Lieberman & the Ghouls

Committee Borrows Old Name to Fight New Danger
Tuesday July 20, 9:04 am ET

WASHINGTON, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) is being launched today, reviving a name familiar during the Cold War, but with a different mission. "The new CPD also has a single mission: It will advocate policies intended to win the war on global terrorism -- terrorism carried out by radical Islamists opposed to freedom and democracy. The Committee intends to remain active until the present danger is no longer a threat, however long that takes," said Committee Chairman R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence.
The earlier CPD had a single mission, advocacy of strong measures to win the Cold War. It declared its intention to remain active until the danger -- Soviet communism -- was no longer a threat. It did so until the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

United States Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) are honorary co-chairmen of the new Committee. Launched at a news conference today, the Committee has 43 members initially. "It is bipartisan in composition and will be nonpartisan in its program," Woolsey said. He added that the CPD includes former government and Congressional officials, foreign and defense policy specialists and members of the business and professional communities. Other than the honorary co-chairmen, the CPD will not have any sitting elected or appointed officials in its membership.

"The war on terrorism is a war of ideas as much as it is a war of weapons, because the terrorists target the very democratic values we stand for," said Senator Joe Lieberman. "We are here today to form a bipartisan citizens army, which is ready to fight a war of ideas against our Islamist terrorist enemies, and to send a clear signal that their strategy to deceive, demoralize and divide America will not succeed."

Senator Kyl added, "When faced with a clear and present danger to our security, Americans have always set aside partisan politics. Winning the war on terrorism is the great challenge of our time and will require that we come together as much as did previous generations when they faced the threats of fascism and communism."

The Committee has been organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, which permits it to advocate policies, but it cannot advocate support for or opposition to any political candidate or party.

Committee program activities are expected to include conferences and symposia, position papers, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, speeches and Congressional Testimony, according to Peter D. Hannaford, CPD managing director. In addition, the CPD launched a new website, http://www.fightingterror.org .