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Institutional
Affiliations
Washington Institute for Near East Policy: Adjunct Scholar (2)
U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon: Golden Circle supporter
New York Post: Columnist (4)
Jerusalem Post: Columnist (4)
Middle East Forum: Founder and Director (9)
Project for the New American Century: Signatory (12)
Naval War College: Former lecturer (1, 4)
Harvard University: Former lecturer (1, 4)
University of Chicago: Former lecturer (1, 4)
University of Pennsylvania: Former lecturer (3)
Foreign Policy Research Institute: Director (1986-1993) (3)
Government
Service
U.S. Institute of Peace: Former Member of the Board (2003-2005) (10, 11)
Department of Defense: Special Task Force on Terrorism and Technology (current) (1)
Education
Harvard University: Ph.D., History (1978) (1)
Harvard University: A.B., History (1971) (1)
Right Web Connections
Individuals
Richard Pipes
Ziad Abdelnour
Paul Wolfowitz
Richard Perle
Elliott Abrams
Douglas Feith
Michael Rubin
David Wurmser
Paula Dobriansky
Frank Gaffney
Michael Ledeen
Jeane Kirkpatrick
George W. Bush
Institutions
U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon
Middle East Forum
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Project for the New American Century
Foreign Policy Research Institute |
Highlights
& Quotes
Daniel Pipes, the son of notorious anti-Soviet crusader Richard Pipes, has made a name for himself lambasting Arab politics, urging U.S. military intervention in the Middle East , and warning of the impending threat to U.S. security posed by Islamic extremists. On this last point, the Boston Globe reported, "If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11." (1)
On the other hand, "if Pipe's admonitions had been heeded," the United States might also be at war with most of the Arab world. In 2000, for example, he co-produced with Ziad Abdelnour and the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon a report calling for the United States to force Syria from Lebanon and to disarm it of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. The document, titled "Ending Syria's Occupation of Lebanon: The U.S. Role?" argued that "Syrian rule in Lebanon stands in direct opposition to American ideals" and criticized the United States for engaging rather than confronting the regime. Regarding the use of force, the document reasoned: "The Vietnam legacy and the sour memories of dead American Marines in Beirut notwithstanding ... the United States has entered a new era of undisputed military supremacy with an appreciable drop in human losses on the battlefield. ... This opens the door to a similar decision to act for Lebanon 's endangered freedoms and pluralism. But this opportunity may not wait, for as weapons-of-mass-destruction capabilities spread, the risks of such action will rapidly grow."
Among the all-star cast that signed the document were several future Bush administration figures, including Elliott Abrams, Douglas Feith, Michael Rubin, David Wurmser, and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky. Other signers included Richard Perle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Michael Ledeen, and Frank Gaffney. (5, 6)
Because of his hardline take on Arab affairs, many observers were outraged when President Bush announced in early 2003 Pipe's nomination to the U.S. Institute of Peace. Pipe's neocon friends rallied behind him, arguing that Pipes was really just someone who realizes that racial profiling was the bitter pill we had to swallow to end the terrorist threat.
According to Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, the "attack on Pipes" was nothing but "another symptom of the absurd political correctness surrounding Islamic radicalism." He continued: "We are all supposed to pretend that we have equal suspicions of terrorist intent and thus must give equal scrutiny to a 70-year-old Irish nun, a 50-year-old Jewish seminarian, and a 30-year-old man from Saudi Arabia . Your daughter is on that plane: To whom do you want the security guards to give their attention? …. For Bush, this would be an act of characteristic principle and courage. The problem, however, is that such an act makes the appointment look furtive. Worse, it lets the McCarthyites off too easy." Following strong opposition from democratic senators, President Bush bypassed the Senate and gave Pipes a recess appointment while Congress was out of town. (7) (11)
When it comes to international relations, Pipes was not the most appropriate or legitimate person to consider for a post like that at the USIP, which is devoted to “promoting the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.” His comments about why the United States invaded Iraq are a case in point: "WMD was never the basic reason for war. Nor was it the horrid repression in Iraq . Or the danger Saddam posed to his neighbors. ... The campaign in Iraq is about keeping promises to the United States or paying the consequences…. Keep your promises or you are gone. It's a powerful precedent that U.S. leaders should make the most of." (8)
However, in his second term, President Bush has apparently decided to not renew Pipes’ appointment to the USIP. But Pipes has moved on to other things, such as the creation of two organizations with an anti-Islamist bent: the Anti-Islamist Institute (AII) and the Centre for Islamic Pluralism (CIP).
The Anti-Islamist Institute will target the legal activities of Islamic families, which, in Pipes’ view, “pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than the illegal ones.” The CIP was created to promote the spread of moderate Islam and “to oppose the influence of militant Islam,” particularly the Wahhabi sect, from all aspects of American public life. The CIP proposes to get rid of the monopoly that the “Wahhabi lobby” has on Washington, which it says includes the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, the North American Islamic Trust, the Muslim Students' Association of the U.S. and Canada, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which some scholars view as independent and not Wahhabist organizations.
Other target organizations also include more secular groups, such as the Arab-American Institute and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The CIP proposal that the Inter Press Service obtained refers to Paul Wolfowitz, James Woolsey, Danielle Pletka, Senators Charles Schumer and John Kyl, Glen Howard of the Jamestown Foundation, and editors at various news outlets as the individuals that will help CIP attain its goals. (11)
This anti-Islamist bent is not a new endeavor for Pipes. He founded and still directs the Middle East Forum, "a think tank" aimed at defining and promoting American interests in the Middle East …. The Forum holds that the United States has vital interests in the region; in particular, it believes in strong ties with Israel , Turkey , and other democracies as they emerge; works for human rights throughout the region; seeks a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promotes the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes." But regardless of this anti-militant Islam bent, Pipes himself has written that Muslim immigrants are “brown- skinned peoples cooking strange foods and not exactly maintaining Germanic standards of hygiene”. (9)
Another organization that Pipes established, Campus Watch, tracks down university professors who are perceived to be anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian, or pro-Islamist. Seen by many as an affront to academic freedom and an attempt to silence criticism of U.S. policies toward Israel and the Arab world, the web site encourages students at colleges and universities to report any teachers who exhibit such behaviors in the classroom. (11) (13) |
