Still Alive but PNG’d at AEI

Visit Lobelog.com for the latest news analysis and commentary from Inter Press News Service’s Washington bureau chief Jim Lobe.

This is just to assure readers of the site that I am still alive (having been first on a family vacation and then down with the flu), although I learned this week that I am once again persona non grata (PNG) at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The first time I was declared unwelcome there resulted from my appearance on BBC’s weekly public-affairs “Panorama” television program, “The War Party,” that aired in May 2003 and covered the neo-conservatives’ role in promoting the invasion of Iraq. (AEI’s Joshua Muravchik later assailed the program in an article in the September 2003 Commentary, “The Neoconservative Cabal,” in which, among other things, he noted, curiously, that “[Lobe] look(ed) as Jewish as his name sounds.” I am indeed Jewish.) I have since attended several AEI events without incident, but last week, when my colleague, Eli Clifton, was registering for the “No Middle Way: Two Reports on Iraq” event September 6, he was taken aside by AEI’s communications director and told that AEI knew that he worked with me and that, while he was welcome to attend the forum that day, I was still PNG. In a subsequent phone call with Eli, she re-affirmed that I was unwelcome at Washington’s most prominent and influential neo-conservative think tank because I had allegedly made false accusations about and mounted ad hominem attacks against its scholars. Although requested, no specifics were forthcoming, and I remain in the dark about what she — or those who informed her — have in mind.

Of course, my writings about AEI and its associates are on the record, and readers can reach their own conclusions as to the merits of its allegations and the appropriateness of its remedy. But it is remarkable that an institution that prides itself on promoting freedom around the world and on defending “open debate” and “the competition of ideas,” as its mission statement asserts, would seek to restrict access to its policy forums in this way.

Eli, incidentally, is leaving the Washington bureau for a master’s program in international relations at Elliott Abrams’ alma mater, the London School of Economics, as is another valued colleague, Ellen Massey. (Ah, youth!) I have no doubt they will perform brilliantly in their studies and perhaps find some time to continue to contribute to IPS as well.

I hope to catch up quickly on recent events in the coming days and resume posting more frequently next week.

Only 21 Nations Have Troops in Iraq — Not Bush’s Claim of 36

According to the respected GlobalSecurity.org, there were only 21 nations with ground troops in Iraq as of February of this year. No countries have joined the list since then, and a couple of nations have all but withdrawn their contingents.

In Bush’s speech tonight, he claimed that GIs are supported by troops from 36 nations.

In fact, only two other coalition nations have more than 1,000 troops in Iraq — Britain and South Korea. Seven nations have less than 100 troops in Iraq. Virtually all of these smaller contingents are confined to non-combat operations.

I guess no one had time to fact-check the speech.

The Israel Lobby: Mearsheimer & Walt on Tour

Over the next six weeks, John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government will be touring to promote their blockbuster book, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.

Mearsheimer and Walt are currently scheduled for 17 appearances between September 16 and October 29, including an appearance on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Cities they will be speaking in include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Chicago, Cambridge, Cleveland, New York, Iowa City, Dallas, and Washington.