To: Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations and Gary Knell, President, National Public Radio
NPR, CFR: Don't Enable Elliott Abrams' Smear Campaign on Chuck Hagel
Just Foreign Policy
Smear campaigns can be powerful when mainstream institutions enable them. I urge you not to enable the smear campaign of Elliott Abrams against President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel.
Why is this important?
Elliott Abrams, a "fellow" at the Council on Foreign Relations, went on National Public Radio and publicly smeared President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, as an "anti-Semite." The charge itself is completely outrageous and preposterous: if there were a molecule of reasonable doubt, would Sen. Carl Levin and Sen. Dianne Feinstein be strongly backing Chuck Hagel's nomination? Abrams's smear campaign only has a chance of reaching the broad public because CFR and NPR give him a public platform for his smears. Would they give Rush Limbaugh a public platform to call Sandra Fluke a "slut"? If NPR had Rush Limbaugh on as a guest to talk about Sandra Fluke, wouldn't they have someone else on at the same time to give a vigorous rebuttal? Urge CFR and NPR to stop enabling vile smears of a decorated war hero and public servant by signing our petition.
More background:
Yes, that's the same Elliott Abrams who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal.
See: "Elliott Abrams's Truth Problem"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/09/elliott-abrams-s-truth-problem.html