Carl W. Ford, Jr. (born 1943), is an American political scientist, consultant, defense administrator, and Asian specialist originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas. As Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, he headed the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) in the State Department from 2001 until 2003. He reported directly to then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Ford holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian studies and a Master of Arts in East Asian studies from Florida State University at Tallahassee. [1] He is an Independent politically.
From 1965 to 1989, Ford served two tours of duty in Vietnam, was a United States Army military intelligence officer, a United States Defense Intelligence Agency China Strategic Intelligence Officer, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) China military analyst, a professional staff member for East Asia on the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the United States National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the CIA.
Beginning in early 1989, Carl Ford spent four years working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). He first served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs (ISA) and concurrently as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia. After the Gulf War he became the Deputy Assistant for the Middle East and South Asia while keeping is Principal Deputy position. He remained on as Acting Assistant Secretary until a Bill Clinton administration selection could be confirmed.
In 1993, Ford established Ford and Associates, his own international consulting firm in Washington, D.C. to provide strategic and tactical advice to American companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon doing business with the militaries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Ford joined the State Department as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (INR) on the appointment of President George W. Bush in May 2001. He was also directly involved in crafting policy related to the war on terrorism, the Iraq War and reconstruction, and issues regarding the Chinese military, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East peace process, and the North Korean military threat.
In the fall of 2003, Ford joined Cassidy & Associates, a firm specializing in international policy and defense issues, with a particular focus on East Asia and the Middle East. He held the position of Executive Vice President until retiring in February 2006. He served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he led a seminar on Executive Branch Decision-Making, and taught a graduate course on Intelligence Theory and Practice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is currently an Adjunct at National Park College in Hot Springs, Arkansas teaching American National Government and State and Local Government.
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and former dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS. He is currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
James Franklin Jeffrey is an American diplomat who serves as the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL. He is a senior American diplomat and expert in political, security, and energy issues in the Middle East, Turkey, Germany, and the Balkans.
Douglas Jay Feith served as the under secretary of Defense for Policy for United States president George W. Bush, from July 2001 until August 2005. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think-tank.
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State whose primary mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis for U.S. diplomats. It is the oldest civilian intelligence agency in the U.S. Intelligence Community, as well as one of the smallest, with roughly 300 personnel.
Robert Michael Gates is an American statesman, scholar, intelligence analyst, and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. He was originally appointed by President George W. Bush and was retained for service by President Barack Obama. Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Gates served for 26 years in the CIA and the National Security Council, and was Director of Central Intelligence under President George H. W. Bush. After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, that studied the lessons of the Iraq War.
The Niger uranium forgeries were forged documents initially released in 2001 by SISMI, which seem to depict an attempt made by Saddam Hussein in Iraq to purchase yellowcake uranium powder from Niger during the Iraq disarmament crisis. On the basis of these documents and other indicators, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom asserted that Iraq violated United Nations sanctions against Iraq by attempting to procure nuclear material for the purpose of creating weapons of mass destruction.
Anne Woods Patterson is an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. She served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Egypt until 2013 and as United States Ambassador to Pakistan from July 2007 to October 2010.
Harry Edward Soyster is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General.
Robert G. Joseph is a senior scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy and professor at Missouri State University. He was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with ambassadorial rank. Prior to this post, Joseph was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, a position he held until January 24, 2007. Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced the Libyans to give up their WMD programs. He also recently authored a book describing his experience in negotiating with Libya entitled "Countering WMD."
Charles Thomas Fingar, born January 11, 1946, is a professor at Stanford University. In 1986 Fingar left Stanford to join the State Department. In 2005, he moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and concurrently served as the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council until December 2008. In January 2009, he rejoined Stanford University as a Payne Distinguished Lecturer in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Lawrence B.Wilkerson is a retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Since the end of his military career, Wilkerson has publicly criticized many aspects of the Iraq War, including his own preparation of Powell's presentation to the UN, as well as other aspects of American policy in the Middle East.
Edward S. Walker is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the UAE and is a Middle East specialist.
John A. Nagl is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. He is former president of the Center for a New American Security and current headmaster of The Haverford School. Nagl is an expert in counterinsurgency and has published two books on military strategy.
Michael George Vickers is an American defense official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD-I) within the United States Department of Defense. He was born in Burbank, California. As USD-I, Vickers, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, was the Defense Department's top civilian military intelligence official. Before becoming USD-I, Vickers served as United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.
Diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States began when the U.S. first recognized Iraq on January 9, 1930, with the signing of the Anglo-American-Iraqi Convention in London by Charles G. Dawes, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Today, the United States and Iraq both consider themselves as strategic partners, given the American political and military involvement after the invasion of Iraq and their mutual, deep-rooted relationship that followed. The United States provides the Iraqi security forces millions of dollars of military aid and training annually as well as uses its military bases.
Richard Lee Armitage is an American former diplomat and government official.
David Charles Gompert is an American government official and former diplomat who served as the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) following the resignation of Dennis C. Blair in 2009. Prior to his ascension as DNI, he was Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and continued serving in that capacity until 2011.
Grant S. Green Jr. is a former United States soldier who has held offices in the United States Department of Defense and the United States Department of State.
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician and former CIA analyst serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 8th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official. Her district, which was once represented by current U. S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, is based in the state capital of Lansing; it stretches into the outer northern suburbs of Detroit.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by J. Stapleton Roy | Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research June 1, 2001 – October 3, 2003 | Succeeded by Thomas Fingar |
