[h=1]Mansoor Ijaz[/h] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mansoor Ijaz (born 1961) is an
American businessman of
Pakistani Ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to
Pakistan,
Iraq and
Afghanistan.[SUP]
[1][/SUP] He is the founder and chairman of
Crescent Investment Management LLC, a New York investment partnership since 1990 that includes retired General
James Alan Abrahamson, former director of President Reagan's
Strategic Defense Initiative. Ijaz has had ties to former
CIA Director James Woolsey. Ijaz is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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[h=2][
edit] Personal Life[/h] Mansoor Ijaz was born in
Tallahassee,
Florida and grew up on a farm in rural
Virginia.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] Ijaz received his bachelor's degree in
nuclear physics from the
University of Virginia in 1983 and master's degree in
mechanical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985, where he was trained as a neural sciences engineer. His father, Dr.
Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz, was a theoretical physicist who played a major role in
nuclear detterence development throughout 1970s and 1980s, and was a pioneering figure in the designing of the weapons.
Ijaz developed CARAT, a currency, interest rate and equity risk management system. He started his own investment firm in 1990. Away from Crescent's daily business affairs, Ijaz serves on the College Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia and is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations.
[h=2][
edit] Media commentator[/h] He used to appear regularly on a variety of financial and political news programs for
CNN [1] [2],
Fox News,
BBC, Germany’s ARD TV, Japan’s NHK,
ABC[SUP][
disambiguation needed 
][/SUP] and
NBC. He has commented for
PBS’ Newshour with
Jim Lehrer [3],
[4],
[5],
[6] and ABC News Nightline with
Ted Koppel. Ijaz has been featured twice in
Barron's Currency Roundtable discussions. He has also contributed to the editorial pages of London’s
Financial Times,
The Wall Street Journal,
The New York Times,
Los Angeles Times,
The Washington Post, The
International Herald Tribune,
Newsweek International,
The Christian Science Monitor,
The Weekly Standard,
National Review,
USA Today, and the
Times of India. He endorsed views in the period prior to the Iraq War, later proven to be false, that included the presence of WMDs in Iraq and ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Among other topics, he commented on the Osama bin Laden [SUP]
[3][/SUP] and Nuclear Proliferation [SUP]
[4][/SUP]
[h=3][
edit] Fox News analyst on Special Report[/h] Mansoor Ijaz was a Fox News Analyst and played a popular role on Special Report. . He was the most popular guest on the show and appeared on Fox more than 100 occasions. Ijaz would articulate opinions in support of the Bush White House and neo-conservative foreign policy. [SUP]
[5][/SUP]
[h=3][
edit] Iran Nuke Exclusive[/h] In 2006, in an interview with Gulf News, he made the world exclusive claim that Iran already had a nuclear bomb and that US think-tanks were already formulating strategies to overthrow the Iranian Government [SUP]
[6][/SUP]
[h=2][
edit] International negotiator[/h] Mansoor Ijaz has been involved in unofficial negotiations between US and Sudanese governments with regard to extradition of Osama bin Laden. In 1996 the
United States Congress had imposed sanctions against the
Sudanese government over the terrorist operations on its soil.[SUP]
[7][/SUP] Mansoor Ijaz reportedly tried to negotiate a deal between Sudan's president
Omar al-Bashir and Clinton administration officials including
Sandy Berger. Ijaz argued the U.S. should adopt a policy of "constructive engagement" with Sudan, in return for deporting Osama bin Laden.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] However bin Laden made his way to
Afghanistan after the deportation from Sudan. According to Ijaz, that was a missed opportunity to capture bin Laden who has not even been indicted by US authorities,[SUP]
[9][/SUP] a claim that Clinton's administration has denied[SUP][
citation needed][/SUP]. The
9/11 Commission found that although "former Sudanese officials claim that Sudan offered to expel Bin Laden to the United States", "we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim.".[SUP]
[10][/SUP]
[h=2][
edit] Statements Regarding bin Laden[/h] According to Ijaz, the Sudanese government offered the Clinton administration numerous opportunities to arrest bin Laden and those opportunities were met positively by Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright but spurned when
Susan Rice and counter-terrorism czar
Richard Clarke persuaded National Security Advisor
Sandy Berger to overrule Albright.
Ijaz’s claims in this regard appeared in numerous Op-Ed pieces including one in the
Los Angeles Times [SUP]
[11][/SUP] and one in the
Washington Post co-written with former Ambassador to Sudan
Timothy M. Carney .[SUP]
[12][/SUP]
Similar allegations have been made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose[SUP]
[13][/SUP] and
Richard Miniter, author of
Losing bin Laden, in a November 2003 interview with
World.[SUP]
[14][/SUP]
Several sources dispute Ijaz's claim, including the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (the 9-11 Commission) which concluded in part “Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Laden over to the United States. The Commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. Ambassador Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel Bin Laden. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding.” [SUP]
[15][/SUP]
[h=2][
edit] Memogate[/h] Main article:
Memogate (Pakistan)
Mansoor Ijaz was involved in the
memogate controversy, which revolves around a memorandum seeking help of the
Obama administration to avert a military takeover of the civilian government in Pakistan in the wake of the
Osama bin Laden raid, and to assist in a civilian takeover of the military apparatus.[SUP]
[16][/SUP] The contents of the confidential memo, addressed to
Admiral Mike Mullen, were published in its entirety on
Foreign Policy magazine's website on November 17.[SUP]
[17][/SUP]
Ijaz alleged that former
Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani asked him to deliver the confidential memo[SUP]
[18][/SUP] asking for US assistance. The memo is alleged to have been drafted by Haqqani at the behest of
President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.[SUP]
[19][/SUP] The Supreme Court of Pakistan has opened a broader inquiry into the origins, credibility and purpose of the memo.[SUP]
[20][/SUP]
[h=2][
edit] References[/h]
- ^ CNN (October 18, 2001) Mansoor Ijaz: The Pakistan perspective (CNN interview of Ijaz) Obtained February 14, 2007.
- ^ Rediff.com (November 28, 2000) The Rediff Interview/ Mansoor Ijaz Obtained February 14, 2007.
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A64828-2002Jun29
- ^ http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/575nerhn.asp?pg=1
- ^ http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1187
- ^ http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iran/iran-has-bomb-and-trying-to-make-more-1.222961
- ^ Gellman, Barton (October 3, 2001). "U.S. Was Foiled Multiple Times in Efforts To Capture Bin Laden or Have Him Killed". The Washington Post.
- ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1997_hr/h970610i.htm
- ^ http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/568
- ^ http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_5.pdf
- ^ Ijaz, Mansoor (December 5, 2001). "Clinton Let Bin Laden Slip Away and Metastasize". The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Carney, Timothy; Mansoor Ijaz (June 30, 2002). "Intelligence Failure? Let's Go Back to Sudan". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Rose, David (January, 2002). "The Osama Files". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Belz, Mindy (November 1, 2003). "'Clinton did not have the will to respond'". World. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch4.htm
- ^ "Pakistan US ambassador offers to resign over 'memogate'". BBC News Asia. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "Contents of the Mullen Memorandum". Foreign Policy. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "A dangerous path for Pakistan, says Mansoor Ijaz". The News. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Ambassador Haqqani again denies sending memo". Geo News. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ Abott, Sebastion. "Pakistani Judicial Commission To Probe Memo Scandal". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
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