Guest Post by Ben
Freeman, Ph.D.
Ben Freeman is an Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, where he specializes in Department of Defense personnel issues, weapons
procurement, and the impact of lobbying by foreign governments on U.S.
foreign policy.
The ongoing debate about Pentagon spending and
sequestration
is a glaring example of how special interests with deep pockets can
convince
policymakers that even their most absurd claims are true.
After slashing
tens of thousands of jobs during years of record profits, the
defense
industry finances “studies”
professing their ability to create jobs. While threatening to layoff off
even
more workers to save for their corporations’ money, big Pentagon
contractor
CEO’s enjoy lavish
compensation packages worth more than $20 million. To put that into
perspective, the Pentagon could pay more than 300 soldiers with the
compensation of just one of these CEO’s.
But, Pentagon contractors aren’t the only special
interest
that would like to keep the spigot of taxpayer money flowing to the
Pentagon.
For decades, lobbyists working for foreign governments have been
quietly, but effectively,
working to keep Pentagon money flowing to foreign countries. From
fighting to
keep and expand military bases in Germany, to lobbying for sending
dozens of
new F-16’s to Taiwan, foreign lobbying has been instrumental in keeping
the
Pentagon budget bloated.
Foreign lobbying’s impact on the U.S. military is
one of the
few issues in America politics that can, without hyperbole, trace its
roots
back to Adolf Hitler. As the Nazi party came to power
in Germany during the 1930’s it sought to influence citizens in other
countries, particularly the U.S. On October 22, 1936 a New York Post
headline read “Nazi Publicist on GOP Payroll,” and
reported that the Republican State Committee was employing
propagandists
associated with U.S. Nazi groups. Outrage over this and similar incidents
ultimately
led to passage of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) – the first
major
piece of lobbying legislation at the Federal level.
Reports filed under FARA tell stories of special
interest
influence that are eerily reminiscent of the tactics employed by big
Pentagon
contractors. From making large campaign contributions on the very same
day they
meet with a Member of Congress to discuss a foreign client’s needs, to
drafting
legislation on behalf of a foreign government, there is little that many
D.C.
lobbyists won’t do for their foreign clients.
And, most of these governments aren’t exactly
staunch U.S. allies.
As I chronicle in my book, The Foreign Policy Auction, almost every country that
experienced political uprisings during
the “Arab Spring” lobbied in the U.S. The Egyptian government,
specifically,
was aggressively lobbying for U.S. non-intervention before, during, and
after
the revolution in Egypt. The Pakistan foreign lobby went on a lobbying
blitz
following the death of Osama bin Laden, in what was a relatively
successful
campaign that kept more than a billion dollars in U.S. military aid
flowing to
the country harboring the mastermind of 9/11. China routinely lobbies to
discuss the U.S.’s growing debt. Even Iran has lobbyists working in the
U.S.
In
short, almost every major U.S. national security
decision in the 21st century has been influenced by the lobbying of
foreign
governments.
This
undermines U.S. sovereignty and costs taxpayers
billions of dollars a year. Foreign lobbyists have even cost the family
members
of terrorist attack victims $4.5 billion, as I document in The
Foreign Policy Auction. Here’s how the story goes:
Muammar
Gaddafi’s Libya sponsored and carried out
several terrorist attacks that killed U.S. citizens, including the
bombing of
France’s UTA Flight 172. After years of fighting in U.S. courts, families of UTA Flight
172 victims were awarded $6 billion in
damages on January 15th 2008 by a D.C. District Court.
Two
months later the Libyan government was looking
for a way out of paying this hefty sum, and signed a $2.4 million
contract with
The Livingston Group, headed by Bob Livingston, former Republican
Chairman of
the House Appropriations Committee.
Ultimately,
this investment helped Libya get all
their terrorist attacks forgiven, during the height of the “War on
Terror,” for
just pennies on the dollar.
Within
a month of signing the contract, the
Livingston Group had, on Libya’s behalf, contacted Minority Leader John
Boehner, numerous officials at the State Department including the
Assistant
Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs and Secretary Condoleeza
Rice’s
chief of staff, as well as staffers and Members of a number of
Committees
including the Judiciary, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign
Relations.
On
July 31st the Libyan Claims Resolution
Act that the Livingston had been pushing was introduced. By that time
the firm
had contacted nearly 600 Legislators, staffers, members of the Executive
Branch, and other influential players on behalf of Libya, according to
FARA
records. The Livingston Group was even gracious enough to provide
Legislators with
actual legislative language and a script for discussing Libya in
Congressional
hearings. In short, agents working on behalf of a known terrorist were
putting
words in the mouths of U.S. politicians.
According
to an official
statement,
the families of the victims of flight 772 were not
pleased with the Bill because it would, “invalidate the court’s
judgment, and
allow Libya to avoid a court judgment. This simply cannot be what
Congress
intends.”
Unfortunately
for the victims’ families, the bill
passed both Chambers that same day. Within weeks the bill was signed
into law
and the U.S.-Libya Claims Settlement Agreement was signed by U.S. and
Libyan
representatives in Tripoli. The Agreement required Libya to pay just
$1.5
billion to U.S. families who lost loved ones in all of Libya’s
terrorist attacks; $4.5 billion less than the UTA
Flight 172 victims’ families had been awarded just 8 months before.
The
real tragedy is that Qaddhafi was neither the
first nor the last terrorist to be pardoned through the work of foreign
lobbyists.
The State Department announced just
last month that the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), or People's Mojahed in
Organization of Iran was being removed from the list of foreign
terrorist
organizations, after years of running a well-financed lobbying,
advertising,
and public relations campaign.
The fact is that every single day the agents of
foreign
governments are working to undermine U.S. foreign policy. The Auction is always
open. The only question is - which country
is buying your government today?