January/February 1999
Steven Emerson's Crusade
Why is a journalist pushing questionable stories from behind the scenes?
By John F. Sugg
Did self-styled anti-terrorism expert Steven Emerson help push the world toward nuclear war?
On Sunday, June 28, a sensational story appeared in the British newspaper
The Observer: "Pakistan was planning nuclear first strike on India." The
stunning
revelation that South Asia was on the brink of thermonuclear war was
credited to an unnamed "senior Pakistani weapons scientist who has defected."
The next day,
papers on the Indian subcontinent were full of the news. Shock spread
and distrust mounted. "The scenario is frightening," stated the Times of
India (6/29/98).
On Wednesday, July 1, a USA Today report by Barbara Slavin named the
defector, Iftikhar Chaudhry Khan. The press scrambled to contact New York
lawyer
Michael Wildes, who represents Khan in his attempt to get political
asylum.
Emerson, in an odd role for a journalist, worked behind the scenes to
interest reporters in Wildes' client. A top network news producer says
his congressional
sources and news contacts were tipped to the story by Emerson. Slavin
says she was mainly convinced of the story's legitimacy because of one
of the Observer's
three writers was associated with the prestigious military analysis
group Jane's, but that Emerson's involvement added credibility. Attorney
Wildes himself says,
"Emerson was helpful in corroborating information and making scientific
clarifications."
As the story matured, skepticism mounted about Khan, especially after
sources in Pakistan described him as "a former low-level accountant at
a company that
makes bathroom fixtures." (San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/3/98) By July
7, U.S. nuclear physicists had interviewed Khan and pronounced him a fraud
(USA
Today, 7/7/98).
Emerson's priorities
Emerson has escaped notice in the affair--but his efforts had helped
craft a hard-to-erase public perception that Pakistan was the bad guy among
Asia's nuclear
novices.
The role Emerson played may at first seem perplexing. He presents himself
as a journalist, yet he handed off what appeared to be a major story to
rivals. A closer
look at Emerson's career suggests his priority is not so much news
as it is an unrelenting attack against Arabs and Muslims. From this perspective,
his gambit with
Khan seems easier to understand: Pakistan is a Muslim nation, while
India's nuclear program has long been linked to Israel. As the Indian Express
noted (6/29/98),
Pakistani politicians were "convinced that they were about to be attacked
by India, possibly with Israeli assistance."
Emerson's willingness to push an extremely thin story--with potentially
explosive consequences--is also consistent with the lengthy list of mistakes
and distortions that
mar his credentials as an expert on terrorism.
Those blemishes had, for a time, seemed to drive Emerson from major
news outlets. He has had to resort to new tactics to maintain his anti-Muslim
crusade--an
"anti-terrorism" journal that he uses as a soapbox, associates whose
reputations aren't as damaged as his, and, as in the Khan episode, staying
behind the curtains.
Emerson was back in the news last August--when terrorist bombs shattered
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. While most Americans watched the
grisly
nightly news in open-mouthed dismay, self-styled anti-terrorism experts
seemed to be jostling with one another to grab a few minutes on Rivera
Live, the Today
show and CNN. For a brief few days, they even displaced the Monicagate
pundits.
In the vanguard of the chattering heads was Emerson, whose past errors were quickly forgotten in the wake of African and Middle Eastern carnage.
"Middle Eastern Trait"
Emerson gained prominence in the early '90s. He published books, wrote
articles, produced a documentary, won awards and was frequently quoted.
The media,
Capitol Hill and scholars paid attention. "I respect his research.
He gets to people who were at the events," says Jeffrey T. Richelson, author
of A Century of Spies.
As Emerson's fame mounted, so did criticism. Emerson's book, The Fall
of Pan Am 103, was chastised by the Columbia Journalism Review, which noted
in
July 1990 that passages "bear a striking resemblance, in both substance
and style" to reports in the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y. Reporters
from the Syracuse
newspaper told this writer that they cornered Emerson at an Investigative
Reporters and Editors conference and forced an apology.
A New York Times review (5/19/91) of his 1991 book Terrorist chided
that it was "marred by factual errors…and by a pervasive anti-Arab and
anti-Palestinian
bias." His 1994 PBS video, Jihad in America (11/94), was faulted for
bigotry and misrepresentations--veteran reporter Robert Friedman (The Nation,
5/15/95)
accused Emerson of "creating mass hysteria against American Arabs."
Emerson was wrong when he initially pointed to Yugoslavians as suspects
in the World Trade Center bombing (CNN, 3/2/93). He was wrong when he said
on
CNBC (8/23/96) that "it was a bomb that brought down TWA Flight 800."
Emerson's most notorious gaffe was his claim that the 1995 Oklahoma
City bombing showed "a Middle Eastern trait" because it "was done with
the intent to inflict as
many casualties as possible." (CBS News, 4/19/95) Afterward, news organizations
appeared less interested in Emerson's pronouncements. A CBS contract
expired and wasn't renewed. Emerson had been a regular source and occasional
writer for the Washington Post; his name doesn't turn up once in Post archives
after Jan. 1, 1996. USA Today mentioned Emerson a dozen times before
September 1996, none after.
"He's poison," says investigative author Seymour Hersh, when asked about how Emerson is perceived by fellow journalists.
Dubious document
Yet Emerson seems irrepressible. In 1997, for example, an Associated
Press editor became convinced that Emerson was the "mother lode of
terrorism information," according to a reporter who worked on a series
that looked at American Muslim groups.
As a consultant on the series, Emerson presented AP reporters with what
were "supposed to be FBI documents" describing mainstream American
Muslim groups with alleged terrorist sympathies, according to the project's
lead writer, Richard Cole. One of the reporters uncovered an earlier,
almost identical document authored by Emerson. The purported FBI dossier
"was really his," Cole says. "He had edited out all phrases, taken out
anything that made it look like his."
Another AP reporter, Fred Bayles, recalls that Emerson "could never
back up what he said. We couldn't believe that document was from the FBI
files."
Emerson's contribution was largely stripped from the series, and he
retaliated with a "multi-page rant," according to Cole. AP Executive Editor
Bill
Ahearn does not dispute that the incident happened, but refuses to
comment or to release documents because the episode was deemed an "internal
matter." A ranking AP editor in Washington says: "We would be very,
very, very, very leery of using Steve Emerson."
Also during Emerson's lean years, he scored a November 1996 hit in the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (11/3/96)--owned by right-wing Clinton-basher
Richard Mellon Scaife, who also partially funded Jihad in America.
Considering Scaife's patronage, it is not surprising that Emerson declared
that
Muslim terrorist sympathizers were hanging out at the White House.
Emerson had a similar commentary piece printed three months earlier in
the
Wall Street Journal (8/5/96), one of the writer's few consistent major
outlets.
Tampa's "terrorists"
His most fruitful media foray during this period was at a Tampa, Florida,
newspaper. Emerson's Jihad in America video had, in part, targeted Islamic
scholars at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Following Emerson's
leads, a reporter for the Tampa Tribune launched a series of articles in
1995 titled "Ties to Terrorists." The series and subsequent articles
relied on Emerson as a primary source.
The Tribune's managing editor, Bruce Witwer, wrote in a July 15, 1997,
letter to an attorney: "Emerson is an acknowledged expert in the field,
while
he may be controversial. Emerson has the information. It is legitimate
information." But the information that Emerson is "controversial"--much
less
Emerson's record of mistakes and the allegations of bias that swirl
around him--has never been disclosed by the Tribune to its readers.
The Tribune's articles lacked balance and fairness, according to other
newspapers that have covered the events, including the St. Petersburg Times
and the Miami Herald. The Herald (3/22/98) ran a lengthy analysis of
the Tribune's reporting and concluded the Tampa newspaper had ignored
"perfectly innocent" interpretations of activity, giving vent only
to characterizations that suggested "extremely dark forces were on the
prowl."
Among the Tribune's and Emerson's charges are that Muslims, while at
the University of South Florida, were active Islamic Jihad commanders.
Emerson told Congress: "One of the world's most lethal terrorist factions
was based out of Tampa." If that's so, federal agents must have missed
something. Although the FBI and INS have been searching for clues for
more than three years, no charges have been filed.
Like Emerson, the Tribune uses tenuous chains of association to bolster
its claims that individuals are linked to terrorist groups. For example,
in one
article, the Tribune claimed that because an Islamic Jihad leader had
given a Reuters reporter, Paul Eedle, several articles, including one interview
published in a Tampa magazine, and because material seized by federal
agents in Tampa included a 1993 Jihad calendar, this proved an
organizational linkage. The Tribune (7/28/98), ignoring the stated
purpose of the South Florida scholars to collect material about and from
all Middle
East points of view, stated: "Eedle's experience appears to tighten
the relationship between the Jihad and the Tampa group."
Eedle, when interviewed for this article, said that while it was clear
people in Tampa were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, "being given
the
magazine didn't prove that there was any organizational link between
Islamic Jihad and the publishers of the magazine in Tampa."
Although no criminal charges have been filed in the Tampa case, Emerson
flatly states there is insidious wrongdoing. In February 1996, Emerson
claimed that Tampa Muslim academics were directly involved in the 1993
World Trade Center bombing (St. Petersburg Times, 2/10/96). "I am
constrained at this point from revealing some of those details," Emerson
said. "But they include money transfers, they include actual reservations
and planning for the conspirators in the bombing, and they include
visits back and forth between Tampa and New York and New Jersey, between
officials here of the groups [operating in Tampa] and officials there."
Yet no federal record of such allegations could be found. A Freedom
of Information request to the Justice Department seeking any information
tying
Tampa residents to the World Trade Center bombing produced this reply
from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General: "Please be advised that
no responsive records were located."
Actions have been taken against a couple of Emerson's targets. Emerson
seemed to gloat (Miami Herald, 3/22/98) that one Tampa academic, Mazen
Al-Najjar, has been jailed during a deportation appeal since May 1997
based on secret evidence that he is a national security threat. And he
appeared gleeful that another University of South Florida professor,
Sami Al-Arian, was removed from the classroom and is now unable to
"propagate his message to young students" (Miami Herald, 3/22/98).
Typical of Emerson's fact-checking, the university says no one has ever
alleged that Al-Arian, who is again teaching, brought politics into
the classroom.
"Arabaphobia"
This summer's U.S. embassy bombings produced others who believed in
Emerson's legitimacy. Geraldo welcomed Emerson, as did NPR, Good
Morning America and MSNBC's Internight. Emerson popped an opinion piece
into the Wall Street Journal (8/8/98), that attacked Clinton for
"legitimizing self-declared 'civil rights' and 'mainstream' Islamic
organizations that in fact operate as propaganda and political arms of
Islamic
fundamentalist movements."
Although he piously prefaces diatribes by saying there are good Muslims
and bad Muslims, it's a hollow defense. He claimed, in a March 1995
article in Jewish Monthly, that Islam "sanctions genocide, planned
genocide, as part of its religious doctrine."
Occasionally, Emerson outdoes himself with hyperbole. In an inflammatory
letter to the Voice of America (12/2/94), he fumed that radical Muslims
in
the United States are plotting the "mass murder of all Jews, Christians
and moderate Muslims." Buddhists, Wiccans and Scientologists are
apparently exempt in the apocalypse Emerson prophesies. Last year he
warned that "the U.S. has become occupied fundamentalist territory"
(Jerusalem Post, 8/8/97).
While Emerson makes incredible claims about Muslim conspiracies that
purportedly intend to commit terrorism inside U.S. borders, he ignores
the
fact that far more of these American atrocities, such as the anti-abortion
bombings and murders, are committed by apple-pie militant Christian
fundamentalists.
His denunciations are often backed up only by allusions to unnamed law
enforcement sources. "Emerson makes unsubstantiated allegations of
widespread conspiracies in Arab-American communities and brushes aside
his lack of documented evidence by implying it only proves how clever
and sinister the Arab/Muslim menace really is," investigative reporter
Chip Berlet has written (Covert Action Quarterly, Summer/95). "This is
a
prejudiced and Arabaphobic twist on the old anti-Semitic canard of
the crafty and manipulative Jew."
Emerson buffs, such as Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Arizona) provide the journalist
with a podium from which to make claims that are then recycled as part
of
the public record. A Kyl subcommittee welcomed Emerson as a witness
in February, allowing him to present a 46-page harangue against mainstream
American Muslim organizations.
Savaging critics
When criticized by journalists, Emerson retaliates with invective-laden
letters, often from lawyers. He has launched salvos at the Miami Herald,
The
Nation, Voice of America, FAIR (which publishes Extra!), and a Council
on Foreign Relations newsletter, as well as at numerous individual
journalists.
Kojo Nnamdi, a talk show host on Howard University's WHUT, remembers
that when he invited some Muslims on a program, "Emerson started
making threats. He wanted to link academics to terrorists. He succeeded
in delaying the program, I'm sorry to say."
After Emerson in 1996 attacked the Council on Foreign Relations for
including Muslim points of views in its newsletter, the group's president,
Leslie
Gelb, dubbed Emerson the "grand inquisitor." (Forward, 5/10/96)
The Miami Herald's highly regarded senior writer, Martin Merzer--who
has experience as a bureau chief in Jerusalem--demolished many of
Emerson's and the Tampa Tribune's claims in a March 1998 article (3/22/98).
Prior to publication, Emerson sent a letter to the Herald's top editor,
Doug Clifton, with copies to Jewish leaders, in an attempt to derail
the story. The letter called Merzer, who is Jewish, "nothing short of racist."
Subsequently, in a publication run by Emerson allies that has become
his bully pulpit, the Journal of Counterterrorism & Security International
(Spring/98), Emerson published what he claimed was a transcript of
his interview by Merzer. The "transcript" presents Merzer as stammering
and
admitting to extraordinary ignorance. Merzer calls the transcript a
fabrication. "It's crap," he says. "A few tiny kernels of truth surrounded
by a
mountain of lies."
Ironically, despite Emerson's many attempts to silence his critics,
he spends much of his time nowadays wailing that he's the victim. Recently,
an
NPR producer was moved by protests over Emerson's anti-Muslim prejudice
to stop using him as an expert on the network. That prompted Emerson
fans, such as Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby (8/31/98), to cry
"blacklisting"--never bothering to note that Emerson is a blacklister with
few
rivals.
Money trail
As recognition of Emerson's liabilities has grown, he has handed his
bullhorn to less controversial fellow travelers. Retired federal agents
Oliver
"Buck" Revell and Steve Pomerantz, who run a security business,
showed up echoing Emersonisms in an October 31 Washington Post article
warning of conspiracies and front organizations.
In an interview prior to the article's publication, the co-author of
that piece, John Mintz, said he was aware that Emerson was highly controversial.
The Post's solution: Don't mention Emerson but use his allies. (Mintz
had been provided with material documenting links among Emerson, Pomerantz
and Revell.)
The three "experts" spend a lot of time congratulating each other on
their courage and expertise. Pomerantz, for example, has written that Emerson
"is actually better informed in some areas than the responsible agencies
of government." (That came as news to Bob Blitzer, the FBI's top
counterterrorism official, who says Emerson "doesn't have access to
any high-level FBI intelligence.")
Revell's credits include quashing an investigation of the Iran-Contra
arms smuggling operation (Leslie Cockburn, Out of Control, p. 231). Revell
also acknowledges another member of the fraternity is Yigal Carmon,
a right-wing Israeli intelligence commander who endorsed the use of
torture
(Washington Post, 5/4/95), and who has stayed at Emerson's Washington
apartment on trips to lobby Congress against Middle East peace initiatives
(The Nation, 5/15/95). An Associated Press reporter who has dealt with
Emerson and Carmon says: "I have no doubt these guys are working
together."
Says Vince Cannistraro, an ABC consultant and a retired CIA counterterrorism
official, of Emerson's allies, Pomerantz, Revell and Carmon:
"They're Israeli-funded. How do I know that? Because they tried
to recruit me." Revell denies Cannistraro's assertion, but refuses to discuss
his
group's finances.
Emerson's own financing is hazy. He has received funding from Scaife.
Some Emerson critics suspect Israeli backing. The Jerusalem Post (9/17/94)
has noted that Emerson has "close ties to Israeli intelligence."
"He's carrying the ball for Likud," says investigative journalist Robert
Parry, referring to Israel's right-wing ruling party. Victor Ostrovsky,
who
defected from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and has written books
disclosing its secrets, calls Emerson "the horn"--because he trumpets
Mossad claims.
Presumed credible
Emerson is aided by those who appear to be ignorant of his record, or
who fear reprisal from his backers. He testified in February before a Senate
subcommittee chaired by Sen. Kyl. The testimony accused most major
American Muslim organization of terrorist connections. "We presumed him
to
be credible [because] he is known to have contact with street agents,"
said Jim Savage, at the time a Kyl staffer. "He represented his findings
as
authentic. We haven't verified them."
After the NPR spat over the summer, Jacoby's column quickly bludgeoned
the network into capitulation. Jeffrey Dvorkin, NPR's news chief,
kowtowed and stated in a letter to the Boston Globe that Emerson "has
never been banned from NPR and never will be. Emerson is one of many
commentators available to NPR on events involving his area of expertise
(terrorism and counter-terrorism). No doubt there will be other
opportunities for him to appear again."
A warning to us all.
John F. Sugg is senior editor of the Weekly Planet, the alternative
newspaper in the Tampa Bay area. He regularly writes media criticism, including
articles on Steven Emerson and the Tampa Tribune's coverage of Muslims.
Sugg has received three threatening letters from Emerson's lawyer
seeking--unsuccessfully--to deter further reporting.
Read the press release from The Journal of Counterterrorism and Security International, issued after the publication of this article.
Read FAIR's response, Extra!'s Report on Steven Emerson: Setting
the Record Straight.
Emerson on Islam
"The level of vitriol against Jews and Christianity within contemporary
Islam, unfortunately, is something that we are not totally cognizant of,
or that
we don't want to accept. We don't want to accept it because to do so
would be to acknowledge that one of the world's great religions -- which
has more
than 1.4 billion adherents -- somehow sanctions genocide, planned genocide,
as part of its religious doctrine." --Steven Emerson, Jewish Monthly
(3/95)
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