=January 2007}}</ref> | |||
In the 1990s, Gaffney became known in Washington, D.C., for "fax wars" he waged, whereby his "small but loyal following" would be encouraged to inundate the offices of members of Congress with faxes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hersman|first1=Rebecca|title=Friends and Foes: How Congress and the President Really Make Foreign Policy|date=2010|publisher=]|isbn=978-0815798965|pages=88–89}}</ref> | |||
In 1995, Gaffney charged that ] ] was intentionally undermining US nuclear readiness; an analysis of Gaffney's charges against O'Leary published by ] observed that Gaffney "specializes in intensely personal attacks" and his Center for Security Policy's liberal use of ]es to attack its opponents had made it the "] of the policy business".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=]|date=March 1995|volume=51|issue=2|page=80|doi=10.1080/00963402.1995.11658058|last1=Arkin|first1=William M.|title=A tale of two Franks |bibcode=1995BuAtS..51b..80A }}</ref> | |||
==U.S. troop deaths in Iraq== | |||
{{Main|Casualties of the Iraq War#U.S. armed forces}} | |||
On ]'s ], Gaffney, commenting on the ], said, "My position is it is regrettable that any Americans died. It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die. The threat we did know about was the chemical capability that Saddam Hussein had used against his own people. The potential for biological agents were real there was evidence that there was an ongoing nuclear program... The danger was inaction could have resulted in the death of a great many more Americans than 4,000 and that's the reason I'm still delighted that we did what we did."<ref> Hardball with Chris Matthews via YouTube</ref> | |||
Later, in a 1997 column for ''The Washington Times'', Gaffney alleged a ] incident in Russia was a nuclear detonation at that nation's ] test site, indicating Russia was violating the ] (CTB).<ref name="bas">{{cite news|last1=Isaacs|first1=John|title=Spinning to the Right|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgwAAAAAMBAJ|access-date=July 22, 2016|work=]|date=November 1997}}</ref> Subsequent scientific analysis of Novaya Zemlya confirmed the event was a routine ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wallace|first1=Terry|title=False Accusations, Undetected Tests and Implications for the CTB Treaty|url=http://www.armscontrol.org/print/357|access-date=July 22, 2016|work=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523100845/https://www.armscontrol.org/print/357|archive-date=May 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Reporting on the allegation, the '']'' observed that, following its publication, "fax machines around Washington, D.C., and across the country poured out pages detailing Russian duplicity. They came from Frank Gaffney", going on to note that during the first four months of 1997, Gaffney had "issued more than 25 screeds" against the CTB.<ref name="bas" /> | |||
==Al Jazeera== | |||
In 2003, Gaffney called on the United States military to "take out" the '']'' news network for inciting violence against the ] by showcasing ] and ]'s "calls-to-arms."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98621,00.html|title=Take Out Al Jazeera|accessdate=2009-06-26|publisher=Fox News | first1=Frank | last1=Gaffney | date=2003-09-29}}</ref> | |||
===Other activities=== | |||
==Criticism of Barack Obama== | |||
Gaffney also contributes to the conservative media site '']''. Gaffney wrote a column for '']'' from 2012 to 2016,<ref>{{cite news|title=Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Articles|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/frank-j-gaffney-jr/|access-date=August 17, 2017|work=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817080753/http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/frank-j-gaffney-jr/|archive-date=August 17, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and for '']'' from 2000 to 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Archives|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/gaffney.html|website=]|access-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106122458/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/gaffney.html|archive-date=January 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He was also the host of ''Secure Freedom Radio'', a nationally-syndicated ]<ref>{{cite web|title=AM 1260 The ANSWER— Program Guide|url=http://am1260theanswer.com/programguidedaily|website=]|access-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> and ] which has featured guests such as ], ], and white nationalist ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Milbank|first1=Dana|title=Meet the Islamophobe inspiring Trump to redefine extremism|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-the-islamophobe-inspiring-trump-to-redefine-extremism/2015/12/15/d38c5c0e-a346-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html|access-date=July 22, 2016|newspaper=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407112912/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-the-islamophobe-inspiring-trump-to-redefine-extremism/2015/12/15/d38c5c0e-a346-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html|archive-date=April 7, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=''Hatewatch'' Staff|title=Anti-Muslim Activist Frank Gaffney Interviews White Nationalist Jared Taylor on His Radio Show|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/09/30/anti-muslim-activist-frank-gaffney-interviews-white-nationalist-jared-taylor-his-radio-show|publisher=]|access-date=August 17, 2017|language=en|date=September 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818011049/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/09/30/anti-muslim-activist-frank-gaffney-interviews-white-nationalist-jared-taylor-his-radio-show|archive-date=August 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The radio program was turned into a television show titled ''Securing America TV'' on ] in 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-security-expert-frank-gaffney-launches-new-tv-program-301161296.html|title=National Security Expert Frank Gaffney Launches New TV Program|work=PR Newswire|date=October 28, 2020|access-date=March 28, 2024|archive-date=May 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508200849/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-security-expert-frank-gaffney-launches-new-tv-program-301161296.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaffney is the vice-chair of the ] and has been described as part of a "new red scare" of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Swanson|first=Ana|date=July 20, 2019|title=A New Red Scare Is Reshaping Washington|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/20/us/politics/china-red-scare-washington.html|access-date=April 27, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720234508/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/20/us/politics/china-red-scare-washington.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories#Claims that Obama was not born in Hawaii}} | |||
{{Main|Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories}} | |||
In October 2008, Gaffney questioned whether then ] ] of ] is a "] of the United States" and his legal eligibility to be the ].<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/14/the-jihadist-vote/</ref> | |||
==Conspiracy theories== | |||
In a February 2009 '']'' column, Gaffney accused President Obama of "embracing the agenda of the ]," a political organization banned in several countries in the ].<ref> The Washington Times</ref> | |||
The ] has said that Gaffney "has promulgated a number of anti-Muslim conspiracy theories over the years" and that he has "undue influence" relative to other like-minded figures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/discrimination/c/frank-gaffney-jr.html |title=Frank Gaffney Jr. and the Center for Security Policy |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=November 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104013256/http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/discrimination/c/frank-gaffney-jr.html |archive-date=November 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Other commentators have suggested that Gaffney's propensity for conspiracy theories began earlier during his career in the Reagan administration, where after being denied a higher position, was convinced that ] agents within the United States government were blocking him.<ref name="washingtontimes.com">{{cite web |first=David|last=Keene|authorlink=David Keene|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/17/david-keene-when-conspiracy-nuts-do-real-damage/ |title=DAVID KEENE: When conspiracy nuts do real damage |website=] |date=April 17, 2016 |access-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812015636/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/17/david-keene-when-conspiracy-nuts-do-real-damage/ |archive-date=August 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
===Civilization Jihad=== | |||
In April 2009, Gaffney appeared on television and accused President Obama of using coded language to indicate that America would submit to ] law.<ref> ThinkProgress</ref> | |||
One of Gaffney's main conspiracy theories is the so-called "Civilization Jihad", a supposed secret Muslim plan to take over America, which came to national prominence by being cited in a debate by 2016 presidential candidate ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=The Bridge Initiative Team |date=2016-02-02 |title='Civilization Jihad:' Debunking the Conspiracy Theory |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/civilization-jihad-debunking-the-conspiracy-theory/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=Bridge Initiative |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525204434/https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/civilization-jihad-debunking-the-conspiracy-theory/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the ], Gaffney's beliefs stem "from a single discredited source – a 1991 fantasy written by a lone ] member that was introduced into evidence during the 2008 ] in Dallas federal court.<ref name=":1" /> The FBI found the note to be incongruous with documents taken from Muslim Brotherhood, nor was it found to have been discussed during the 1991 conference of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
But to Gaffney, this document was "a ], a mission statement pointing to a massive Islamist conspiracy under our noses".<ref name=":1">{{cite news|title=Frank Gaffney Jr.|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/profiles/frank-gaffney-jr|access-date=July 26, 2015|publisher=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514074546/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/profiles/frank-gaffney-jr|archive-date=May 14, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL quotes Gaffney as "mentioning that in 1991, a ] operative produced the "] on the general strategic goal of the group in North America." According to Gaffney, the memo explicitly addresses the progress the Muslim Brotherhood has made in building an ] with the goal of destroying Western civilization from within so that Islam is victorious over other religions".<ref name="adl.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/discrimination/c/frank-gaffney-jr.html |title=Frank Gaffney Jr. and the Center for Security Policy |publisher=] |access-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818170439/http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/discrimination/c/frank-gaffney-jr.html |archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> | |||
In a June 9, 2009, '']'' article Gaffney wrote: "With Mr. Obama's unbelievably ]ed address in ] Thursday to what he calls 'the Muslim world' ... there is mounting evidence that the president not only identifies with ], but actually may still be one himself."<ref> The Washington Times</ref> | |||
The BRIDGE Initiative at Georgetown found that the memo failed to gain traction in the Arab world, as none of the sensationalist phrasings ever became commonplace in subsequent Arab literature and media.<ref name=":0" /> In contrast, some politicians and Islamaphobic commentators have used the phrase repeatedly to demonize Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oosting |first=Jonathan |title=Colbeck under fire for Muslim conspiracy claims |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/25/colbeck-el-sayed-muslim-conspiracy/34235679/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=The Detroit News |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522223757/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/25/colbeck-el-sayed-muslim-conspiracy/34235679/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-30 |title=Islamophobes React to Coronavirus Pandemic with Anti-Muslim Bigotry |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/islamophobes-react-coronavirus-pandemic-anti-muslim-bigotry |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.adl.org |archive-date=2024-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240704040931/https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/islamophobes-react-coronavirus-pandemic-anti-muslim-bigotry |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Gaffney continued this theme in on February 24, 2010, in his column on ]'s ], when Gaffney attacked the administration's plans to modernize and update the missile defense program as "US submission to ]" from "an ] acolyte", citing as "evidence" the redesigned logo of the ].<ref></ref> | |||
===ACU dispute=== | |||
::"Team Obama’s anti-anti-missile initiatives are not simply acts of unilateral disarmament of the sort to be expected from an ] acolyte. They seem to fit an increasingly obvious and worrying pattern of official U.S. submission to Islam and the theo-political-legal program the latter’s authorities call ]. | |||
In 2011, Gaffney was banned by the ] from the ] (CPAC). ACU chairman ] released a statement contending that Gaffney "has become personally and tiresomely obsessed with his weird belief that anyone who doesn't agree with him on everything all the time or treat him with the respect and deference he believes is his due, must be either ignorant of the dangers we face or, in extreme case, dupes of the nation's enemies".<ref name=tpm>{{cite news|title=CPAC Banned Frank Gaffney Over Baseless Anti-Muslim Charges|url=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cpac-banned-frank-gaffney-over-baseless-anti-muslim-charges|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=]|date=February 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711170638/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cpac-banned-frank-gaffney-over-baseless-anti-muslim-charges|archive-date=July 11, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaffney has since returned to CPAC to host panels at the conference in 2015 and 2016.<ref name="adl.org"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Sarlin |first=Benjy |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/analysis-how-cpac-foreshadowed-donald-trump-s-takeover-gop-n532386 |title=Analysis: How CPAC Foreshadowed Donald Trump's Takeover of the GOP |date=5 March 2016 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703045330/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/analysis-how-cpac-foreshadowed-donald-trump-s-takeover-gop-n532386 |archive-date=July 3, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In an April 2016 column in '']'' titled, "When conspiracy nuts do real damage", Keene again slammed Gaffney, writing, "One hopes that is what they will do and that Mr. Gaffney will, like the folks at ], ]'s aides and most conspiracy nuts of yore will vanish into the fever swamps from which he came".<ref name="washingtontimes.com" /> The column came two months after Gaffney unexpectedly left ''The Washington Times'' for '']'', where he was a staff columnist and Keene was the opinion editor. Keene, who had slashed the frequency of Gaffney's column from weekly to monthly, commented to '']'' on Gaffney's departure, describing Gaffney's work as "well-researched," and stated, "we're sorry to lose him but we wish him well". Keene also noted that Gaffney had left without giving him any notice, saying, "I guess he's notifying us through you".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/27/columnists-departure-for-breitbart-is-news-to-w/198262 |title=Columnist's Departure For Breitbart Is News To Washington Times |publisher=]|date=February 27, 2014|access-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816234632/http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/27/columnists-departure-for-breitbart-is-news-to-w/198262 |archive-date=August 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
::"What could be ] evidence of the latter explanation is to be found in the newly-disclosed redesign of the ] logo.... As Logan helpfully shows, the new MDA shield appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the ] with the ]." | |||
===Media responses=== | |||
However, Al Kamen reports that the new Missile Defense Agency logo is over three years old and was actually developed during the George Bush administration.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022505704_pf.html | work=The Washington Post | title=Is the Missile Defense Agency's logo Obama-meets-Islam? | first=Al | last=Kamen | accessdate=2010-05-02}}</ref> | |||
Gaffney has been called a conspiracy theorist by ] writing in '']'' magazine;<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weigel|first1=David|title=Frank Gaffney, Obama Truther|url=http://reason.com/blog/2008/10/14/frank-gaffney-obama-truther|access-date=July 26, 2015|issue=]|date=October 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804233233/http://reason.com/blog/2008/10/14/frank-gaffney-obama-truther|archive-date=August 4, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> ] of ];<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bennen|first1=Steve|title=The crumbling of the right's intellectual infrastructure|url=http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-crumbling-the-rights-intellectual-infrastructure|access-date=July 26, 2015|publisher=]|date=June 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926132804/http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-crumbling-the-rights-intellectual-infrastructure|archive-date=September 26, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> '']'';<ref>{{cite news|last1=Woodruff|first1=Betsy|title=Glenn Beck Thinks Grover Norquist Is a Muslim Brotherhood Mole. Now, the NRA Is "Investigating."|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/03/16/nra_investigates_grover_norquist_as_glenn_beck_says_he_is_a_muslim_brotherhood.html|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=]|date=March 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725160516/http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/03/16/nra_investigates_grover_norquist_as_glenn_beck_says_he_is_a_muslim_brotherhood.html|archive-date=July 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and '']'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Leading GOP Candidates to Appear at Event Hosted by Anti-Muslim Conspiracist|url=https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/23/leading-gop-presidential-candidates-appear-event-hosted-anti-muslim-conspiracists/|access-date=July 27, 2015|work=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Schwarz|first1=Jon|author-link1=Jon Schwarz|title=Muslim-Hating Conspiracy Theorist Frank Gaffney May (or May Not) Be Advising Trump's Transition Team|url=https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/muslim-hating-conspiracy-theorist-frank-gaffney-joins-trumps-transition-team/|access-date=August 18, 2017|work=]|date=November 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818220404/https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/muslim-hating-conspiracy-theorist-frank-gaffney-joins-trumps-transition-team/|archive-date=August 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Presidential Candidates Set to Appear at Event Hosted By Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist|url=http://bridge.georgetown.edu/presidential-candidates-set-to-appear-at-event-hosted-by-anti-muslim-conspiracy-theorist/|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=Bridge Initiative|publisher=]|date=July 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726144937/http://bridge.georgetown.edu/presidential-candidates-set-to-appear-at-event-hosted-by-anti-muslim-conspiracy-theorist/|archive-date=July 26, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> among others. '']'' has reported that Gaffney's views were "considered radioactive by the Republican establishment",<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tharoor|first1=Ishaan|title=The crazy conspiracy theories of Ted Cruz's new foreign policy adviser|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/03/18/the-conspiratorial-fever-dreams-of-this-ted-cruz-foreign-policy-adviser/|access-date=July 29, 2016|newspaper=]|date=March 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822114204/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/03/18/the-conspiratorial-fever-dreams-of-this-ted-cruz-foreign-policy-adviser/|archive-date=August 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and Eli Clifton noted that Gaffney suffered "from a lack of mainstream acceptance."<ref name="Clifton">{{cite news|last1=Clifton|first1=Eli|title=Meet Donald Trump's Islamophobia Expert|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/donald-trump-frank-gaffney-islamophobia-poll/|access-date=July 29, 2016|work=]|date=December 8, 2015|url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801083003/http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/donald-trump-frank-gaffney-islamophobia-poll/|archive-date=August 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Democrats, and many Republicans, have called Gaffney a "conspiracy theorist".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Crowley|first1=Michael|title=Gaffney denies NYT, WSJ reports that he's a Trump adviser|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/11/gaffney-denies-nyt-wsj-reports-that-hes-a-trump-adviser-231504|access-date=November 16, 2016|work=]|date=November 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116225907/http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/11/gaffney-denies-nyt-wsj-reports-that-hes-a-trump-adviser-231504|archive-date=November 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
===Beliefs=== | |||
Gaffney has accused Obama of attempting to buy a larger more capable aircraft for the ] contract, under the pretext that it costs less than the aircraft made by Gaffney's client.<ref>Gaffney, Frank J. Jr. ''The Washington Times'', 21 February 2011.</ref> | |||
Conspiracy theories Gaffney has promoted include: | |||
] | |||
* The belief that the logo of the US ] is a coded indicator of "official U.S. submission to Islam" because it "appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic ] with the Obama campaign logo".<ref>{{cite news|title=Far-right birther's secret funders: Look who's backing Islamophobe Frank Gaffney|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/far_right_birthers_secret_funders_look_whos_backing_islamophobe_frank_gaffney/|access-date=July 24, 2015|work=]|date=October 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725140801/http://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/far_right_birthers_secret_funders_look_whos_backing_islamophobe_frank_gaffney/|archive-date=July 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* The belief that former ] ] was involved in the ] and the ].<ref name=y>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017271.php|title=It never ends|work=Washington Monthly|first1=Steve|last1=Benen|access-date=August 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512030230/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017271.php|archive-date=May 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-islamophobia_us_56eb11cbe4b03a640a69fc3b|title=Ted Cruz's New Adviser Is Even More Anti-Muslim Than Donald Trump|first1=Jessica Schulberg Foreign Affairs|last1=Reporter|first2=The Huffington|last2=Post|website=]|date=March 17, 2016|access-date=November 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107221048/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-islamophobia_us_56eb11cbe4b03a640a69fc3b|archive-date=November 7, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* Gaffney has sought to have Republican Party strategist ] excluded from CPAC because of his alleged ties to the ]. In 2011, Gaffney said of Norquist, "We are in a war, and he has been working with the enemy for over a decade."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Terkel|first1=Amanda|title=Frank Gaffney Escalates Crusade To Take Down Grover Norquist|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/frank-gaffney_n_4905219.html|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=]|date=March 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805202053/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/frank-gaffney_n_4905219.html|archive-date=August 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Responding to the accusation, the board of directors of the American Conservative Union unanimously condemned Gaffney's charges as "reprehensible" and "unfounded."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brinker|first1=Luke|title=Conservative civil war: Islamophobic activist seeks to oust Grover Norquist from NRA board|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/02/19/conservative_civil_war_islamophobic_activist_seeks_to_oust_grover_norquist_from_nra_board/|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=]|date=February 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707061155/http://www.salon.com/2015/02/19/conservative_civil_war_islamophobic_activist_seeks_to_oust_grover_norquist_from_nra_board/|archive-date=July 7, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* He has opposed the building of a number of large religious ] sites in the ], including ], also referred to as the Ground Zero Mosque.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bump|first1=Philip|title=Meet Frank Gaffney, the anti-Muslim gadfly reportedly advising Donald Trump's transition team|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/08/meet-frank-gaffney-the-anti-muslim-gadfly-who-produced-donald-trumps-anti-muslim-poll/|newspaper=]|date=November 16, 2016|access-date=March 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301231703/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/08/meet-frank-gaffney-the-anti-muslim-gadfly-who-produced-donald-trumps-anti-muslim-poll/|archive-date=March 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* Accusations that ] aide ] is a secret agent of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kay|first1=Jonathan|title=Bachmann, Gaffney, and the GOP's Anti-Muslim Culture of Conspiracy|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/23/bachmann-gaffney-and-the-gop-s-anti-muslim-culture-of-conspiracy.html|access-date=July 26, 2015|work=]|issue=July 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711192335/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/23/bachmann-gaffney-and-the-gop-s-anti-muslim-culture-of-conspiracy.html|archive-date=July 11, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> After the allegation was repeated by ], US senators ], ], and ] joined in dismissing it, and ] ] said "accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/huma-abedin-michele-bachmann_n_1686557.html|title=Huma Abedin Attacks By Michele Bachmann Condemned By John Boehner, Marco Rubio|date=July 19, 2012|website=]|access-date=July 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725121041/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/huma-abedin-michele-bachmann_n_1686557.html|archive-date=July 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/frank-gaffney-cruz-obama-muslim_us_56f093cde4b03a640a6b70ed|title=Ted Cruz Defends Adviser Who Called Obama America's "First Muslim President"|first=Nick |last=Baumann|website=]|date=March 21, 2016|access-date=July 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818170723/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/frank-gaffney-cruz-obama-muslim_us_56f093cde4b03a640a6b70ed|archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* Accusations that ] is a ] who has secretly orchestrated "the most consequential bait-and-switch since ]", that General ] had "submitted to ]", that Congressman ] is "likely to leak information to the Muslim Brotherhood", and that deputies in the ] are "directly tied to ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bauman|first1=Nick|title=Ted Cruz Defends Adviser Who Called Obama 'America's First Muslim President'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/frank-gaffney-cruz-obama-muslim_us_56f093cde4b03a640a6b70ed|access-date=July 22, 2016|work=]|date=March 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818170723/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/frank-gaffney-cruz-obama-muslim_us_56f093cde4b03a640a6b70ed|archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Burt|first1=American|title=American Hysteria|date=2015|publisher=]|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-1493017652|pages=156–158}}</ref> | |||
* The belief that the ] norm has been supported by the United States government to lay the groundwork for a forthcoming American military invasion of ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Besser |first1=James |title=The Latest From the Conspiracy Front |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/political_insider/latest_conspiracy_front_us_may_use_gaddafi_precedent_attack_israel |access-date=December 9, 2015 |work=Jewish Week |date=March 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211090611/http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/political_insider/latest_conspiracy_front_us_may_use_gaddafi_precedent_attack_israel |archive-date=December 11, 2015 }}</ref> | |||
* The belief that Muslim enemies of the United States are hidden in plain sight and organizing through mainstream Muslim rights organizations. He said of Muslims, “They essentially, like termites, hollow out the structure of the civil society and other institutions, for the purpose of creating conditions under which the ] will succeed.”<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/donald-trump-islam.html|title=Trump Pushes Dark View of Islam to Center of U.S. Policy-Making|newspaper=]|date=February 1, 2017|first1=Scott|last1=Shane|first2=Matthew|last2=Rosenberg|first3=Eric|last3=Lipton|access-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202054557/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/donald-trump-islam.html|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Works== | |||
==Saddam Hussein, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the Oklahoma City Bombing== | |||
===Books=== | |||
On March 12, 2009, Gaffney appeared on ]'s ] and accused ] ] of being involved in the ] and the ], "There is also circumstantial evidence, not proven by any means, but nonetheless some pretty compelling circumstantial evidence of Saddam Hussein's Iraq being involved with the people who perpetrated both the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and even the Oklahoma City bombing."<ref> Washington Monthly</ref> | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Gaffney|first1=Frank J.|author2=with colleagues|title=War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World|date=2005|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-591-14301-7}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Gaffney, Jr.|first1=Frank J.|last2=Luft|first2=Gal|last3=Zubrin|first3=Robert|last4=Clark|first4=Wesley K.|last5=Haigwood|first5=Burl|last6=Dolan|first6=Greg|editor1-last=Lerner|editor1-first=Ben|editor2-last=Reaboi|editor2-first=David|title=Homegrown Defense: Biofuels & National Security|date=2010|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-0-982-29474-1}} | |||
* {{cite book|title=]|author=Team B II|year=2010|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-0982294765}} | |||
* {{cite book|title=]|author=The Tiger Team|year=2015|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-1507756133}} | |||
* {{cite book|title=See No Sharia: 'Countering Violent Extremism' and the Disarming of America's First Line of Defense|first2=Clare M.|last2=Lopez|first1=Frank J.|last1=Gaffney, Jr.|year=2016|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-1530234332}} | |||
* {{cite book|title=The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes against America, China, and the World|first1=Frank|last1=Gaffney|first2=Dede|last2=Laugesen|year=2023|publisher=War Room Books|isbn=978-1648210044}} | |||
===Films=== | |||
==Recent activities== | |||
Gaffney was an executive producer of the documentary ''Islam vs. Islamists: Voices From the Muslim Center''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Farhi|first1=Paul|title=Rejected by PBS, Film on Islam Revived by CPB|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402571.html|access-date=August 18, 2017|newspaper=]|date=May 25, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226184552/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402571.html|archive-date=December 26, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In 2010, Gaffney, along with co-authors such as former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence Lt. Gen. ] and former ] Director ], released a book entitled "Shariah: The Threat to America," published by the ].<ref name=WaPo>] and ] (December 2010) , '']''</ref> The book "describes what its authors call a 'stealth ]' that must be thwarted before it's too late," and argues that "most mosques in the United States already have been radicalized, that most Muslim social organizations are fronts for violent jihadists, and that Muslims who practice ] law seek to impose it in this country."<ref name=WaPo/> According to the '']'', "Government terrorism experts call the views expressed in the center's book inaccurate and counterproductive."<ref name=WaPo/> In other articles, Gaffney claims that stealth jihad to advance Sharia constitute sedition.<ref></ref> | |||
==References== | |||
In early 2011, Gaffney charged that the ] (CPAC) had "come under the influence of the ], which is working to bring America under ]-style ]."<ref name=Sullivan>] (2011-01-05) , '']''</ref> Gaffney told the conservative website ] that "] has infiltrated the ], the host of CPAC, in the person of ] attorney and political activist ] and a group called ]. Gaffney also accuses another ACU board member, leading conservative political organizer ], of helping the Muslim Brotherhood spread its influence in the nation's capital."<ref name=Sullivan/> | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
In ] Gaffney testified to support a lawsuit against a planned mosque. The lawsuit alleged that the county zoning board didn't give proper notice of a hearing, however during eight days of hearing the judge allowed mosque opponents to introduce unverified claims or inflammatory statements, to include arguing Islam is not a religion and asking a county commissioner if he supported keeping a whip over his bed to beat his wife with. Although Gaffney was currently not a member of any police or intelligence agency, and admitting under oath he is not an expert in Shariah law or Islam, he testified Islam is a threat to the United States and by extension the mosque was a threat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111105382.html?hpid=sec-religion | work=The Washington Post| title=Hearing over Tennessee mosque puts Islam on trial | accessdate=2010-11-12}} {{Dead link|date=May 2011|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101118/NEWS06/11180324/1971 | work=The Tennessean | title=Murfreesboro mosque can move ahead, judge rules | accessdate=2010-11-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101021/NEWS01/10210339/1971 | work=The Tennessean | title=Murfreesboro mosque's approval questioned by attorney | accessdate=2010-11-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101021/NEWS01/101021058/1971 | work=The Tennessean | title=Murfreesboro mosque trial keeps focus on Islam | accessdate=2010-11-22}}</ref> | |||
In 2011, Gaffney speculated that the 1500 page manifesto released 90 minutes before the ], supposedly by ], was a false flag operation by muslims. Gaffney and the Center for Secuity Policy was cited 7 times in the manifesto. | |||
<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thinkprogress.org/tag/anders-breivik | work=Think Progress| title=Gaffney Wonders If Norwegian Terrorist’s Manifesto Was A ‘False Flag Operation’ Intended To ‘Suppress Criticism’ Of Sharia | accessdate=2011-08-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/07/25/278677/islamophobic-right-wing-blogger-breivi/ | work=Think Progress| title=CHART: Oslo Terrorist’s Manifesto Cited Many Islamophobic Bloggers And Pundits | accessdate=2011-08-04}}</ref> | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{wikiquote}} | |||
* : Frank Gaffney | |||
{{commons category}} | |||
* {{Twitter|frankgaffney}} | |||
* (from 2022) | |||
* (until 2022) | |||
* {{C-SPAN|1828}} | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 13:02, 15 November 2024
American defense policy analyst (born 1953) For the American soldier, see Frank Gaffney (Medal of Honor).Frank Gaffney | |
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Gaffney speaking at CPAC in 2018 | |
Born | Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (1953-04-05) April 5, 1953 (age 71) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Education | Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (BS) Johns Hopkins University, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (MA) |
Occupation | Defense policy analyst |
Known for | Counter-jihad, popular conspiracy theories, conservative political commentary |
Title | Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (1983–87) |
Awards | Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service (1987) Zionist Organization of America's Louis Brandeis Award (2003) |
Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American defense policy analyst and founder of the Center for Security Policy (CSP). He founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023, and thereafter as executive chairman. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy from 1983 to 1987, and seven months as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan administration. He was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1987. In later years, he has been described as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist.
Early life and education
Gaffney was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1953 to Virginia Gaffney (née Reed) and Frank J. Gaffney. His father was a classical music aficionado and long-time partner at the law firm of Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, which was founded by his wife's father, Earl Reed; in 2013, it merged with Clark Hill PLC. Gaffney's grandfather, Joseph Gaffney, was a city solicitor in Philadelphia. In the early 20th century, as a known Catholic in Philadelphia, he faced opposition from nativist Protestant groups who alleged that Catholics were "gaining control of American institutions while rewriting the nation's history".
Gaffney attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1975. In 1978, he received an MA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Career
Gaffney began his government career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson, under Richard Perle. From August 1983 until November 1987, Gaffney held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the Reagan administration, again serving under Perle.
In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. He served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months. During this time, despite his official post, he was excluded by senior Reagan administration officials from the then-ongoing arms control talks with the Soviet Union. Gaffney was ultimately forced out of the Pentagon; The Washington Post reported in November 1987 that, within four days of Frank Carlucci's appointment as Secretary of Defense, "Gaffney's belongings were boxed and he was gone". Following his departure from government, he immediately set about criticizing Ronald Reagan's pursuit of an arms control agreement with the USSR.
Center for Security Policy
Main article: Center for Security PolicyIn 1988, Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a Washington, D.C.-based national security think tank that has been widely described as engaging in conspiracy theorizing by a range of individuals, media outlets and organizations. Its activities are focused on exposing and researching perceived jihadist threats to the United States. The Center has been described as "not very highly respected" by BBC News and "disreputable" by Salon. It has faced strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, but has also had its reports cited by political figures such as US President Donald Trump and former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy. CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community. In 2016, the CSP was classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "hate group". The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes". Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as influential parts of the counter-jihad movement.
On March 16, 2016, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced he would name Frank Gaffney to be one of his National Security Advisors. Cruz said that Gaffney "is a serious thinker who has been focused on fighting jidahists , fighting jihadism across the globe". In December 2015, Nation Institute Fellow Eli Clifton characterized as unscientific a CSP-funded poll that Donald Trump had been citing, which purportedly showed widespread support for Sharia law among U.S. Muslims and a need for intervention in that community. It added that, "Between Trump’s calls for a national registry of Muslims and a ban on Muslim immigration, it appears that through coincidence or outright collaboration, Trump is building an immigration and anti-Muslim policy framework that closely mirrors the statements and proposals advocated by" Gaffney and the CSP.
Discussing what he calls prominent professional participants in Islamophobia, Professor Todd Green wrote mentioned "Frank Gaffney and David Yerushalmi, both of whom head organizations that are responsible for spreading misinformation about Islam and that seek to enact anti-Muslim laws, including the infamous anti-Sharia". David Yerushalmi served as legal counsel for the CSP and has been accused of spreading misinformation about Islam and encouraging the enactment of anti-Muslim laws, including anti-Sharia legislation in the United States.
Gaffney and the CSP have been noted to have wielded influence on several prominent individuals of the Trump administration. Gaffney was himself hosted on Steve Bannon's radio show at least thirty-four times during Bannon's time in Breitbart News, and Michael Flynn, Mike Pompeo and Jeff Sessions have all been described as "devotees" of Gaffney's ideas. Following John Bolton's appointment as National Security Advisor, Gaffney was criticised as the source of where Bolton's beliefs originated on a number of subjects. This included the Iran nuclear deal and many anti-Islamic beliefs.
He stepped down as president of the CSP in January 2023 in favor of Tommy Waller, but remains its executive chairman.
Fax wars
In the 1990s, Gaffney became known in Washington, D.C., for "fax wars" he waged, whereby his "small but loyal following" would be encouraged to inundate the offices of members of Congress with faxes.
In 1995, Gaffney charged that US Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary was intentionally undermining US nuclear readiness; an analysis of Gaffney's charges against O'Leary published by William Arkin observed that Gaffney "specializes in intensely personal attacks" and his Center for Security Policy's liberal use of faxes to attack its opponents had made it the "Domino's Pizza of the policy business".
Later, in a 1997 column for The Washington Times, Gaffney alleged a seismic incident in Russia was a nuclear detonation at that nation's Novaya Zemlya test site, indicating Russia was violating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB). Subsequent scientific analysis of Novaya Zemlya confirmed the event was a routine earthquake. Reporting on the allegation, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists observed that, following its publication, "fax machines around Washington, D.C., and across the country poured out pages detailing Russian duplicity. They came from Frank Gaffney", going on to note that during the first four months of 1997, Gaffney had "issued more than 25 screeds" against the CTB.
Other activities
Gaffney also contributes to the conservative media site Newsmax. Gaffney wrote a column for The Washington Times from 2012 to 2016, and for Jewish World Review from 2000 to 2013. He was also the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program and podcast which has featured guests such as Newt Gingrich, John R. Bolton, and white nationalist Jared Taylor. The radio program was turned into a television show titled Securing America TV on Real America's Voice in 2020. Gaffney is the vice-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger and has been described as part of a "new red scare" of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.
Conspiracy theories
The Anti-Defamation League has said that Gaffney "has promulgated a number of anti-Muslim conspiracy theories over the years" and that he has "undue influence" relative to other like-minded figures. Other commentators have suggested that Gaffney's propensity for conspiracy theories began earlier during his career in the Reagan administration, where after being denied a higher position, was convinced that Soviet agents within the United States government were blocking him.
Civilization Jihad
One of Gaffney's main conspiracy theories is the so-called "Civilization Jihad", a supposed secret Muslim plan to take over America, which came to national prominence by being cited in a debate by 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson. According to the SPLC, Gaffney's beliefs stem "from a single discredited source – a 1991 fantasy written by a lone Muslim Brotherhood member that was introduced into evidence during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas federal court. The FBI found the note to be incongruous with documents taken from Muslim Brotherhood, nor was it found to have been discussed during the 1991 conference of the Muslim Brotherhood.
But to Gaffney, this document was "a smoking gun, a mission statement pointing to a massive Islamist conspiracy under our noses". The ADL quotes Gaffney as "mentioning that in 1991, a Muslim Brotherhood operative produced the "explanatory memorandum on the general strategic goal of the group in North America." According to Gaffney, the memo explicitly addresses the progress the Muslim Brotherhood has made in building an infrastructure in the United States with the goal of destroying Western civilization from within so that Islam is victorious over other religions".
The BRIDGE Initiative at Georgetown found that the memo failed to gain traction in the Arab world, as none of the sensationalist phrasings ever became commonplace in subsequent Arab literature and media. In contrast, some politicians and Islamaphobic commentators have used the phrase repeatedly to demonize Muslims.
ACU dispute
In 2011, Gaffney was banned by the American Conservative Union from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). ACU chairman David Keene released a statement contending that Gaffney "has become personally and tiresomely obsessed with his weird belief that anyone who doesn't agree with him on everything all the time or treat him with the respect and deference he believes is his due, must be either ignorant of the dangers we face or, in extreme case, dupes of the nation's enemies". Gaffney has since returned to CPAC to host panels at the conference in 2015 and 2016.
In an April 2016 column in The Washington Times titled, "When conspiracy nuts do real damage", Keene again slammed Gaffney, writing, "One hopes that is what they will do and that Mr. Gaffney will, like the folks at Group Research, Mr. Hoover's aides and most conspiracy nuts of yore will vanish into the fever swamps from which he came". The column came two months after Gaffney unexpectedly left The Washington Times for Breitbart News, where he was a staff columnist and Keene was the opinion editor. Keene, who had slashed the frequency of Gaffney's column from weekly to monthly, commented to Media Matters on Gaffney's departure, describing Gaffney's work as "well-researched," and stated, "we're sorry to lose him but we wish him well". Keene also noted that Gaffney had left without giving him any notice, saying, "I guess he's notifying us through you".
Media responses
Gaffney has been called a conspiracy theorist by Dave Weigel writing in Reason magazine; Steve Benen of MSNBC; Slate; and The Intercept, among others. The Washington Post has reported that Gaffney's views were "considered radioactive by the Republican establishment", and Eli Clifton noted that Gaffney suffered "from a lack of mainstream acceptance." Democrats, and many Republicans, have called Gaffney a "conspiracy theorist".
Beliefs
Conspiracy theories Gaffney has promoted include:
- The belief that the logo of the US Missile Defense Agency is a coded indicator of "official U.S. submission to Islam" because it "appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamic crescent and star with the Obama campaign logo".
- The belief that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing.
- Gaffney has sought to have Republican Party strategist Grover Norquist excluded from CPAC because of his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2011, Gaffney said of Norquist, "We are in a war, and he has been working with the enemy for over a decade." Responding to the accusation, the board of directors of the American Conservative Union unanimously condemned Gaffney's charges as "reprehensible" and "unfounded."
- He has opposed the building of a number of large religious Muslim sites in the United States, including Park51, also referred to as the Ground Zero Mosque.
- Accusations that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin is a secret agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the allegation was repeated by Michele Bachmann, US senators John McCain, Scott Brown, and Marco Rubio joined in dismissing it, and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner said "accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."
- Accusations that Barack Obama is a Muslim who has secretly orchestrated "the most consequential bait-and-switch since Adolf Hitler", that General David Petraeus had "submitted to Sharia", that Congressman Keith Ellison is "likely to leak information to the Muslim Brotherhood", and that deputies in the Broward County, Florida, sheriff's office are "directly tied to Hamas.
- The belief that the responsibility-to-protect norm has been supported by the United States government to lay the groundwork for a forthcoming American military invasion of Israel.
- The belief that Muslim enemies of the United States are hidden in plain sight and organizing through mainstream Muslim rights organizations. He said of Muslims, “They essentially, like termites, hollow out the structure of the civil society and other institutions, for the purpose of creating conditions under which the jihad will succeed.”
Works
Books
- Gaffney, Frank J.; with colleagues (2005). War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-591-14301-7.
- Gaffney, Jr., Frank J.; Luft, Gal; Zubrin, Robert; Clark, Wesley K.; Haigwood, Burl; Dolan, Greg (2010). Lerner, Ben; Reaboi, David (eds.). Homegrown Defense: Biofuels & National Security. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-0-982-29474-1.
- Team B II (2010). Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-0982294765.
- The Tiger Team (2015). The Secure Freedom Strategy: A Plan for Victory Over the Global Jihad Movement. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-1507756133.
- Gaffney, Jr., Frank J.; Lopez, Clare M. (2016). See No Sharia: 'Countering Violent Extremism' and the Disarming of America's First Line of Defense. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-1530234332.
- Gaffney, Frank; Laugesen, Dede (2023). The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes against America, China, and the World. War Room Books. ISBN 978-1648210044.
Films
Gaffney was an executive producer of the documentary Islam vs. Islamists: Voices From the Muslim Center.
References
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External links
- Frank Gaffney on Twitter
- Securing America TV with Frank Gaffney (from 2022)
- Secure Freedom Radio with Frank Gaffney (until 2022)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- 1953 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- American columnists
- American conspiracy theorists
- American counter-jihad activists
- American critics of Islam
- American foreign policy writers
- American male non-fiction writers
- American political writers
- Breitbart News people
- National Review people
- Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni
- Reagan administration personnel
- The Washington Times people
- United States Department of Defense officials
- Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni