If you are like me, you are not surprised to find out that 4 of the top national security advisers for the station are closely tied to terrorism. They actually have a long history of that starting with Christiane Amanpour and working their way down to the current four.
Qatar finances terrorism in Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. These four are very open about lobbying for Qatar and seem to have no qualms over their support of terrorism, therefore, we know they are Democrats.
Ali Soufan
A CNN regular who was prominently featured in the network’s anti-Saudi Arabia documentary, Ali Soufan is the executive director of the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies, which is based in Doha and funded by the Qatari regime. Oddly, the leadership roster at the state-controlled Qatari institution is almost identical to his U.S.-based Soufan Group.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Soufan has a “personal relationship” with the top leadership of Qatar.
Soufan, like his Qatar-backed colleagues, frequently rails against the Saudis, Qatar’s top rival, for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. He has also pushed debunked conspiracy theories about Saudi Arabia hacking into the personal information of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Mehdi Hasan
CNN regular Mehdi Hasan is a longtime presenter for Al Jazeera, the powerful Doha-controlled state media entity that was the favorite networkof deceased al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Hasan’s employer pushes out a steady stream of pro-Islamist, anti-Semitic propaganda. As a state-controlled institution, its founding and continuing purpose is the advancement of Qatar’s national interests.
“Mr. Hasan works for al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned media enterprise that advances the interests of the state and its royal family. When he speaks, he’s no less a government spokesman than Kellyanne Conway or Sarah Sanders,” explained David Reaboi of the Security Studies Group in a Washington Times column last week.
“But the government he represents — to millions of unsuspecting American viewers — has long promoted the Muslim Brotherhood, funds the bloodthirsty designated terror group Hamas, has helped al Qaeda and the Taliban fundraise, and is relentlessly hostile to American interests,” he adds.
Juliette Kayyem
Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst, is a board member of the the International Centre for Sport Security, a front group controlled by Qatar that is an influence operation to secure and defend Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid. Kayyem has regularly spoken on behalf of the organization and has been a media point of contact for the shadowy group. She has not been forthcoming about the reality that the ICSS is a Doha-controlled institution. A 2015 flyer from the group presents Kayyem as part of a group of “ICSS spokespeople” who can answer questions about a forthcoming two-day summit.
The leader of ICSS — which again, claims to be a sports-promoting outfit — is Mohammed Hanzab, whose has a background as an intelligence and defense specialist in the Qatari military. Hanzab previously served as the president of Ali Soufan’s QIASS.
Kayyem regularly takes to the airwaves to bash Qatar’s rivals and has transformed her social media accounts into a one-stop shop for anti-Saudi Arabia talking points. When discussing issues involving Middle East politics, Kayyem does not disclose that she is on the board of a state-run Qatari institution.
Peter Bergen
Unlike the other individuals on this list, lead CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen does not appear to have a direct link to a Qatari state institution. However, Bergen, a regular visitor to the tiny, energy-rich nation, pushes blatant pro-Qatar agitprop when it comes to Middle East affairs.
Writing from Doha in November, in a piece that reads like propaganda from a state-run Qatari news site, Bergen commented that “Qatar looks like a far more natural ally for the United States than the Saudis.”
The CNN employee frequently lectures at Qatari-funded institutions such as Georgetown University Qatar. And last year, he moderated a panel at the Doha Forum, which is held under the auspices of the Qatari regime. Bergen’s bio states that he is a professor of practice at Arizona State University, which has the largest number of Qatari students at any U.S. university, many of whom are sponsored by Qatari state institutions, including its defense ministry. Additionally, Arizona State is among the top recipients of Qatari funding to U.S. universities.
CNN has not responded to a request for comment.