Right-wing think tanks rule DC
By Patrick Anidjar in Washington
02may03

CONSERVATIVE thinktanks exert a considerable influence over the 
Bush administration and the US media, with their right-wing agenda 
considerably at odds with the more moderate view of the State 
Department, analysts say.  

Bodies such as the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institute have 
been influential since the days of the Reagan administration, and are 
now prominent again under President George W Bush.  

"They certainly influence the people or reinforce the ideas of the people 
who influence the President," according to political scientist Stephen 
Wayne of Georgetown University.  

"It is not only an influence, it's a reinforcement, really, of the directions 
which this administration has taken in most of its conservative agenda," 
Wayne said, citing the war against Iraq, the 'war on terror' and also the 
economy.  

The neo-conservatives are also adept at ensuring their message is 
heard in the media and influences the public discourse, analysts said.  

"They're much more effective, a much more strategic model, than what's 
done on the Left in disseminating information to the public, the media, 
Congress," according to analyst Jeff Krehely.  

As far back as 1998, under the Clinton presidency, a survey by media 
watchdog FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) showed that "over 
half (53 per cent) of quotes broadcast by the media came from right-
wing thinktanks" against only 16 per cent from the Left. This disparity 
has grown under the latest Bush administration.  

Krehely, a member of the National Committee for Responsive 
Philanthropy, noted that right-wing thinktanks can also rely on more 
generous, and numerous, benefactors than their left-wing counterparts.  

As well as ensuring a high media profile for their ideologies, the 
thinktanks also act as a breeding ground for political advisors.  

Richard Perle, one of the Pentagon's leading hawks and a key 
proponent of the 'pre-emptive strike' doctrine, is a member of 
the ultra-conservative American Enterprise Institute (AIE).  

Lynn Cheney, wife of the vice-president, is also a member.  

Former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich also used 
the AIE as a forum from where to attack the State Department and 
Secretary of State Colin Powell - who regularly comes under fire 
from the hawks.  

The State Department has remained relatively free of neo-conservatives 
except for John Bolton, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control 
and International Security, who is a member of the AIE, close to Israel 
and the US right.  

According to press reports, Bolton was imposed on the department 
against the wishes of Powell.  

Even political opponents admit the neo-conservatives have mounted 
a skilful and successful campaign to get their message heard in the 
corridors of power.  

ThirdWorldTraveler.com, a website that claims to offer "an alternative 
view to the corporate media about the state of democracy in America," 
concedes that over the past two decades, the conservative thinktanks 
"have mounted an impressively coherent and concerted effort" to shape  
the political direction in Washington.

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Source: Sunday Times ...
www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,6371051%255E401,00.html


Cheers, Steve..

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