On Nov. 30, the Washington Times published an
Op-Ed under the headline “Bahrain, a vital U.S. ally:
Backing protesters would betray a friend and harm American security.” It was written by Vice Adm. Charles Moore (retired). Moore was formerly commander of the Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. From 1998 to 2002, Moore notes in his Op-Ed, he “had the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s leader, as well as many senior officials in his government.”
Moore passed through the revolving door and is now regional president for Lockheed Martin for the Middle East and Africa.... ... ... To sum up: Bahrain paid a Washington lobbying firm to get an independent-seeming Op-Ed published in an American newspaper and then touted the Op-Ed in its official news agency...
In the past decade or so, Lockheed has done hundreds of millions of dollars of business with Bahrain, including selling the nation 10 F-16
jets, hundreds of extended-range
rockets, tactical surface-to-surface
missiles, and a ballistic missile defense radar system. The company has also had an $87 million
contract to do tech support for the U.S. military in Bahrain and elsewhere. So it’s clearly in Lockheed’s interest to keep the U.S.-Bahrain relationship healthy, and the company appears to be working directly with the regime to accomplish that goal.
Lockheed spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow told Salon in a statement that Moore’s views are his own:
As stated in the opinion piece, the views expressed by Mr. Moore are his own as an individual, not as a representative of Lockheed Martin, and are based on his experience as former U.S. Navy 5th Fleet Commander.
In fact, the piece does not state that Moore’s views are “his own as an individual”; he is identified as a Lockheed executive in his bio line...."
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