Michael Makovsky
Former defense department advisor Michael Makovsky is a prominent neoconservative[1] and an expert on neocon icon Winston Churchill, about whom he authored a book called Churchill's Promised Land. He is the younger brother of David Makovsky,[1] a senior WINEP fellow and former executive editor of the pro-Likud Jerusalem Post.[2] Both brothers took up Israeli citizenship after finishing their education in the US.[3]He was part of Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith's intelligence shop, Office of Special Plans,[4] that manufactured the defective intelligence used to sell the invasion of Iraq.[5] In 2006 he joined the Biparistan Policy Center and became its foreign policy director.[6]
History
Makovsky has an MBA in finance and a PhD in "diplomatic history," with his dissertation based on Winston Churchill. In addition to working for the Bush administration and maintaining a lead role in a right-wing think tank, Makovsky also heads MSM Consulting, a "Energy and Political Risk Consulting" company which he founded in the same year that he joined the Bipartisan Policy Center.[7] Despite Makovsky's lack of professional training in the oil and energy industry,
Role in the US War on Iraq
Makovsky served as a consultant to the controversial Pentagon office set up in the run-up to the Iraq War to find evidence of operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein as a justification for the invasion.[1]
Ties with Israel
In addition to reportedly obtaining Israeli citizenship,[3] Makovsky is also believed to have lived in an illegal Israeli settlement and was a friend of Yigal Amir who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.[8] According to Justin Raimondo, Makovsky: "was reportedly a member, in his student days at least, of the neo-fascist "Betar" organization, which has a military structure (members wear uniforms, and engage in "drills") and calls for a "Greater Israel."[8]
Affiliations
- Office of Special Plans[8]
- Claremont Institute - Former Fellow[9]
- Bipartisan Policy Center - Foreign Policy Director[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jim Lobe, "Stirrings of a New Push for Military Option on Iran", IPS, 9 July 2010
- ↑ WINEP, "David Makovsky", Washington Institute for Near East Policy, accessed on 26 November 2010
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jack Herman, "a whole new ballgame overseas", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), 20 February 1989
- ↑ Justin Raimondo, "The Worms in the Apple", Antiwar.com, 18 September 2009
- ↑ Jim Lobe, Pentagon Office Home to Neo-Con Network, Antiwar.com, 7 August 2003
- ↑ Bipartisan Policy Center, "Michael Makovsky", Bipartisan Policy Center, accessed on 26 November 2010
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Michael Makovsky", LinkedIn, accessed on 26 November 2010
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Justin Raimondo, "The Worms in the Apple", Antiwar.com, 18 September 2009
- ↑ Claremont Institute, "2006 Lincoln Fellows", Claremont Institute, 28 June 2006, accessed on 26 November 2010
- ↑ Bipartisan Policy Center, "Staff", Bipartisan Policy Center, accessed on 26 November 2010
