John A. Shaw
Encyclopedia
John A. "Jack" Shaw served as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security and in a variety of other senior U.S. Government positions. Prior to his appointment by former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld
, Shaw was President and CEO of the American Overseas Clinics Corporation. Prior senior positions in the government included the White House staffs of Presidents Nixon
, Ford
, and Reagan
. He served as White House Liaison to the US Defense Department under President Ford and to the US State Department under President Reagan.
in 1957. He then received a B.A. from Williams College
, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall
, as well as a bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where he was a Fellow of Magdalene College
. He has taught international security studies at Cambridge University, Williams College, Georgetown University
, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.
During his professorship at Williams College, he invested much of his own time and money to found the Williams College men's rowing
team, despite heavy resistance from the administration at the time. In recognition of Shaw's perseverance, one of the shells in the John A. Shaw Boathouse is named Pride and Persistence. Additionally, an award bearing his name is given out each year to a male rower who epitomizes his will to keep fighting in the face of adversity.
In 1975 he was confirmed by the Senate
as Inspector General
of Foreign Assistance
and Assistant Secretary of State
, responsible for the oversight of all U.S. Foreign Military Sales, U.S. AID
, the Peace Corps
, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Export-Import Bank. From 1986-88 he served as Senior Advisor
to the Administrator of Agency for International Development. From 1989-91 he served as Associate Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Commerce, and oversaw a major effort to reform the Bureau of Export Administration. In 1992 he was nominated as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, receiving a recess appointment
when the revised Export Administration Act was vetoed.
From 1978-80, Mr. Shaw returned to the private sector as a Vice President of Booz Allen & Hamilton International
, overseeing the development, organization and management of two new industrial cities, Jubail
and Yanbu, in Saudi Arabia
. These cities constituted the largest development project in the world. He worked for several management consulting companies, the St. Phalle International Group and the Cambridge Consulting Group, overseeing international business development projects. From 1980-84 he was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
, specializing in Middle Eastern and International Business Affairs, and was Vice President for Washington Operations for the Hudson Institute
, then overseeing the Center for Naval Analyses
, from 1985-86.
's weapons programs before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. He stated in October 2004, March 2005, and again in February 2006 that it was the Russia
ns who helped Saddam Hussein to "clean up" his weapons of mass destruction
stockpiles "to prevent the United States
from discovering them."
In particular, on February 18, 2006, Shaw told a conference at The Intelligence Summit
in Alexandria, Virginia
, that "The short answer to the question of where the WMD Saddam bought from the Russians went was that they went" to Syria
and the Beqaa Valley
in Lebanon
, Kenneth R. Timmerman
reported February 19, 2006, in NewsMax. "They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz
(special forces) units out of uniform, that were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence," Shaw said.
After accusing Russian GRU
of helping Saddam to remove his WMD, Shaw was asked to resign for "exceeding his authority" in disclosing the information, a charge he called "specious." Shaw was forced out of office when his position was eliminated on December 10, 2004.
Shaw stated that he went public with his comments regarding Russia moving Iraq's WMD when he did to help George W. Bush
who he felt was being "crucified" by the revelations that over 350 tons of explosives had gone missing in Iraq as a result of the U.S. invasion
. He said "If I had not had the openly hostile environment in [Pentagon public affairs], I would have moved the story differently. Getting the truth out instantly was more important than process."
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
, Shaw was President and CEO of the American Overseas Clinics Corporation. Prior senior positions in the government included the White House staffs of Presidents Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, and Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. He served as White House Liaison to the US Defense Department under President Ford and to the US State Department under President Reagan.
Professional Background
Shaw graduated from high school at Kent SchoolKent School
Kent School is a private, co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, USA. The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, Order of the Holy Cross, established the school in 1906 and it retains its affiliation with the Episcopal Church of the United States.Students at Kent come from more...
in 1957. He then received a B.A. from Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall, also known as Saint Anthony Hall and The Order of St. Anthony, is a national college literary society also known as the Fraternity of Delta Psi at colleges in the United States of America. St...
, as well as a bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where he was a Fellow of Magdalene College
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
. He has taught international security studies at Cambridge University, Williams College, Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.
During his professorship at Williams College, he invested much of his own time and money to found the Williams College men's rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
team, despite heavy resistance from the administration at the time. In recognition of Shaw's perseverance, one of the shells in the John A. Shaw Boathouse is named Pride and Persistence. Additionally, an award bearing his name is given out each year to a male rower who epitomizes his will to keep fighting in the face of adversity.
In 1975 he was confirmed by the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
as Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
of Foreign Assistance
American Foreign Service Association
The American Foreign Service Association is the professional association certified by the United States Department of State, the Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development to represent members of the United States Foreign Service. AFSA's history...
and Assistant Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
, responsible for the oversight of all U.S. Foreign Military Sales, U.S. AID
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
, the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Export-Import Bank. From 1986-88 he served as Senior Advisor
Senior Advisor
In some countries, a Senior Advisor is an appointed position by the Head of State to advise on the highest levels of national and government policy. Sometimes a junior position to this is called a National Policy Advisor...
to the Administrator of Agency for International Development. From 1989-91 he served as Associate Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Commerce, and oversaw a major effort to reform the Bureau of Export Administration. In 1992 he was nominated as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, receiving a recess appointment
Recess appointment
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
when the revised Export Administration Act was vetoed.
From 1978-80, Mr. Shaw returned to the private sector as a Vice President of Booz Allen & Hamilton International
Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
, overseeing the development, organization and management of two new industrial cities, Jubail
Jubail
Jubail , is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Old Town of Al Jubail, which was originally a small fishing village, up to 1975 and the new industrial area....
and Yanbu, in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. These cities constituted the largest development project in the world. He worked for several management consulting companies, the St. Phalle International Group and the Cambridge Consulting Group, overseeing international business development projects. From 1980-84 he was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
, specializing in Middle Eastern and International Business Affairs, and was Vice President for Washington Operations for the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, then overseeing the Center for Naval Analyses
Center for Naval Analyses
CNA's Center for Naval Analyses is a federally funded research and development center for the Navy and the Marine Corps. It also provides research and analysis services to other military and government agencies to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S...
, from 1985-86.
Russia and Iraq
Shaw was responsible for tracking Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's weapons programs before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. He stated in October 2004, March 2005, and again in February 2006 that it was the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns who helped Saddam Hussein to "clean up" his weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
stockpiles "to prevent the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from discovering them."
In particular, on February 18, 2006, Shaw told a conference at The Intelligence Summit
The Intelligence Summit
The Intelligence Summit is an annual conference run principally by John Loftus and funded an organization he controls, the Intelligence and Homeland Security Educational Center ....
in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, that "The short answer to the question of where the WMD Saddam bought from the Russians went was that they went" to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Kenneth R. Timmerman
Kenneth R. Timmerman
Kenneth R. Timmerman is a journalist, political writer, and conservative Republican activist who in 2000 was a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator from Maryland. Timmerman is executive director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, an organization that works to support...
reported February 19, 2006, in NewsMax. "They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...
(special forces) units out of uniform, that were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence," Shaw said.
After accusing Russian GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
of helping Saddam to remove his WMD, Shaw was asked to resign for "exceeding his authority" in disclosing the information, a charge he called "specious." Shaw was forced out of office when his position was eliminated on December 10, 2004.
Shaw stated that he went public with his comments regarding Russia moving Iraq's WMD when he did to help George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
who he felt was being "crucified" by the revelations that over 350 tons of explosives had gone missing in Iraq as a result of the U.S. invasion
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. He said "If I had not had the openly hostile environment in [Pentagon public affairs], I would have moved the story differently. Getting the truth out instantly was more important than process."