David Hunt

Col. David W. Hunt (U.S. Army, Ret.), a Fox News military analyst, served 29 years in the military, "including extensive operational experience in Special Operations, Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Operations." Hunt retired from military service in 1999 after serving three years in Bosnia. 

Hunt is founder and president of D.A.R. Inc., Global Security Consultants, "an international security consulting firm based in Scarborough, Maine." Hunt is also a member of the Advisory Board of StorCard, Inc., which provides storage and "security solutions" for digital information. 

Hunt served as a "Tactical Advisor in Bosnia where he facilitated all national intelligence matters for the Commander in Chief"; as a "counter terrorism coordinator to the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea"; and as a "security advisor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as state and local police officials." 

Bill O'Reilly's "feistiest guy"
Media Matters for America reported April 24, 2006, on Bill O'Reilly's reliance on Fox News' military analysts on Iraq. Regarding Hunt, MMA wrote:


 * "Hunt, whom O'Reilly has described as 'the feistiest guy we have' [The O'Reilly Factor, 3/27/03], repeatedly attempted to link Saddam to terrorism, predicted that the U.N.'s refusal to support U.S. military action in Iraq signaled 'the end of the United Nations' [The O'Reilly Factor, 3/7/03], and suggested that Saddam would 'torch' his country in facing the United Nations inspectors' [The Big Story with John Gibson 12/19/02]. Hunt added that the Pentagon's mere assertion of that possibility 'is all we need' to invade Iraq. Additionally, Hunt leveled harsh attacks against mainstream newspapers, which he said did not portray a sufficiently positive picture of the initial fighting. On the March 27, 2003, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Hunt called the reporting by The New York Times and others 'treacherous, one step below traitorous ... [b]ecause what they're distorting, heroic action on the part of men and women of the services, to back up their own very stilted point of view.' Further, Hunt mocked retired Gen. Wesley Clark's apparent suggestion on CNN that the troops lacked sufficient armored vehicles, a claim that was later proved to be accurate, stating: 'Excuse me. There aren't enough armored vehicles? Wah, wah, wah.'"

On Syria and Iran: "line them up and kill them" (August 2006)
Hunt appeared August 8, 2006, on Hannity & Colmes "to offer some advice" to President George W. Bush on Syria and violence in the Middle East, Think Progress reported August 9, 2006:


 * "'I think we can talk to them when we line them up and kill them'," Hunt said. "Stating that 'the only reason to talk to some of these guys is to just do that,' Hunt went on to argue that America should 'absolutely, 100 percent' seek regime change in both Syria and Iran if they’re 'not going to cooperate.'"

On Israel and Lebanon (July 2006)
Hunt appeared on Fox News' Dayside July 14, 2006, after "at least 73 Lebanese [had] been killed as a result of Israeli bombing raids," and expressed "praise for the Israeli ambassador and for Israel," News Hounds reported:


 * "'They're at war. Israel is at war. They’ve been surrounded, they’ve had their soldiers taken and they’ve had these rockets, these are 100 pound rockets exploding in towns killing them. ... We've got to help our friends,' he said."

On Hurricane Katrina: "street gangs" and a "free-fire zone" in New Orleans (September 2005)
On the September 16, 2005, O'Reilly Factor, Hunt said that "Well-organized, heavily armed, out-of-state street gangs from as far away as Memphis, Dallas and Miami invaded New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation of the city and turned it into a 'free-fire zone'." Hunt added that "local police forces were unprepared, outgunned and overwhelmed" and were guilty of "complicity and participating in the looting."


 * "It was as bad as the early days in Baghdad," Hunt said.

On Saudi Arabia: "Biblical Justice" (July 2005)
On the July 7, 2005, O'Reilly Factor, Hunt told Bill O'Reilly "that he thinks the United States should hack into the Banks of Saudi Arabia and Yemen and steal $500 billion":


 * "There's too much money in the Muslim world that's unaccounted for that's goin' to terrorist funding. This operation in London took six months to a year, thousands of dollars, passports, logistic cells and you have to get at that money. [What] I mean by that is - the Bank of Saudi Arabia, the Bank of Yemen. If you've got money, we're taking it and redistributing it. I'm talkin' about Biblical Justice to stop this. We've got to get people's attention ..."

On "'do'ing" Fallujah (October 2004)
During an October 14, 2004, discussion on the troops in Iraq with Bill O'Reilly, Hunt said:


 * "'They're gonna crush Fallujah, the insurgency, because on the 1st of November ya' have 30,000 polls that hafta open up in Iraq to have January elections. ... The Sunni triangle has 25% of the population of Iraq, a lot of that - 300,000 in Fallujah. It's gonna get started. If they don't do Fallujah, they can't do Sadr City. For a political reason, that is, the elections, they're gonna have to crush it."

O'Reilly asked Hunt: "What does that mean? ... So they're tellin' the people of Fallujah to get out now?"

To which Hunt responded: "Absolutely. They've been doing that for a while."

Next, O'Reilly said: "They're gonna level the place."

Hunt replied: "They're gonna go after these houses like you've seen destroyed and what - they will keep goin' 'til they meet in the center of the city. Last time [April 2004] they stopped one-third of the way in." (End transcript.)

On Number of Troops Needed in Iraq (August 2003)
On the August 22, 2003, edition of PBS's Online NewsHour Hunt said:


 * "If you want to stay with the Bosnian example as the secretary mentioned, the largest number of troops deployed to Bosnia was 60,000; that was at the height of it in '97. So if you want to use Bosnia as an example, that's fine but my point would be the answer is no. We don't need more soldiers. We need different types. We need people to get in there and turn the power on. We need civil affairs, we need engineers, we need people, more Iraqis in front doing things for their own country – less of our tanks, less Bradleys, more special forces. Most of this country is doing very well.


 * "Tragedy is terrible every time we lose within one of our soldiers, sailors, or marines or airmen. But the answer is not 200,000 people. We did it in Bosnia with 60,000. We can do it here with the same number we've got -- just a different mix, different people in charge and more Iraqis getting in this to help their own country. But we got to get the power turned on, use goods and services to win the hearts and minds while we're doing this guerrilla campaign. We have to fight the guerrillas, also."

Published Works
"They Just Don't Get It: How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety--and What You Can Do About It," Crown Forum, April 12, 2005, ISBN 140009741X (Hardcover).

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * war propaganda

Profiles

 * Biography: David Hunt, Fox News, September 5, 2003.
 * David W. Hunt, Advisory Board, ScorCard.
 * Profile: David Hunt, Premiere Speakers Bureau.

Articles & Commentary

 * "Divisions in the Divisions," PBS Online NewsHour, October 19, 1999.
 * Barbara B. Buchholz, "Does Corporate America want you? Some ex-military personnel don't think so," Chicago Tribune (military.com), May 27, 2001.
 * Kavan Peterson, "Eco-Terrorists Targeted By Get Tough State Laws," Stateline.org, July 9, 2001.
 * Wayne Specht and Jeremy Kirk, "Millions now wonder: Is it possible to overcome terrorism?" Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), September 16, 2001.
 * "O'Reilly Spins The Jessica Lynch Hero Story," oreilly-sucks.com, May 2003. re Jessica Lynch See May 23, 2003, transcript posted by On the Media.
 * Dale Steinreich, "Fibbing It Up at Fox," LewRockwell.com, June 13, 2003.
 * Sarah Maserati, "On the Hunt. An interview with Col. David Hunt," National Review Online, June 25, 2003.
 * "Securing Iraq," PBS Online NewsHour, August 22, 2003.
 * Marie Therese, "Col. David Hunt: We're Gonna 'Do' Fallujah!" News Hounds, October 21, 2004.
 * "Colonel David Hunt: Why Washington Doesn’t Understand Terrorism," Christian Broadcasting Network News, April 29, 2005.
 * "O'Reilly let Jed Babbin falsely attack NY Times report on detainee homicides," Media Matters for America, March 31, 2005.
 * Marie Therese, "FOX News Military Analyst: U. S. Should Hack into Arab Banks, Steal Their Money and Call It Biblical Justice," News Hounds, July 8, 2005.
 * "FOX News Col. David Hunt: Biblical Justice. U. S. Should Steal Their Money and Call It Biblical Justice," Crooks and Liars, July 8, 2005. WMP and QT links.
 * "Out-of-state gangs 'invaded' N'Orleans. Used boats, SUVs to enter city, turn it into 'free-fire zone,' says military analyst," WorldNetDaily, September 17, 2005.
 * Chrish, "Col. David Hunt: Iran 'probably has, very close to, a nuclear weapon'," News Hounds, January 15, 2006.
 * "Despite their shoddy track record on Iraq analysis, O'Reilly trusts only 'my military analysts, people paid by Fox News' for information on Iraq," Media Matters for America, April 24, 2006.
 * "'Tainted' Embeds and the role of MilBloggers," Murdoc Online, April 26, 2006.
 * Judy, "Fox News Favoring Israel in Mideast Coverage," News Hounds, July 14, 2006. See "Will Syria Get More Involved in Israeli-Hizbollah War?" and "Iranians are Attacking Israel from Lebanon" Fox News segments at YouTube.
 * Partial Transcript: "Could Aug. 22 Be the End of the World Thanks to Iran?" Hannity & Colmes/Fox News, August 8, 2006.
 * Ellen, "Diplomacy By Homicide: FOX News' Colonel David Hunt Says US Should 'Line 'Em Up And Kill 'Em," News Hounds, August 8, 2006.
 * Scott Keyes, "Fox Military Analyst on Syria: 'We Can Talk To Them When We Line Them Up and Kill Them'," Think Progress, August 9, 2006.
 * Chrish, "Bill O'Reilly's false accusations du jour a trifecta of smears," News Hounds, August 11, 2006.