Center for Security Policy

Center for Security Policy was founded in 1988 and states that it operates as a "non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to the time-tested philosophy of promoting international peace through American strength." The Center for American Progress calls CSP part of the "Islamophobia network," particularly under its founder and director Frank Gaffney.

Opposition to "Ground Zero Mosque"
CSP has been at the forefront of opposition to the planned Park51 Muslim Community Center two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. CSP head Gaffney insists the community center, deemed the "Ground Zero mosque," is "designed to be a permanent, in-our-face beachhead for Shariah, a platform for inspiring the triumphalist ambitions of the faithful.”

According to the Center for American Progress, "Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, one of the project’s lead organizers, has worked with New York City, the FBI, and the State Department to combat Islamist extremism. His new center is modeled on New York’s 92nd Street Y, a Jewish community center that serves diverse groups across the city. “We want to push back against the extremists,” said Rauf, explaining his intentions behind constructing the center. The project plans detail a cultural center to house a swimming pool, a basketball court, a library, as well as a prayer space."

In December 2010, Gaffney said on Fox News' the O'Reilly Factor that the Park51 community center is a "mosque that is used to promote a seditious program, which is what Sharia is . . . that is not a protected religious practice, that is in fact sedition." He accused the Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of being a "stealth practioner of stealth jihad."

CSP founded and funded the website stop911mosque.com, to oppose the proposed Park51 Community Center. The partner organizations include "a who's who of radical right-wing leaders, organizations, and notable anti-Muslim advocates."

According to the website, coalition members "are aware that a number of mosques have been revealed as veritable “Trojan Horses,” masquerading as places of worship when they in fact have proved to be sources of extremist activities and terror plots against America. . . In modern times, a “Trojan Horse” has come to mean a trick in which a supposed gift or peaceable action is presented with the purpose of enticing a target into allowing a mortal enemy into an otherwise secure location. The mosque and Islamic Center planned for the Ground Zero site is a prominent example of this kind of “Trojan Horse.”"

Andres Breivik
Anders Breivik, the confessed Norway right-wing terrorist who planted a bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and shot and killed 68 people (mostly teenagers) at a youth camp in July 2011, cited Gaffney and the Center for Security Policy seven times in his 1,500 page anti-Islam manifesto.

"Shariah: The Threat to America"
In 2010, CSP released the report "Shariah: The Threat to America," which called the Islamic religious law followed by any practicing Muslim a "totalitarian ideology" and a "legal-political-military-doctrine." It asserts that every practicing Muslim engages in "taqiyya," which CSP incorrectly defines as religiously mandated lying -- in reality, taqiyya means concealing one's faith out of fear of death, defined by Oxford as a "precautionary denial of religious belief in the face of potential persecution" and is practiced by only a minority of Muslims.

CSP Funded Authors of "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America"
CSP has funded research by David Gaubatz, a former federal agent in charge of special investigations for the U.S. Air Force and a U.S. State Department trained Arabic linguist who referred to President Obama as “our Muslim leader” and said he personally found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and writer Paul Sperry, the author of the 2005 book Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington. The two wrote Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America (published by right-wing conspiracy outlet World Net Daily), where they allege that Muslim spies have posed as interns and infiltrated Capitol Hill with a nefarious Islamist agenda. Rep. Sue Nernick (R- N.C.) wrote the foreward for the book, and in response, Reps. John Shadegg (AZ), Paul Broun (GA), Trent Franks (AZ) and Sue Myrick (NC) called for an investigation into whether any interns associated with the Council on American-Islamic relations were on the Hill. Gaffney writes approvingly of the book on the CSP website.

Funding
According to the Center for American Progress:

"In 2009, CSP’s annual revenue was nearly $4 million, and Frank Gaffney’s annual salary was nearly $300,000 as president of the organization. Over the past decade, the Scaife foundations gave CSP nearly $3 million, the Bradley Foundation more than $800,000, the Becker foundations about $375,000, and the Anchorage and William Rosenwald funds about $437,000, with the Fairbrook Foundation contributing smaller amounts. All told, CSP received about $20 million in revenue between 2002 and 2009."

Self Description
According to their web site, "The Center specializes in the rapid preparation and real-time dissemination of information, analyses and policy recommendations via e-mail distribution; computerized fax; its exciting, redesigned Web site; published articles; and the electronic media. The principal audience for such materials is the U.S. security policy-making community (the executive and legislative branches, the armed forces and appropriate independent agencies), corresponding organizations in key foreign governments, the press (domestic and international), the global business and financial community and interested individuals in the public at large."

Republican Ties
A very influential organization with the Center for Security Policy is the Center's National Security Advisory Council, whose members hold senior positions with the Bush administration.

Center for Security Policy has strong ties with the Republican Party with many members serving senior posts in the Reagan administration and George W. Bush administration. Donald Rumsfeld, currect Secretary of Defense under Bush, is a receipient of the the Center's Keeper of the Flame Award. The Center is not shy in touting its strong ties with the U.S. Government. 


 * Elliott Abrams, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations
 * Devon Gaffney Cross, member, Defense Policy Board
 * Jack D. Crouch II, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; nominated January 31, 2005, to be Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor
 * Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., former Director of the Office of Management and Budget
 * Kenneth deGraffenreid, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Support
 * Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
 * Douglas J. Feith, former Chairman of the Center's Board of Directors, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
 * Evan Galbraith, Secretary of Defense's Representative to Europe
 * Robert Joseph, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs for Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation and Homeland Defense
 * Sven Kraemer, Policy Advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
 * Keith Payne, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Forces Policy
 * Richard Perle, Chairman of the Defense Policy Board
 * Roger W. Robinson, Jr., Commissioner, U.S.-China Security Review Commission
 * James G. Roche, Secretary of the Air Force
 * William Schneider, Jr., Chairman of the Defense Science Board
 * Wayne Schroeder, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Resource Planning and Management
 * Michelle Van Cleave, Assistant Secretary of Defense-designate for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict
 * Jose Sorzano, member, Board of Visitors, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly the School of the Americas)
 * Arthur Waldron, Commissioner, U.S.-China Security Review Commission
 * Gov. Pete Wilson, member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
 * Dov Zakheim, Under Secretary of Defense; Comptroller
 * Caroline B. Glick the senior Middle East fellow and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post

Board of Directors

 * James T. de Graffenreid, President, EEI Communications
 * Terry Elkes, Principal & Co-Owner, Apollo Partners, LLC
 * Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President, Center for Security Policy
 * Lt. Col. Marlin L. Hefti, USMC (Ret.), Vice President, Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc.
 * Dr. Charles M. Kupperman, Vice President, Strategic Intergration & Operations, Missile Defense Systems, The Boeing Company
 * Hon. Dominic J. Monetta, President, Resource Alternatives, Inc.
 * David P. Steinmann, Managing Director, American Securities, L.P.

Board of Regents
Responsible for Center's financial development.


 * Terry Elkes, Chairman Apollo Partners, NewYork
 * Martin Cohen Cohen & Steers, NewYork
 * Blair Fenster stock Fensterstock & Partners, New York
 * Bruce Gelb Former Director, U.S. Information Agency and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, New York
 * Eugene Grant Eugene M. Grant & Company, New York
 * Lawrence Kadish New York
 * David Luke III Former Chairman, Westvaco Corporation, NewYork
 * Richard Mack, Chairman of the Regents Council Apollo Realestate LP, New York
 * Abby Moffatt Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, Washington, DC
 * Ebby Moussazadeh Matrix Corporation, New York
 * Shirley Lord Rosenthal New York
 * Nina Rosenwald American Securities LP, New York
 * Michael Sall Dunvegan Holding Corporation, Philadelphia
 * Stephen Siegel CB Richard Ellis, New York
 * Barbara Winston

Staff

 * Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President.
 * Michael Reilly, Chief Operating Officer
 * Alex Alexiev, Vice President for Research.
 * J. Michael Waller, Ph.D., Vice President for Information Operations.
 * Christopher Holton, Vice President for Administration, Marketing & Development.
 * David McCormack, Senior Research Associate.
 * Lisa Firestone, Executive Assistant to the President.
 * Robert T. McLean, Research Associate.
 * Jenna Stocker, Research Associate.
 * Eric Sayers, Editorial Assistant.

Personnel

 * Dick Cheney, Vice President of the U.S. under George W. Bush, was an early member of Center's Board of Advisors (which is now called the National Security Advisory Council).

..."While CSP boasts an impressive advisory list of hawkish luminaries, its star is Frank Gaffney, its founder, president and CEO." ..."Gaffney and CSP's prescriptions for national security have been fairly simple: Gut all arms control treaties, push ahead with weapons systems virtually everyone agrees should be killed, give no quarter to the Palestinians and, most important, go full steam ahead on just about every national missile defense program." ..."Looking at the center's affiliates, it's not hard to see why: Not only are makers of the Osprey (Boeing) well represented on the CSP's board of advisers but so too is Lockheed Martin (by vice president for space and strategic missiles Charles Kupperman and director of defense systems Douglas Graham). Former TRW executive Amoretta Hoeber is also a CSP adviser, as is former Congressman and Raytheon lobbyist Robert Livingston. Ball Aerospace & Technologies -- a major manufacturer of NASA and Pentagon satellites -- is represented by former Navy Secretary John Lehman, while missile-defense computer systems maker Hewlett-Packard is represented by George Keyworth, who is on its board of directors. And the Congressional Missile Defense Caucus and Osprey (or "tilt rotor") caucus are represented by Representative Curt Weldon and Senator Jon Kyl." 
 * "twenty-two CSP advisers -- including additional Reagan-era remnants like Elliott Abrams, Ken deGraffenreid, Paula Dobriansky, Sven Kraemer, Robert Joseph, Robert Andrews and J.D. Crouch -- have reoccupied key positions in the national security establishment, as have other true believers of more recent vintage."

Donors
Donations to the Center have come from a variety of conservative foundations such as: The Smith Richardson Foundation, The Sarah Scaife Foundation, The Carthage Foundation, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation. 

Contact Information
1901 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 201 Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 835-9077 Fax: (202) 835-9066 Email: info AT centerforsecuritypolicy.org Web: http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Family Security Matters
 * JINSA
 * National Institute for Public Policy
 * National Security Advisory Council
 * Neo-conservative
 * Project for the New American Century
 * Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000
 * American Public Policy Alliance

External References

 * Center for Security Policy, Neocon Europe, accessed 18 May, 2009.
 * Coming Soon: Total War On the Middle East, Jason Vest, The Nation, August 29, 2002.