Dan Senor

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Dan Senor, Former Advisor to the U.S. Presidential Envoy in Iraq (White House photo)

Daniel Samuel "Dan" Senor[1] was a foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney in his campaign for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.[2]

The Foreign Policy Initiative

In 2009 Senor co-founded The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), a neoconservative think tank begun with William Kristol and Robert Kagan, two founders of the Project for the New American Century. According to its website, FPI "... promotes continued U.S. engagement -- diplomatic, economic, and military -- in the world and rejection of policies that would lead us down the path to isolationism; robust support for America’s democratic allies and opposition to rogue regimes that threaten American interests; the human rights of those oppressed by their governments, and U.S. leadership in working to spread political and economic freedom; a strong military with the defense budget needed to ensure that America is ready to confront the threats of the 21st century; and, an international economic engagement as a key element of U.S. foreign policy in this time of great economic dislocation."[3]

Background

Senor has been a Fox News contributor since February 2005.[4][1]

In August 2006, Dan Senor was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, representing Vets for Freedom, the Republican-led 527 committee that is attacking advocates of an end to the Iraq occupation and who were supporting Joe Lieberman for the U.S. Senate.[5]

Senor was an adviser to Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority director Paul Bremer until the nominal transfer of sovereignty. He also acted as the civilian spokesman at CPA press conferences in Baghdad, partnering with U.S. military spokesman Mark Kimmitt.

Senor "also served as a Legislative Aide, Press Secretary, and Communications Director for then-Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI)."[6]

Controversy

On July 12, 2007, Senor and Ari Fleischer appeared together on Fox News's Hannity & Colmes regarding the passage of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives which "ignored the president's veto threat" and "call[ed] for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Iraq by April of 2008."[7]

Senor, spokesman in August 2006 for the pro-war in Iraq Republican front group Vets for Freedom, and Fleischer, a founding board member and spokesman for the pro-war in Iraq White House front group Freedom's Watch which emerged in August 2007, were introduced by their former Bush administration functions: "former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman in Iraq" and "former White House press secretary" respectively.

On September 5, 2007, it was confirmed that Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, had "decided not to host the September 10th AIPAC fundraiser featuring controversial figure" Dan Senor, who is "affiliated with Fox News and the group Vets for Freedom."[8]

Biography

Senor's official biography on the White House website[9] gives a selective version of his curriculum vitae. He did his bachelor's degree jointly at the University of Western Ontario and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then did a stint as a staffer for former Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI). Senor left Washington to do an MBA at Harvard Business School (1999-2001). During the initial (pre-May 2003) phase of the Iraq war, Senor was Director of the Coalition Information Centre at CENTCOM HQ in Qatar.

The following elements of Senor's CV are not present in the version on the White House website:

  • In 1993 Senor did an internship[10] at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby organization which some regard as being affiliated to the Likud party. AIPAC's website quotes him as saying: "Whether I was learning the ins and outs of Washington with my fellow interns or attending briefings on Capitol Hill, my internship at AIPAC prepared me for my work in politics". His sister, Wendy Senor Singer, heads AIPAC's office in Jerusalem. His brother-in-law, Saul Singer, is the very right-wing opinion editor of the Jerusalem Post.
  • Senor is listed as a director[11] on the website of USIBEX, the US-Israel Business Exchange. It describes him as a Senior Associate of the Carlyle Group. It is not clear from the website if this information is still current.
  • Senor worked for the Carlyle Group as a venture capitalist from 2001 to 2003.[12] The Carlyle Group is a venture capital company specializing in defence and industry which has strong ties to the Bush family.
  • Before going to Baghdad, Senor was briefly deputy to White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.[12]

In an April 2004 interview[13] with the Associated Press, Senor claimed that he was avoiding political partisanship in his work: "'Senor... said his office is guided by ethical 'red lines' that prevent it from crossing into the Bush campaign'." However, continues the article, "Senor jogged in a Thanksgiving Day race here [Baghdad] wearing a 'Bush-Cheney 2004' T-shirt."

In September 2004, the White House used Senor to coach and vet the speeches of putative Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi during his visit to the US, to maximize the benefit to the Bush reelection campaign.

The Washington Post reported that "administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the prime minister was coached and aided by the U.S. government, its allies and friends of the administration. Among them was Dan Senor, former spokesman for the CPA who has more recently represented the Bush campaign in media appearances. Senor, who has denied writing the speech, sent Allawi recommended phrases. He also helped Allawi rehearse in New York last week, officials said. Senor declined to comment."[14]

Senor is a client of Speakers' Spotlight which is a public relations and speakers bureau.[15]

In 2005, it was announced that Senor would be joining Google in a top lobbying capacity. However, the appointment fell through. Google told the Washington Post that "we were a little bit early to confirm" the appointment but indicated that he may be employed to provide "strategic advice."[16]

On March 20, 2006, four years after the war in Iraq began, Senor stated that invading the country "was worth it" despite also stating that the "costs and the burdens are so obvious."[17]

Senor married NBC news anchor, Campbell Brown, in Colorado in April 2006.[18]

Articles by Dan Senor

Resources

Also see

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Profile: Daniel Samuel Senor NNDB.com.
  2. ↑ Philip Giraldi, Neolibs and Neocons, United and Interchangeable, Antiwar.com, 14 August 2007. Emphasis added.
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ Melanie, Fox News Hires Dan Senor, News Hounds, 14 February 2005.
  5. ↑ John Stauber, "'Vets for Freedom' Fight for Rove and Lieberman," PRWatch, 11 August 2006.
  6. ↑ Bio: Dan Senor, Former Advisor to the U.S. Presidential Envoy in Iraq, WhiteHouse.gov, accessed September 6, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Dan Senor, Ari Fleischer on Iraq," RealClearPolitics, 12 July 2007.
  8. ↑ "Breaking: AIPAC Fundraiser Moved," Page One Kentucky, September 5, 2007.
  9. ↑ Biography of Dan Senor on White House website.
  10. ↑ Internships, AIPAC.org.
  11. ↑ Directors, USIBEX.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "The Washington Monthly's Who's Who: Special Baghdad edition," The Washington Monthly, December 2003.
  13. ↑ Jim Krane, AP: Bush Loyalists Pack Iraq Press Office, The Guardian (UK), April 4, 2004.
  14. ↑ Dana Milbank and Mike Allen, U.S. Effort Aims to Improve Opinions About Iraq Conflict, Washington Post, September 30, 2004.
  15. ↑ Speakers: Dan Senor, Speakers' Spotlight.
  16. ↑ Judy Sarasohn, "Too Early to Google," Washington Post, June 16, 2005.
  17. ↑ *"Opinions split as Iraq war enters fourth year," KXLY.com Staff and Wire Reports, March 20, 2006.
  18. ↑ Lois Smith Brady, Campbell Brown and Dan Senor, New York Times, April 9, 2006.

External links

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