Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

Template:Sources Template:Infobox organization The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) was a non-governmental organization which described itself as a "distinguished group of Americans" who wanted to "free Iraq from Saddam Hussein".

HistoryEdit

The organization was founded in 2002. In a news release announcing its formation, the group said its goal was to "promote regional peace, political freedom and international security through replacement of the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations."<ref name="Mission Statement 2003"/> It had close links to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), important shapers of the Bush administration's foreign policy.Template:Citation needed

The Washington Post reported in November 2002 that "the organization is modeled on a successful lobbying campaign to expand the NATO alliance. Members include former secretary of state George P. Shultz, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.). ... While the Iraq committee is an independent entity, committee officers said they expect to work closely with the administration. They already have met with Hadley and Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Committee officers and a White House spokesman said Rice, Hadley and Cheney will soon meet with the group."<ref name="Washington Post 2002"/>

With the successful removal of Saddam Hussein, the committee appears to have disbanded, and its once-prominent website no longer exists.<ref name="Mission Statement 2003"/> However, its offices still remain on Pennsylvania Avenue and 10th Street.

PersonnelEdit

Randy Scheunemann, CLI's executive director, former chief national-security adviser to U.S. Senator Trent Lott, has also worked for Donald Rumsfeld as a consultant on Iraq policy. While working for Lott in 1998, Scheunemann drafted the "Iraq Liberation Act" that authorized $98 million for the Iraqi National Congress.
Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator (honorary co-chair) [1]
Bruce P. Jackson, chairman, is the former vice president of weapons contractor Lockheed Martin. He also chaired the Republican Party Platform's subcommittee for National Security and Foreign Policy when George W. Bush ran for president in 2000.
Jonathan Pallant, Exeter University

Advisory boardEdit

Mahdi Al-Bassam, Iraq Liberation Action Committee<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Barry Blechman, DFI International, Co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Eliot Cohen, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Thomas A. Dine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, former Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee pro-Israel lobbying group<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
General Wayne Downing, U.S. Army (retired), has been a lobbyist for the Iraqi National Congress<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Rend al-Rahim Francke, Iraq Foundation<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Lt. General Buster Glosson, U.S. Air Force (retired)<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
James P. Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Howell Jackson, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Robert Kerrey, former U.S. presidential candidate<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, American Enterprise Institute<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
William Kristol, The Weekly Standard, chairman of the Project for the New American Century<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Bernard Lewis, Princeton University<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Joseph Lieberman, U.S. senator (honorary co-chair)<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
General Barry McCaffrey, U.S. Army (retired); former U.S. "drug czar"<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
John McCain, U.S. senator (honorary co-chair)<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Will Marshall, Progressive Policy Institute<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, co-founder of the Project for the New American Century<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Gary Schmitt, executive director of the Project for the New American Century
George P. Shultz, Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Richard Shultz, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Steve Solarz, former congressman<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Ruth Wedgwood, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
Chris Williams, Johnston and Associates <ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>
R. James Woolsey, former CIA Director<ref name="Advisory Board 2003"/>

International advisory boardEdit

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Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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ReferencesEdit

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