Frank Gaffney

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For the American soldier, see Frank Gaffney (Medal of Honor).
Frank Gaffney
Louis Brandeis Award (2003)[1]

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy from 1983 to 1987, and seven months as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan administration. He then founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023, thereafter as executive chairman.[3]

Early life and education

Gaffney was born in

Protestant groups who alleged that Catholics were "gaining control of American institutions while rewriting the nation's history".[8]

Gaffney attended the

Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1975.[9][5] In 1978, he received an MA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.[10][11][12]

Career

Gaffney began his government career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the Reagan administration, again serving under Perle.[13]

In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.[12] He served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months. During this time, despite his official post, he was excluded by senior Reagan administration officials from the then-ongoing arms control talks with the Soviet Union. Gaffney was ultimately forced out of the Pentagon; The Washington Post reported in November 1987 that, within four days of Frank Carlucci's appointment as Secretary of Defense, "Gaffney's belongings were boxed and he was gone".[14][15] Following his departure from government, he immediately set about criticizing Ronald Reagan's pursuit of an arms control agreement with the USSR.[14]

Center for Security Policy

Main article: Center for Security Policy

In 1988, Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a

Salon. It has faced strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, but has also had its reports cited by political figures such as US President Donald Trump and former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.[16][17][18] In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy.[19] CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community.[20] In 2016, the CSP was classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "hate group".[21] The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes".[22] Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as influential parts of the counter-jihad movement.[23][24]

On March 16, 2016, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced he would name Frank Gaffney to be one of his National Security Advisors.[25] Cruz said that Gaffney "is a serious thinker who has been focused on fighting jidahists [sic], fighting jihadism across the globe".[26] In December 2015, Nation Institute Fellow Eli Clifton characterized as unscientific a CSP-funded poll that Donald Trump had been citing, which purportedly showed widespread support for Sharia law among U.S. Muslims and a need for intervention in that community. It added that, "Between Trump’s calls for a national registry of Muslims and a ban on Muslim immigration, it appears that through coincidence or outright collaboration, Trump is building an immigration and anti-Muslim policy framework that closely mirrors the statements and proposals advocated by" Gaffney and the CSP.[27]

Discussing what he calls prominent professional participants in Islamophobia, Professor Todd Green wrote mentioned "Frank Gaffney and David Yerushalmi, both of whom head organizations that are responsible for spreading misinformation about Islam and that seek to enact anti-Muslim laws, including the infamous anti-Sharia".

Sharia legislation in the United States.[29]

Gaffney and the CSP have been noted to have wielded influence on several prominent individuals of the

Iran nuclear deal and many anti-Islamic beliefs.[30][31][32]

He stepped down as president of the CSP in January 2023 in favor of Tommy Waller, but remains its executive chairman.[3]

Fax wars

In the 1990s, Gaffney became known in Washington, D.C., for "fax wars" he waged, whereby his "small but loyal following" would be encouraged to inundate the offices of members of Congress with faxes.[33]

In 1995, Gaffney charged that

Domino's Pizza of the policy business".[34]

Later, in a 1997 column for The Washington Times, Gaffney alleged a

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB).[35] Subsequent scientific analysis of Novaya Zemlya confirmed the event was a routine earthquake.[36] Reporting on the allegation, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists observed that, following its publication, "fax machines around Washington, D.C., and across the country poured out pages detailing Russian duplicity. They came from Frank Gaffney", going on to note that during the first four months of 1997, Gaffney had "issued more than 25 screeds" against the CTB.[35]

Other activities

Gaffney also contributes to the conservative media site

John R. Bolton, and white nationalist Jared Taylor.[40][41] The radio program was turned into a television show titled Securing America TV on Real America's Voice in 2020.[42] Gaffney is the vice-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger and has been described as part of a "new red scare" of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.[43]

Conspiracy theories

The

Soviet agents within the United States government were blocking him.[45]

Civilization Jihad

One of Gaffney's main conspiracy theories is the so-called "Civilization Jihad", a supposed secret Muslim plan to take over America, which came to national prominence by being cited in a debate by 2016 presidential candidate

infrastructure in the United States with the goal of destroying Western civilization from within so that Islam is victorious over other religions".[48]

ACU dispute

In 2011, Gaffney was banned by the American Conservative Union from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). ACU chairman David Keene released a statement contending that Gaffney "has become personally and tiresomely obsessed with his weird belief that anyone who doesn't agree with him on everything all the time or treat him with the respect and deference he believes is his due, must be either ignorant of the dangers we face or, in extreme case, dupes of the nation's enemies".[49] Gaffney has since returned to CPAC to host panels at the conference in 2015 and 2016.[48][50]

In an April 2016 column in

Media Matters on Gaffney's departure, describing Gaffney's work as "well-researched," and stated, "we're sorry to lose him but we wish him well". Keene also noted that Gaffney had left without giving him any notice, saying, "I guess he's notifying us through you".[51]

Media responses

Gaffney has been called a conspiracy theorist by

Dave Weigel writing in Reason magazine;[52] Steve Benen of MSNBC;[53] Slate;[54] and The Intercept,[55][56][57] among others. The Washington Post has reported that Gaffney's views were "considered radioactive by the Republican establishment",[58] and Eli Clifton noted that Gaffney suffered "from a lack of mainstream acceptance."[27] Democrats, and many Republicans, have called Gaffney a "conspiracy theorist".[59]

Beliefs

Conspiracy theories Gaffney has promoted include:

Gaffney has asserted that the logo of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is a coded signal showing the "official U.S. submission to Islam."

Works

Books

Films

Gaffney was an executive producer of the documentary Islam vs. Islamists: Voices From the Muslim Center.[73]

References

  1. ^ "Frank Gaffney". Center for Security Policy. June 7, 2013. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  2. ^ "4 Conspiracy Theories Promoted by Frank Gaffney, Ted Cruz's New Adviser". Haaretz. March 18, 2016. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
    "Frank Gaffney Jr". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
    Carden, James. "The Iran Deal Opponents Are Going to Fight to the Bitter End". The Nation. No. September 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
    Woodruff, Betsy (March 15, 2015). "Glenn Beck Thinks Grover Norquist Is a Muslim Brotherhood Mole. Now, the NRA Is "Investigating."". Slate. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
    "Bachmann, Gaffney, and the GOP's Anti-Muslim Culture of Conspiracy". The Daily Beast. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Center for Security Policy improves its approach to changing national security challenges". Center for Security Policy. August 19, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Devon Gaffney, Research Director, Engaged to Marry Jay Cross in June". The New York Times. 9 April 1989. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Arena Profile: Frank Gaffney". Politico. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  6. ^ Gigler, Dan (November 3, 2001). "Lawyer with a Passion for Classical Music". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
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External links

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