Interesting article by someone who once argued that state-sponsored journalists are legally combatants, "the Voice of Palestine—the official broadcasting arm of

Interesting article by someone who once argued that state-sponsored journalists are legally combatants, "the Voice of Palestine—the official broadcasting arm of the Palestinian Authority ... will remain what it has become: a combatant—and therefore a legitimate target—in a painful, never-ending, low-intensity war"[0] NED also enjoys deep support across Congress, and has an organizational structure designed to protect it from political attack: It is run not by the U.S. government but by an independent, bipartisan board, which allows it to keep its distance from partisan politics. I was on that board from 2016 until 2024 and can attest that the conspiracy theories are wrong. The endowment’s board members are not secret intelligence officers but former civil servants, members of Congress, academics, and regional experts. Nobody pays them for the work they do, pro bono, on NED’s behalf. And apparently contrary to conspiracy theories, NED is just a bog standard NGO? > In 1983, Casey and Raymond focused on creating a funding mechanism to support Freedom House and other outside groups that would engage in propaganda and political action that the CIA had historically organized and paid for covertly. The idea emerged for a congressionally funded entity that would serve as a conduit for this money. > But Casey recognized the need to hide the strings being pulled by the CIA. “Obviously we here [at CIA] should not get out front in the development of such an organization, nor should we appear to be a sponsor or advocate,” Casey said in one undated letter to then-White House counselor Edwin Meese III as Casey urged creation of a “National Endowment.” [1/2] > In 1991 a cofounder of the National Endowment for Democracy, Allen Weinstein, explained its work by saying, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”[3] A bog standard NGO conceived of by the Director of the CIA to fill the role the CIA once did. But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln? [0] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/01/targeting-radio-and-tv-stations.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/01/targeting-radio-... [1] https://consortiumnews.com/2015/01/08/cias-hidden-hand-in-democracy-groups/ https://consortiumnews.com/2015/01/08/cias-hidden-hand-in-de... [2] https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/casey-meese.pdf https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/casey-... [3] https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/10/21/what-is-national-endowment-democracy-mission/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/10/21/what-is-national...