Difference between revisions of "Elliott Abrams"

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''Disambiguation: Not to be confused with the meteorologist [[Elliot Abrams]].''
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{{person
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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Abrams
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|image=Elliott Abrams.jpg
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|littlesis=https://littlesis.org/person/36907-Elliott_Abrams
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|image_width=240px
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|constitutes=politician, deep state actor, neoconservative
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|description=A deep politician heavily involved in the Iran-Contra affair, given a pardon by George H. W. Bush
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|spouses=Rachel Decter
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|alma_mater=Harvard, London School of Economics, Harvard Law School
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|birth_date=1948-01-24
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|birth_place=New York City
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|nationality=American
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|religion=Judaism
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|political_parties=Social Democrats USA
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|relatives=Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter
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|political_parties=Republican
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|children=3
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|powerbase=http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Elliott_Abrams
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|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Elliott_Abrams
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|employment={{job
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|title=US/Special Envoy for Venezuela
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|start=25 January 2019
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|end=
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}}{{job
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|title=Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy
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|start=February 2, 2005
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|end=January 2009
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}}{{job
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|title=National Security Council Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs
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|start=December 2, 2002
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|end=February 1, 2005
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}}{{job
 +
|title=National Security Council Senior Director for Democracy Human Rights and International Operations
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|start=June 25, 2001
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|end=December 1, 2002
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}}{{job
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|title=Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs
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|start=July 17, 1985
 +
|end=January 20, 1989
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}}{{job
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|title=Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
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|start=December 12, 1981
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|end=July 17, 1985
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}}{{job
 +
|title=Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations
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|start=May 7, 1981
 +
|end=December 1, 1981
 +
}}
 +
}}
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{{cleanup|The article on this important deep state actor needs more deep contents.}}
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'''Elliott Abrams''' is an American [[neoconservative]] deep state actor. He was part of the [[Iran-Contra drugs/arms dealing operation]] and was a central and active supporter of decades of [[death squad]] activities in [[Latin America]].
  
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'''Elliot Abrams''' is a former head of the Middle East Desk at the [[National Security Council]] (2002-5).  
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He was appointed US Special Envoy for [[Venezuela]] on 25 January 2019. [[US Secretary of State]] [[Mike Pompeo]] said:
 +
:“Elliott will be a true asset to our mission to help the Venezuelan people fully restore democracy and prosperity to their country.”
  
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As reported in the Christian Science Monitor:
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Elliott Abrams responded:
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:In 1991, Abrams pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. President George H. W. Bush pardoned him in 1992.<ref>Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009</ref>  
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:“It’s very nice to be back. This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous. And I can’t wait to get to work on it.”<ref>[https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/26/trumps-axis-evil-pompeo-bolton-abrams "Trump's 'Axis of Evil': Pompeo, Bolton & Abrams"]</ref>
 +
{{YouTubeVideo
 +
|code=rn1c9-RhJ7I
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|align=center
 +
|width=300px
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|caption=Explaining how [[Juan Guaidó]] is [[President of Venezuela|"President"]]
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}}
  
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He was appointed on February 2, 2005, as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy.<ref> Announced by the The Whitehouse [http://web.archive.org/web/20051006040854/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html Personnel Announcement] 2 February 2005, retrieved from the Web Archive of 6 October 2005 on 10 march 2009</ref> Prior to that he was a senior fellow at the [[Hudson Institute]] from 1990 to the 1996 before becoming president of the [[Ethics and Public Policy Center]], which "affirms the political relevance of the great Western ethical imperatives." Abrams also served as chairman of the [[US Commission on International Religious Freedom]]. In 1980, he married Rachel Decter, daughter of neocon veterans [[Norman Podhoretz]] and [[Midge Decter]].<ref>Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009</ref>
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==Background==
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===Education===
 
 
* Harvard University: B.A., 1969
 
* Harvard University: B.A., 1969
 
* London School of Economics: M.Sc., 1970
 
* London School of Economics: M.Sc., 1970
 
* Harvard Law School: J.D., 1973
 
* Harvard Law School: J.D., 1973
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===Congress===
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According to his White House biography, Abrams began his service in the U.S. Government in the 1970s as a Special Counsel to the [[neocon]] opponent of detente, Senator [[Henry Jackson]], and as Special Counsel and then Chief of Staff to another [[neocon]] hawk, Senator [[Daniel P. Moynihan]].  
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In 1980, he married Rachel Decter, daughter of neocon veterans [[Norman Podhoretz]] and [[Midge Decter]].<ref>Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Career==
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According to his White House biography, Abrams began his service in the U.S. Government in the [[1970s]] as a Special Counsel to the [[neocon]] opponent of detente, Senator [[Henry Jackson]], and as Special Counsel and then Chief of Staff to another [[neocon]] hawk, Senator [[Daniel P. Moynihan]].  
 +
 
 +
{{SMWQ
 +
|text=I'm sorry, but [[John Lennon]] was not that important a figure in our times. Why is his death getting more attention than [[Elvis Presley]]'s? Because Lennon is perceived as a left-wing figure politically, anti-[[establishment]], a man of social [[conscience]] with concern for the poor. And, therefore, he is being made into a great figure. Too much has been made of his life. It does not deserve a full day's television and radio coverage. I'm sick of it.
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|subjects=John Lennon/Assassination
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|source_details=Sidney Blumenthal, ''The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: From Conservative Ideology to Political Power'', pp. 161-162.
 +
}}
  
 
===Reagan Administration===
 
===Reagan Administration===
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During the Ronald Reagan  Administration, Abrams served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and then as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.<ref>White House [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010628-12.html News Releases], 28 June 2001</ref>
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During the Ronald Reagan  Administration, Abrams was Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and then as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.<ref>White House [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010628-12.html News Releases], 28 June 2001</ref>
  
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===George H.W. Bush Administration===
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===George H. W. Bush Administration===
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After Reagan left office in 1989, Abrams, like a number of other prominent neo-conservatives, was not invited to serve in the [[George H.W. Bush]]  administration. Instead, he worked for a number of neocon think tanks and eventually became head of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) where he wrote widely on foreign-policy issues, including the Middle East, and the threats posed by U.S. secular society to Jewish identity. He also remained an integral part of the tight-knit neo-conservative foreign-policy community in Washington that revolved around one of his early mentors, [[Richard N. Perle]] and former UN Ambassador [[Jeane J. Kirkpatrick]] at the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI).
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After Reagan left office in 1989, Abrams, like a number of other prominent neo-conservatives, was not invited to the [[George H. W. Bush]]  administration. Instead, he worked for a number of neocon think tanks and eventually became head of the [[Ethics and Public Policy Center]] (EPPC) where he wrote widely on foreign-policy issues, including the Middle East, and the threats posed by U.S. secular society to Jewish identity. He also remained an integral part of the tight-knit neo-conservative foreign-policy community in Washington that revolved around one of his early mentors, [[Richard N. Perle]] and former [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|UN Ambassador]] [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]] at the [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI).
 +
 
 +
He was a senior fellow at the [[Hudson Institute]] from 1990 to the 1996 before becoming president of the [[Ethics and Public Policy Center]], which "affirms the political relevance of the great Western ethical imperatives." Abrams was also chairman of the [[US Commission on International Religious Freedom]].
 +
Abrams, considered to be a "[[neo-conservative|neo-con]]", is a signatory of the January 26, 1998, [[Project for the New American Century]] ([http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm PNAC Letter]) sent to President [[William Jefferson Clinton]].<ref>Channel 4 News [http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/special_reports/pnacletter.html PNAC Letter]</ref>
  
 
===George W. Bush Administration===
 
===George W. Bush Administration===
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Abrams was first appointed to the National Security Council by [[George W. Bush]]. He served as Special Assistant to the Bush and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs since December 2002. Prior to holding that position, he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for "Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations". On February 2, 2005, he was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy. In this capacity, Abrams will assist [[Stephen J. Hadley]] "in work on the promotion of democracy and human rights, and will provide oversight" to the [[National Security Council]]'s directorate of Democracy, Human Rights, and International Organization Affairs and its directorate of Near East and North African Affairs. Abrams will work with Secretary of State [[Condoleezza Rice]] and Hadley, and "will maintain his involvement in [[Israel]]i/Palestinian affairs," the White House  [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html said].  
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Abrams was first appointed to the National Security Council by [[George W. Bush]]. He was Special Assistant to the Bush and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs since December 2002. Prior to holding that position, he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for "Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations". On February 2, 2005, he was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and [[Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy]].<ref> Announced by the The Whitehouse [http://web.archive.org/web/20051006040854/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html Personnel Announcement] 2 February 2005, retrieved from the Web Archive of 6 October 2005 on 10 march 2009</ref> In this capacity, Abrams assisted [[Stephen J. Hadley]] "in work on the promotion of democracy and human rights, and will provide oversight" to the [[National Security Council]]'s directorate of Democracy, Human Rights, and International Organization Affairs and its directorate of Near East and North African Affairs. Abrams will work with Secretary of State [[Condoleezza Rice]] and Hadley, and "will maintain his involvement in [[Israel]]i/Palestinian affairs," the White House  [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html said].  
 
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html]
 
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html]
  
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==Controversy==
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==Deep politics==
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===PNAC===
 
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Abrams, considered to be a "[[neo-conservative|neo-con]]", is a signatory of the January 26, 1998, [[Project for the New American Century]] ([http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm PNAC Letter]) sent to President [[William Jefferson Clinton]].<ref>Channel 4 News [http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/special_reports/pnacletter.html PNAC Letter]</ref>
 
  
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===Iran-Contra Scandal===
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==="Iran-Contra"===
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{{FA|Iran-Contra}}
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Abrams was heavily involved in the [[Iran-Contra scandal]]. In 1991, Abrams was indicted by the [[Iran-Contra]] special prosecutor for giving false testimony before Congress in 1987 about his role in illicitly raising money for the Nicaraguan Contras. He pleaded guilty to two lesser offenses of withholding information to Congress in order to avoid a trial and a possible jail term.
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Abrams was heavily involved in the [[Iran-Contra]] drugs/arms dealing affair. In 1991, Abrams was indicted by the Iran-Contra special prosecutor for lying to Congress in 1987 about his role in illicitly raising money for the Nicaraguan Contras. He pleaded guilty to two lesser offenses of withholding information to Congress in order to avoid a trial and a possible jail term. He was pardoned by President [[George H. W. Bush]] along with a number of other Iran-Contra defendants on Christmas night 1992.<ref>Lawrence E. Walsh, [http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm United States v. Elliott Abrams], Chapter 25 from Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Affairs, August 4, 1993.</ref><ref>Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009</ref>
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He was pardoned by President [[George H.W. Bush]] along with a number of other Iran-Contra defendants on Christmas night 1992.<ref>Lawrence E. Walsh, [http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm United States v. Elliott Abrams], Chapter 25 from Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Affairs, August 4, 1993.</ref>
 
  
 
=== 2002 Venezuelan coup ===
 
=== 2002 Venezuelan coup ===
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===Alleged support for attacking Hamas===
 
===Alleged support for attacking Hamas===
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According to an article written by Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke at www.conflictforum.com and reprinted in ''[[Asia Times]]'',<ref>Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA09Ak03.html "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout,"] ''[[Asia Times]]'', January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on  www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliot Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.</ref> since at least January 2006, the United States has supplied guns, ammunition and training to Palestinian Fatah groups, allegedly to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government in the Palestinian territories. Under the direction of Elliott Abrams, the U.S. supply of rifles and ammunition has increased, and a large number of Fatah men have been trained at two West Bank camps, allegedly to attack Hamas supporters in the streets. The Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reports that the U.S. has designated US$86.4 million for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security detail.
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According to an article written by Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke at www.conflictforum.com and reprinted in ''[[Asia Times]]'',<ref>Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA09Ak03.html "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout,"] ''[[Asia Times]]'', January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on  www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliott Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.</ref> since at least January 2006, the United States has supplied guns, ammunition and training to Palestinian Fatah groups, allegedly to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government in the Palestinian territories. Under the direction of Elliott Abrams, the U.S. supply of rifles and ammunition has increased, and a large number of Fatah men have been trained at two West Bank camps, allegedly to attack Hamas supporters in the streets. The Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reports that the U.S. has designated US$86.4 million for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security detail.
 +
 
 
:The Abrams program was initially conceived in February of 2006 by a group of White House officials who wanted to shape a coherent and tough response to the Hamas electoral victory of January. These officials, we are told, were led by Abrams, but included national security advisors working in the Office of the Vice President, including prominent neo-conservatives [[David Wurmser]] and [[John Hannah]]. The policy was approved by [[Condoleezza Rice]]. The President then, we are told, signed off on the program in a CIA “finding” and designated that its implementation be put under the control of Langley.
 
:The Abrams program was initially conceived in February of 2006 by a group of White House officials who wanted to shape a coherent and tough response to the Hamas electoral victory of January. These officials, we are told, were led by Abrams, but included national security advisors working in the Office of the Vice President, including prominent neo-conservatives [[David Wurmser]] and [[John Hannah]]. The policy was approved by [[Condoleezza Rice]]. The President then, we are told, signed off on the program in a CIA “finding” and designated that its implementation be put under the control of Langley.
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However, in the face of CIA and Pentagon doubts about the program, it was subsequently handed over to the State Department.
 
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:Since at least August, Rice, Abrams and U.S. envoy [[David Welch]] have been its primary advocates and the program has been subsumed as a “part of the State Department’s Middle East initiative.”<ref>Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA09Ak03.html "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout,"] ''[[Asia Times]]'', January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on  www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliot Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.</ref>
 
  
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==Quotes==
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However, in the face of CIA and Pentagon doubts about the program, it was subsequently handed over to the [[State Department]].
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===On John Lennon's Death===
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:Since at least August, Rice, Abrams and U.S. envoy [[David Welch]] have been its primary advocates and the program has been subsumed as a “part of the State Department’s Middle East initiative.”<ref>Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA09Ak03.html "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout,"] ''[[Asia Times]]'', January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on  www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliott Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.</ref>
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:I'm sorry, but John Lennon was not that important a figure in our times. Why is his death getting more attention than Elvis Presley's? Because Lennon is perceived as a left-wing figure politically, anti-establishment, a man of social conscience with concern for the poor. And, therefore, he is being made into a great figure. Too much has been made of his life. It does not deserve a full day's television and radio coverage. I'm sick of it.<ref>Sidney Blumenthal, ''The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: From Conservative Ideology to Political Power'', pp. 161-162.</ref>
 
  
 
==Affiliations==
 
==Affiliations==
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*[[Committee for U.S. Interests in the Middle East]] - Former Member  
 
*[[Committee for U.S. Interests in the Middle East]] - Former Member  
 
*[[Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf]] - Former Member (1998)  
 
*[[Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf]] - Former Member (1998)  
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*[[Committee for the Free World]] -- Member of 1985 Conference on Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in Geneva  
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*[[Committee for the Free World]] — Member of 1985 Conference on Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in Geneva  
 
*[[Council on Foreign Relations]] - Former Member  
 
*[[Council on Foreign Relations]] - Former Member  
 
*[[Ethics and Public Policy Center]] - President 1996-2002
 
*[[Ethics and Public Policy Center]] - President 1996-2002
Line 75: Line 136:
 
*[[Social Democrats USA]] - Former Member  
 
*[[Social Democrats USA]] - Former Member  
 
*[[U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom]] - member and chairman 1999-2001
 
*[[U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom]] - member and chairman 1999-2001
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==Published Works==
 
−
*''Democracy How Direct?: Views from the Founding Era and the Polling Era'' 2002 ISBN 0742523187
 
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*''The Influence of Faith'' 2001 ISBN 0742507629
 
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*''International Religious Freedom (2001): Annual Report: Submitted by the U.S. Department of State'' editor 2001 ISBN 0756713382
 
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*''Secularism, Spirituality, and the Future of American Jewry'' 1999 ISBN 0896331903
 
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*''Close Calls: Intervention, Terrorism, Missile Defense, and 'Just War' Today'' 1998 ISBN 0896331873
 
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*''Undue Process A Story of How Political Differences are Turned into Crimes'' 1998 ISBN 0029001676
 
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*''Honor Among Nations: Intangible Interests and Foreign Policy'' 1998 ISBN 0896331881
 
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*''Faith or Fear: How Jews Can Survive in a Christian America'' 1997 ISBN 0684825112
 
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*''Security and Sacrifice: Isolation, Intervention, and American Foreign Policy'' 1995 ISBN 1558130497
 
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*''Shield and Sword'' 1995 ISBN 002900165X
 
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==Resources and articles==
 
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===Related===
 
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*[[Elliott Abrams/Foreign Policy Hawk]]
 
  
 
===External articles===
 
===External articles===
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*Richard Sale, [http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/jewishp/usa/abramszionism.htm "Staff change means Mideast policy shift,"] UPI (''Washington Times'') (RadioIslam.org), February 25, 2003.
 
*Richard Sale, [http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/jewishp/usa/abramszionism.htm "Staff change means Mideast policy shift,"] UPI (''Washington Times'') (RadioIslam.org), February 25, 2003.
 
*Michael Dobbs, [http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/052803A.shtml "Back in Political Forefront"], ''The Washington Post'' (''truthout''), May 27, 2003.
 
*Michael Dobbs, [http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/052803A.shtml "Back in Political Forefront"], ''The Washington Post'' (''truthout''), May 27, 2003.
−
*[[Robert Parry]], "[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/04/1537247 Bush Taps Iran-Contra Figure Elliot Abrams to Promote Democracy]" (transcript link to audio), [[Democracy Now!]], February 4, 2005.
+
*[[Robert Parry]], "[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/04/1537247 Bush Taps Iran-Contra Figure Elliott Abrams to Promote Democracy]" (transcript link to audio), [[Democracy Now!]], February 4, 2005.
 
*Tom Barry, "[http://www.counterpunch.org/barry02092005.html Elliott Abrams: the Neocon's Neocon]", ''CounterPunch'', February 9, 2005.
 
*Tom Barry, "[http://www.counterpunch.org/barry02092005.html Elliott Abrams: the Neocon's Neocon]", ''CounterPunch'', February 9, 2005.
 
*Michael Hirsh and Dan Ephron, [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15896208/site/newsweek/ "The Last Man Standing. With the neocons in disarray, Elliott Abrams may be their best hope for keeping President Bush onboard,"] ''Newsweek'' (MSNBC), December 4, 2006 (issue).
 
*Michael Hirsh and Dan Ephron, [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15896208/site/newsweek/ "The Last Man Standing. With the neocons in disarray, Elliott Abrams may be their best hope for keeping President Bush onboard,"] ''Newsweek'' (MSNBC), December 4, 2006 (issue).
−
*William M. Leogrande and Jim Lobe, [http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12626 "Wright Redux. The flap over Nancy Pelosi's Syria trip echoes a 20-year-old fight with a previous Democratic House Speaker -- and is being driven by the same right-wing Republican hawks,"] ''The American Prospect'', April 9, 2007. re [[Nancy Pelosi]], [[Dick Cheney]], and [[Newt Gingrich]]
+
*William M. Leogrande and Jim Lobe, [http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12626 "Wright Redux. The flap over Nancy Pelosi's Syria trip echoes a 20-year-old fight with a previous Democratic House Speaker — and is being driven by the same right-wing Republican hawks,"] ''The American Prospect'', April 9, 2007. re [[Nancy Pelosi]], [[Dick Cheney]], and [[Newt Gingrich]]
 
*[http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/ "The Architects of War: Where Are They Now?"] ''Think Progress'', July 2007.
 
*[http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/ "The Architects of War: Where Are They Now?"] ''Think Progress'', July 2007.
−
 
+
{{SMWDocs}}
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===References===
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==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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−
[[Category:Israel Lobby|Abrams, Elliot]][[category:Iraq War 2003|Abrams, Elliot]]
 
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[[Category:Neocons|Abrams, Elliot]]
 
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[[Category:Iran-Contra|Abrams, Elliot]]
 

Latest revision as of 01:49, 3 February 2024

Person.png Elliott Abrams   Littlesis Powerbase SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(politician, deep state actor, neoconservative)
Elliott Abrams.jpg
Born1948-01-24
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard, London School of Economics, Harvard Law School
ReligionJudaism
Children3
SpouseRachel Decter
Member ofAmerican Committee for Peace in Chechnya, Committee for the Free World, Council on Foreign Relations/Experts, Council on Foreign Relations/Members, Counter Extremism Project, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Jewish Institute for National Security of America, National Endowment for Democracy/Board, Project for the New American Century, United States Committee for a Free Lebanon
PartyRepublican
Relatives • Norman Podhoretz
• Midge Decter
Subpage•Elliott Abrams/Foreign Policy Hawk
A deep politician heavily involved in the Iran-Contra affair, given a pardon by George H. W. Bush

Employment.png US/Special Envoy for Venezuela

In office
25 January 2019 - Present
Broom.png The article on this important deep state actor needs more deep contents.

Elliott Abrams is an American neoconservative deep state actor. He was part of the Iran-Contra drugs/arms dealing operation and was a central and active supporter of decades of death squad activities in Latin America.

He was appointed US Special Envoy for Venezuela on 25 January 2019. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:

“Elliott will be a true asset to our mission to help the Venezuelan people fully restore democracy and prosperity to their country.”

Elliott Abrams responded:

“It’s very nice to be back. This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous. And I can’t wait to get to work on it.”[1]
Explaining how Juan Guaidó is "President"

Background

  • Harvard University: B.A., 1969
  • London School of Economics: M.Sc., 1970
  • Harvard Law School: J.D., 1973

In 1980, he married Rachel Decter, daughter of neocon veterans Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter.[2]

Career

According to his White House biography, Abrams began his service in the U.S. Government in the 1970s as a Special Counsel to the neocon opponent of detente, Senator Henry Jackson, and as Special Counsel and then Chief of Staff to another neocon hawk, Senator Daniel P. Moynihan.

“I'm sorry, but John Lennon was not that important a figure in our times. Why is his death getting more attention than Elvis Presley's? Because Lennon is perceived as a left-wing figure politically, anti-establishment, a man of social conscience with concern for the poor. And, therefore, he is being made into a great figure. Too much has been made of his life. It does not deserve a full day's television and radio coverage. I'm sick of it.”
Elliott Abrams [3]

Reagan Administration

During the Ronald Reagan Administration, Abrams was Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and then as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.[4]

George H. W. Bush Administration

After Reagan left office in 1989, Abrams, like a number of other prominent neo-conservatives, was not invited to the George H. W. Bush administration. Instead, he worked for a number of neocon think tanks and eventually became head of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) where he wrote widely on foreign-policy issues, including the Middle East, and the threats posed by U.S. secular society to Jewish identity. He also remained an integral part of the tight-knit neo-conservative foreign-policy community in Washington that revolved around one of his early mentors, Richard N. Perle and former UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

He was a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute from 1990 to the 1996 before becoming president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which "affirms the political relevance of the great Western ethical imperatives." Abrams was also chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Abrams, considered to be a "neo-con", is a signatory of the January 26, 1998, Project for the New American Century (PNAC Letter) sent to President William Jefferson Clinton.[5]

George W. Bush Administration

Abrams was first appointed to the National Security Council by George W. Bush. He was Special Assistant to the Bush and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs since December 2002. Prior to holding that position, he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for "Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations". On February 2, 2005, he was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy.[6] In this capacity, Abrams assisted Stephen J. Hadley "in work on the promotion of democracy and human rights, and will provide oversight" to the National Security Council's directorate of Democracy, Human Rights, and International Organization Affairs and its directorate of Near East and North African Affairs. Abrams will work with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Hadley, and "will maintain his involvement in Israeli/Palestinian affairs," the White House said. [2]

Deep politics

"Iran-Contra"

Full article: “Iran-Contra”

Abrams was heavily involved in the Iran-Contra drugs/arms dealing affair. In 1991, Abrams was indicted by the Iran-Contra special prosecutor for lying to Congress in 1987 about his role in illicitly raising money for the Nicaraguan Contras. He pleaded guilty to two lesser offenses of withholding information to Congress in order to avoid a trial and a possible jail term. He was pardoned by President George H. W. Bush along with a number of other Iran-Contra defendants on Christmas night 1992.[7][8]

2002 Venezuelan coup

The Observer has alleged that Abrams had advance knowledge of, and "gave a nod to", the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 against Hugo Chávez.[9] Other sources have alleged that Abrams and Otto Reich played an active role in planning the coup.[10]

Lebanon War 2006

Abrams accompanied Condoleezza Rice as a primary advisor on her visits to the Middle East in late July 2006 in the course of discussions relating to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.[11]

Blocking Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations

According to Jim Lobe in an article he wrote for Asia Times, Abrams has been working systematically to undermine any prospect for serious negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.[12] "The Bush administration has done nothing to press Israel to deliver on its commitments, beyond Washington's empty rhetoric about a two-state 'political horizon'," Henry Siegman, the long-time director of the U.S./Middle East Project at the influential Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in the International Herald Tribune in February 2007. "Every time there emerged the slightest hint that the United States may finally engage seriously in a political process, Elliott Abrams would meet secretly with Olmert's envoys in Europe or elsewhere to reassure them that there exists no such danger," he complained.[13]

Alleged support for attacking Hamas

According to an article written by Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke at www.conflictforum.com and reprinted in Asia Times,[14] since at least January 2006, the United States has supplied guns, ammunition and training to Palestinian Fatah groups, allegedly to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government in the Palestinian territories. Under the direction of Elliott Abrams, the U.S. supply of rifles and ammunition has increased, and a large number of Fatah men have been trained at two West Bank camps, allegedly to attack Hamas supporters in the streets. The Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reports that the U.S. has designated US$86.4 million for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security detail.

The Abrams program was initially conceived in February of 2006 by a group of White House officials who wanted to shape a coherent and tough response to the Hamas electoral victory of January. These officials, we are told, were led by Abrams, but included national security advisors working in the Office of the Vice President, including prominent neo-conservatives David Wurmser and John Hannah. The policy was approved by Condoleezza Rice. The President then, we are told, signed off on the program in a CIA “finding” and designated that its implementation be put under the control of Langley.

However, in the face of CIA and Pentagon doubts about the program, it was subsequently handed over to the State Department.

Since at least August, Rice, Abrams and U.S. envoy David Welch have been its primary advocates and the program has been subsumed as a “part of the State Department’s Middle East initiative.”[15]

Affiliations

External articles

 

A Document by Elliott Abrams

TitleDocument typePublication dateSubject(s)Description
Document:Open Letter to Erdoganopen letter30 March 20162016 Turkish coup attempt
Justice and Development Party
PKK		Open letter from a number of neocon deep state actors warning Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan to change his ways. The letter was published three months before the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.

 

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Max Blumenthal		Juan Guaidó is the product of a decade-long project overseen by Washington’s elite regime change trainers. While posing as a champion of democracy, Guaidó has spent years at the forefront of a violent campaign of destabilisation in Venezuela
Document:Venezuela, Iran: Trump And The Deep StateArticle22 May 2019Thierry MeyssanSheikh Hassan Rouhani was the primary contact with the Western powers during the Iran-Contra affair. He knows Elliott Abrams personally and put the US deep state in relation with Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who became the richest billionaire in Iran thanks to this arms traffic.
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References

  1. ↑ "Trump's 'Axis of Evil': Pompeo, Bolton & Abrams"
  2. ↑ Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009
  3. ↑ Sidney Blumenthal, The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: From Conservative Ideology to Political Power, pp. 161-162.
  4. ↑ White House News Releases, 28 June 2001
  5. ↑ Channel 4 News PNAC Letter
  6. ↑ Announced by the The Whitehouse Personnel Announcement 2 February 2005, retrieved from the Web Archive of 6 October 2005 on 10 march 2009
  7. ↑ Lawrence E. Walsh, United States v. Elliott Abrams, Chapter 25 from Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Affairs, August 4, 1993.
  8. ↑ Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html Elliott Abrams], Last Updated June 2005, accessed 11 March 2009
  9. ↑ Ed Vulliamy, Venezuela coup linked to Bush team, The Observer, 21 April 2002.
  10. ↑ Philip Stinard, Mastermind of the April 2002 coup d'etat, VHeadline.com: Venezuela's Electronic News, 24 July 2004
  11. ↑ [1] New York times, accessed 11 march 2009
  12. ↑ Jim Lobe, "Rice faces formidable White House foe," Asia Times, February 23, 2007
  13. ↑ Jim Lobe, "Rice faces formidable White House foe," Asia Times, February 23, 2007
  14. ↑ Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout," Asia Times, January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliott Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.
  15. ↑ Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke, "No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout," Asia Times, January 9, 2007. Originally appeared on www.conflictsforum.org, under the title "Elliott Abrams' uncivil war," Accessed June 30, 2007.
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