The Intelligence Summit
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Intelligence Summit is an annual
conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
run principally by John Loftus and funded by an organization he controls, the Intelligence and Homeland Security Educational Center (IHEC). The stated purpose of these regular meetings is "to provide an opportunity for the international intelligence community to listen to and learn from each other, and to share ideas in the common war against terrorism."


Organization

According to the Intelligence Summit's website, the meetings are run by organizers (Robert Katz and John Loftus) and an Advisory Council, which includes or included in the past "two former heads of
CIA 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 ...
, the head of British Joint Intelligence, senior officials of the
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
, the former Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism, the former director of the Indian Counter Intelligence Service, generals of the US Army and Air Force intelligence services, and academic experts". Among the Advisory Council members are the author and consultant
Yossef Bodansky Yossef Bodansky (May 1, 1954 – December 5, 2021) was an Israeli-American political scientist who served as Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the US House of Representatives from 1988 to 2004. He ...
,
special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...
expert
Richard Marcinko Richard Marcinko (November 21, 1940 – December 25, 2021) was a United States Navy SEALs, U.S. Navy SEAL Commander (United States), commander and Vietnam War veteran. He was the first commanding officer of United States Naval Special Warfare D ...
, and retired generals and
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 ...
military analysts Paul E. Vallely and Tom McInerney.


Funding

Ron Jacobs notes that the primary sponsor of the conference,
Michael Cherney Michael Cherney (, , also Mikhail Chernoy, Mikhail Semenovitch Chorny or Mikhail Chernoi; born 16 January 1952) is an Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist. He is known for his significant role in the 1990s aluminium industry in Russia, and his ...
, "is the subject of controversy and is currently denied entry into the United States because of his indictment on various charges in
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 ...
and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
." Jacobs points out that "Cherney is well-known among supporters of Israel and has contributed millions of dollars to various organizations on the right end of Israel's political spectrum, as well as several thousands to the
US Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing political party in the United States. One of the two major parties, it emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the tw ...
." ''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...
'' confirms that Cherney is the main contributor to the Summit and notes that "the United States has denied Cherney a visa since 1999 because of alleged ties to the Russian mafia." Cherney was listed for organized crime and money laundering on the
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological sp ...
of wanted persons. Loftus counters that Cherney "was framed by ormer Director of the Office of National Intelligence JohnNegroponte."Meg Laughlin
"Intelligence conference draws criticism"
''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...
'' (6 March 2007) p. 1A.


Controversies

John Loftus has come under fire from former representatives of the International Holocaust Education Center, who are concerned about him using the organization's
tax-exempt status Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
improperly to promote his intelligence activities. The ''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...
'' noted that "Walter Loebenberg, who founded the Holocaust Education Center and approved of turning the name over to Loftus in 2005 because of his high regard for him, says that he knew Loftus was doing intelligence work at the time. 'But ... we agreed he would change the name if he did his intelligence work under the name of the Holocaust Education Center. It has gone farther than we expected,' said Loebenberg. 'We never would have organized or sponsored an intelligence conference.'" An
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
spokesperson explained the impropriety: "If a tax-exempt charitable organization changes the name, the purpose or the structure, it must let IRS know by corresponding with us. And, it must remain neutral and nonpartisan." Loftus has also been criticized for listing sponsors of the Summit who never consented to being so listed, including
Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...
and
Florida Holocaust Museum The Florida Holocaust Museum is a Holocaust museum located at 55 Fifth Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1992, it moved to its current location in 1998. Formerly known as the Holocaust Center, the museum officially changed to i ...
board member Bruce Epstein.


Objectives

The Intelligence Summit's emphasis is upon
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
and
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
related issues; former Jamaa Islamia terrorist and author
Tawfik Hamid Tawfik Hamid (; born 1961) is an Egyptian-American Muslim reformer and medical doctor. A self-described former member of the militant group al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, he says that he started to preach in mosques to promote his message and, as a res ...
is on the Summit's Advisory Council. Ahmed Bedier of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...
noted of Hamid's participation in the Summit, "The Intelligence Summit is a group of neoconservatives and private intelligence agencies that are benefiting from the war on terrorism. And opportunists like Hamid and others at this event are bashing and cashing and making money from it." Legal analyst
Victoria Toensing Victoria Ann Toensing (née Long; born October 16, 1941) is an American attorney, Republican Party operative and with her husband, Joseph diGenova, a partner in the Washington law firm diGenova & Toensing. Toensing and diGenova frequently app ...
said, "This is not a mainstream conference with recognized names in the field. I've been in the intelligence and terrorism world a long time, and I would not suggest going to this conference for intelligence or terrorism information."


2006 Intelligence Summit

The Intelligence Summit gained prominence in February 2006, when a conference speaker, former US Deputy Undersecretary of
Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
John A. Shaw, asserted that
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 ...
had helped
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
smuggle out his WMDs; he also claimed that the DIA and
CIA 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 ...
had interfered with his investigations. Shaw's accusations became part of the controversy surrounding the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. Shaw had been fired from the
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
in 2004 in the wake of an FBI corruption probe allegedly tied to false accusations being used to manipulate contract awards in Iraq. T. Christian Miller
"Pentagon Ousts Official Under FBI Investigation"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', 11 December 2004.
Numerous examples of Shaw's claims were public, including placing stories in the Financial Times and Washington Times,Andrew Seifter
"Conservative pundits forwarded discredited Wash. Times article blaming Russians for missing explosives in Iraq"
Media Matters Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...
, 29 October 2004.
an "official" DoD Report that Shaw produced without authorization T. Christian Miller
"Pentagon Deputy's Probes in Iraq Weren't Authorized, Officials Say"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', 7 July 2004.
and an official DoD press release that was subsequently withdrawn, Senator Charles E. Grassley
''Letter to Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld concerning false press release''
27 July 2005.
allegedly with the intent to damage specific competitors and help his "friends" bidding for reconstruction contracts in Iraq. Shaw made these statements in the face of several official investigations to the contrary, most notably the
Report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...
of the
Iraq Study Group The Iraq Study Group (ISG), also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War an ...
led by
Charles Duelfer Charles A. Duelfer is Chairman of Omnis, Inc., a consulting firm in aerospace, defense, intelligence, training, and finance. He is a regular commentator in the media on intelligence and foreign policy and is the author of ''Hide and Seek: The Sear ...
published on 30 September 2004."Report concludes no WMD in Iraq"
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 7 October 2004.
Shortly after the 2006 event, the Bush Administration purportedly ordered government personnel not to associate with The Intelligence Summit or attend its conferences; ''
The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative Online newspaper, news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) onlin ...
'' reported, "(B)oth
John Deutch John Mark Deutch (born July 27, 1938) is an American civil servant and physical chemist. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from May 10, 1995, until December 15, 1996 ...
and
James Woolsey Robert James Woolsey Jr. (born September 21, 1941) is an American lawyer who has served in various senior positions. He headed the Central Intelligence Agency as Director of Central Intelligence from February 5, 1993, until January 10, 1995. He ...
abruptly left their positions at Intelligence Summit, according to its president, John Loftus, who said their departure is part of a campaign by the Directorate of National Intelligence to punish him for releasing the recordings [of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
]...." Woolsey denied that there had been any pressure to withdraw, stating that "If Loftus is saying that anyone pressured me about this issue he is quite wrong."
UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
reported that Deutch and Woolsey resigned from the Board after learning that the conference's primary sponsor was
Michael Cherney Michael Cherney (, , also Mikhail Chernoy, Mikhail Semenovitch Chorny or Mikhail Chernoi; born 16 January 1952) is an Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist. He is known for his significant role in the 1990s aluminium industry in Russia, and his ...
, who "has been investigated or blacklisted on suspicion of money laundering, illegal business deals and connections to the Russian mafia by half a dozen European countries and barred from entry by the U.S. authorities"


2007 Intelligence Summit

The 2007 summit was organized with the
Secular Islam Summit The Secular Islam Summit was an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, held 4–5 March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was largely organized and funded by the Amherst, NY-based Center for Inquiry, a secular humanist educatio ...
, which was held simultaneously with the Intelligence Summit.
UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
reported of the 2007 conference that "most, if not all panelists seemed to be preaching to the choir. The conference, at times, had an air of a reunion of good ol' boys; all in sync with the program, rather than a group of very serious professionals out to warn the free world of the dangers facing democracies.... Many would rather 'not waste time' talking with a government they say will never keep its word. Instead, they would prefer to simply 'kick butt,' as one speaker put it, and making realistic plans to enable
regime change Regime change is the partly forcible or coercive replacement of one government regime with another. Regime change may replace all or part of the state's most critical leadership system, administrative apparatus, or bureaucracy. Regime change may ...
in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
through assassinations and intimidation. His comments were received with applause and cheers from the audience."


See also

*
Terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
* WMD theories in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War *
Operation Iraqi Freedom documents ''Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003 documents'' are some 48,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes that were discovered by the U.S. military during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The documents date from the 1980s through the post-Saddam period. ...


References


External links


Intelligence Summit Speakers & Organizers
via
Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

"Spy world: What happens when you get a bunch of spooks, lawmakers, gadget geeks, and military interrogators together in a hotel conference room and ask them to talk - on the record?"
by Patrick Radden Keefe. ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'', February 13, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligence Summit American websites Recurring events established in 2006 2006 conferences 2007 conferences Intelligence agencies Intelligence agencies by country Counterterrorism