Karen U. Kwiatkowski, née Unger, (born September 24, 1960) is an American activist and commentator. She is a retired

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

desk officer and a variety of roles for the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S. government's involvement in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Kwiatkowski is primarily known for her insider essays which denounce a corrupting political influence on the course of

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

leading up to the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

in 2003. In 2012, she challenged incumbent

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing from 1993 to 2019. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he was ...

, in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

for

Virginia's 6th congressional district Virginia's sixth congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It covers much of the west-central portion of the state, including Roanoke, Virg ...

seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and garnered 34% of the Republican vote on a constitutional and limited government platform. As of 2024, she is a member of

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) is a group of former officers of the United States Intelligence Community formed in January 2003. In February 2003, the group issued a statement accusing the George W. Bush, Bush administrati ...

. While in the Air Force, she wrote two books about U.S. policy towards Africa: ''African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future'' ( US Army Peacekeeping Institute, 2000) and ''Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions'' (

Air University Press Air University Press is a division of the Academic Services Directorate and housed under the Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center of Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. It publishes faculty and student research, academic journals, othe ...

, 2001). She contributed to ''Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas'', (Variant Press, 2008) and ''Why Liberty: Personal Journeys Toward Peace and Freedom'', (Cobden Press, 2010). She has been featured in a number of documentaries, including "Why We Fight" in 2005. She has written for

LewRockwell.com Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant. A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit promoting the ...

since 2003.

Early life

Kwiatkowski grew up in western

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. She holds advanced degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university in College, Alaska, United States, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was e ...

, and a Ph.D. in world politics from

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

. Her thesis was on ''The overt/covert war in Angola: a case study of the implementation of the Reagan doctrine''.

Career

Military

Kwiatkowski began her military career in 1982 as a Second Lieutenant. She served at

Eielson Air Force Base Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and redesignated Eielson Ai ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, providing logistical support to missions along the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n coasts. She also served in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Kwiatkowski was then assigned to the National Security Agency (NSA), eventually becoming a speechwriter for the agency's director. After leaving the NSA in 1998 she became an analyst on

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

policy for the Pentagon. Kwiatkowski was in her office in the Pentagon when it was attacked on

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. From May 2002 to February 2003 she served in the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia directorate (NESA). While at NESA, she wrote a series of anonymous articles, ''

Insider Notes from the Pentagon Insider(s) or The Insider(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * ''Insiders'', a comic series by Mark Millar and Paul Grist, published in ''Crisis'' * The Insiders, a team of DC Comics characters in the Brainiac stories * ''I ...

'' which appeared on the website of

David Hackworth Colonel David Haskell Hackworth (November 11, 1930 – May 4, 2005) was a United States Army officer and journalist, who was highly decorated in both the Korean War and Vietnam War. Hackworth is known for his role in the formation and command of ...

. Kwiatkowski left NESA in February 2003 and retired from the Air Force the following month.

Writer and commentator

In April 2003 Kwiatkowski began writing a series of articles for the

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

website

. Since February 2004 she has written a biweekly column ("Without Reservations") for the website MilitaryWeek.com. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, a nonprofit group of former military, intelligence and civilian national security officials who described themselves as offering "alternative analyses untainted by Pentagon or defense industry ties" and countering "Washington’s establishment narrative on most national security issues of the day." She has been critical of

neoconservatism Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

and has advocated for a non-interventionist foreign policy. Her writings on the subject of a corrupting influence of the Pentagon on intelligence analysis leading up to the Iraq War appeared in a series of articles in ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti- neoconservative perspect ...

'' magazine in December 2003 and in a March 2004 article on

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

. In the latter piece ("The New Pentagon Papers") she wrote: Kwiatkowski described how a clique of officers led by retired

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Captain Bill Luti, assistant secretary of defense for NESA and former aide to

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

when the latter was

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

, took control of military intelligence and how the "

Office of Special Plans The Office of Special Plans (OSP), which existed from September 2002 to June 2003, was a Pentagon unit created by Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, and headed by Feith, as charged by then–United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to su ...

" (OSP) grew and eventually turned into a

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and disinformation organism controlling the NESA. Following the ''American Conservative'' and ''Salon'' articles, Kwiatkowski began to receive criticism from several conservative sources that supported President Bush's policies. Michael Rubin of the ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'' argued she had exaggerated her knowledge of the OSP's workings and claimed she had ties to

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy ...

. Republican U.S. Senator

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013. Following the death of John McCain in 2018, Kyl briefly returned to the Senate; his resignatio ...

criticized her in a speech on the Senate floor. On a

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

program, host John Gibson and former

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

communications director

Clifford May Clifford D. May (born 1951) is an American journalist, editor, political activist, and podcast host. He is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, where he host ...

described her as an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. Kwiatkowski responded by saying, among other points, that she had never supported or dealt with LaRouche. In addition to her writings Kwiatkowski has appeared as a commentator in the documentaries ''

Hijacking Catastrophe ''Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire'' is a 2004 documentary film narrated by Julian Bond and directed by Jeremy Earp and Sut Jhally. It examines the possibility that neoconservatives used the September 11 attacks ...

'', '' Honor Betrayed'', ''Why We Fight'' and ''

Superpower Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to Sphere of influence, exert influence and Power projection, project power on a global scale. This is done through the comb ...

''.

Politics

Kwiatkowski was raised as a Goldwater Republican, and registered Republican from 1981 until 1994. She joined the U.S.

Libertarian Party Libertarian Party may refer to: *Libertarian Party (Argentina) * Liberal Libertarian Party * Libertarian Party of Australia * Libertarian Party of Canada ** British Columbia Libertarian Party **Libertarian Party of Manitoba (now Freedom Party of Ma ...

in 1994 and continued that membership until 2011. She was a speaker on military and foreign policy at the party's

national convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

in 2004. She returned to the Republican Party in 2011, and entered politics with the hope of joining

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

Justin Amash Justin A. Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. He was the second Palestinian American and Syrian American member of Congress. Originally a Republican, ...

and others in the House Republican Liberty Caucus. She is endorsed by a past Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, as well as by a range of other fiscal and constitutional conservatives. A number of Libertarian Party members and supporters have encouraged Kwiatkowski to seek the Party's presidential nomination in the past few election cycles. She has thus far declined to do so. On April 15, 2007, Kwiatkowski received the New Hampshire Libertarian Party's 2008 vice-presidential nomination, within a couple of weeks she declined the nomination. In 2007, she announced her support for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

2012 U.S. House of Representatives candidacy

In February 2011, a

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

filing declared the Friends of Karen Kwiatkowski were drafting her to run for the Virginia's 6th district U.S. congressional seat in the 2012 election. On August 18, 2011, Kwiatkowski formally announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte in the June 12, 2012, primary election. She wrote a variety of opinion pieces geared directly to her 2012 House race, and was interviewed by both local and national media. Her campaign slogan was "Less Government, More Prosperity". On June 12, 2012, Kwiatkowski lost the nomination bid to Goodlatte who won 66.48% of the vote in the Republican 6th district primary election.

Personal life

Kwiatkowski lives with her family in Mount Jackson in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

of Virginia and is a farmer and part-time professor. She is married to Hap Kwiatkowski and has four children and seven grandchildren. She is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

Kwiatkowski is a founding member of the

.Karen Kwiatkowski erhält Sam Adams Award
16 December 2018 In September 2015 Kwiatkowski and 27 other members of VIPS steering group wrote a letter to the President challenging a recently published book, that claimed to rebut the report of the

United States Senate Intelligence Committee The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...

on the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's use of torture.

Publications

Books

* * *

Articles and essays

Most of Kwiatkowski's written work is available online.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwiatkowski, Karen 1960 births Living people 20th-century American women 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American women writers 21st-century Christians Activists from Virginia American anti–Iraq War activists American columnists American foreign policy writers American political writers American whistleblowers American women non-fiction writers Candidates in the 2012 United States elections Catholic University of America alumni Christian libertarians Christians from Virginia Critics of neoconservatism Farmers from Virginia Harvard University alumni People from Mount Jackson, Virginia People from Transylvania County, North Carolina United States Air Force officers University of Alaska alumni University of Maryland Global Campus faculty Virginia Libertarians Virginia Republicans American women columnists Women in the United States Air Force Writers from North Carolina Writers from Virginia 21st-century American women farmers 21st-century American farmers