Wayne Madsen
Encyclopedia
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, D.C.
-based author
, columnist
, and investigative journalistspecializing in intelligence
and international affairs. He has written for The Village Voice
, The Progressive
, CounterPunch
, CorpWatch
, Multinational Monitor
, CovertAction Quarterly
, In These Times
, and The American Conservative
. His columns have appeared in The Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle
, Philadelphia Inquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Sacramento Bee, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others. He is the author of the blog Wayne Madsen Report.
He has been described by many journalists including Andrew Sullivan
at the Atlantic Monthly, CBS
, and Salon
as a conspiracy theorist
.
on 28 April 1954 to an American mother and a Danish mariner. His grandmother, who emigrated to the U.S. with his father after World War II
was Victoria Madsen, a Danish communist party
official. In the 1950s Victoria Madsen was deported
by the FBI
Madsen attended the University of Mississippi
where he joined the Navy ROTC
.
and underwent training at the Surface Warfare School. Later he was assigned to anti-submarine acoustic sensing operations. He subsequently received a Navy Unit Commendation
for being part of the team that found the first acoustic signature of a Soviet Alfa class submarine
.
In 1982 he was stationed at the Coos Head
Naval Facility. Naval Facility Coos Head had an allowance of twelve officers, ninety-five enlisted and 15 civilians. At Coos Head he was involved in a sting operation
conducted by the FBI and NCIS
which ultimately ended in the arrest of his commanding officer Lt Cmdr Lawrence William Frawley for pedophilia
on 11 September. Madsen was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal
for his involvement and assistance in the investigation. He was later given a bad fitness report by his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Marney Finch.
His new commanding officer at Coos Bay transferred him to Washington D.C. He resigned from the Navy in 1985 as a lieutenant
, having been passed over for promotion. Madsen described himself as the "most senior lieutenant in the Navy" at the time of his resignation and has blamed his lack of advance on a powerful group of pedophiles hidden in the top of the U.S. Navy ranks. Madsen says that independent investigations into illegal homosexual activity in the federal government by other journalists were eventually published by the Washington Times in 1989.
In 1984 he "benefitted from the 1983 bombing of the Computer Area in the Washington Navy Yard" and the 1984 White House screening of the movie War Games
which he suggests prompted President Reagan into putting money into computer security. He was loaned in 1984 to the NSA
by the Navy to work in computer security.
as a government consultant on contracts for the National Security Agency
(NSA). Later he worked for the Navy's Naval Data Automation Command as a civilian employee. After this Madsen briefly established his own consulting firm, then worked for the National Bureau of Standards, and later for the State Department.
In 1990 Madsen joined CSC
, working there from 1990 until 1997, when he joined the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) as a senior fellow. In late January 2005 Madsen left EPIC, attributing his departure to Republican
pressure to remove Washington insiders aligned with the Democrats or liberal causes.
in Kenya and Tanzania, Madsen appeared on ABC News
as an East Africa expert and has also appeared on 60 Minutes
, World News Tonight
, Nightline
, 20/20
, MSNBC
, and NBC Nightly News
.
Madsen says that in 2001 he was denied a press pass
as an Internet journalist to cover the first inauguration of George W. Bush
.
In 2005 Madsen began working as a free-lance journalist, and publishing his own news blog. He describes the Wayne Madsen Report as following in the tradition of Drew Pearson
, Jack Anderson's famous "Washington Merry-Go-Round" syndicated column, and columns by I.F. Stone. His columns have appeared in The Miami Herald
, Houston Chronicle
, Philadelphia Inquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Sacramento Bee, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
which he said were threats to the privacy rights of Americans. In 2002 he suggested to the Guardian newspaper that the United States Navy
had aided in an attempted overthrow of Venezuela
n president, Hugo Chavez
. In January 2002 he expressed concern over the possible use of torture
by the United States government against suspected terorrists
, as well as possible plans to use the military in domestic law enforcement, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
.
In 2003 he said that he had uncovered information linking the September 11 attacks to the government of Saudi Arabia
as well as to Bush administration. In 2005, he wrote than an unidentified former CIA agent claimed that the USS Cole
was actually hit by a Popeye cruise missile launched from an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine.
In 2005 he said that the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, had pressured American politicians to stay away from protests against the Iraq war.
In 2006 he criticized the Iraq Study Group
, saying:
Later that year he criticized the movie industry for indirectly causing suffering in Africa
by promoting diamonds in movies like Breakfast At Tiffany's and Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
. He included Leonardo DiCaprio
, whose film Blood Diamond
dealt with the issue, as well as Russell Simmons
who is selling a line of "nonconflict diamonds." Madsen said about them, "It's a p.r. campaign. They should be saying, 'Don't buy diamonds at all.'"
In a 2008 ArabNews article, Madsen is quoted as suggesting that the criminal prosecution of New York State governor Eliot Spitzer
was partly due to the Israel
i intelligence agency Mossad
.
On June 9, 2008 he reported that unnamed "GOP dirty tricks operatives" had found a Kenyan birth certificate registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. on August 4, 1961. "However, the registration is a common practice in African countries whose citizens abroad have families with foreign nationals." This birth certificate was a cornerstone of the "Kenyan Born" subset of the birther conspiracy theories
, and Madsen's article was cited in a Washington state petition challenging Obama's eligibility to serve.
On April 25, 2009, Madsen reported that some unidentified UN
World Health Organization
officials and scientists believed the 2009 new H1N1 strain of swine flu virus appeared to be the product of U.S. military sponsored gene splicing
, as opposed to natural processes. While it can not be ruled out that the virus was created in a research laboratory or vaccine factory, the most plausable explanation is that the virus is the result of modern farming techniques. New Scientist
magazine cited the example of a H1N2 influenza pandemic in the 1990s that only affected pigs in the United Kingdom
. This subtype of the H1N2 was also a reassortment
(mix) of swine, human and avian strains.
In July 2009, Madsen released a report saying there was a Q Group within the National Security Agency
tasked with concealing US government involvement in 9/11.
In 2010, Madsen reported in the Pakistan Daily on claims by General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistans Intelligence Service
, that Xe Services, the company formerly known as Blackwater
, had been conducting false-flag operations in Pakistan that were blamed on the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
. The claims were supported by General Mirza Aslam Beg
, former Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, who said that former President Pervez Musharraf
approved the operations. Several terrorist attacks in Pakistan have been blamed on Blackwater by Pakistani Islamic leaders and Blackwater has been accused of smuggling weapons and munitions into Pakistan.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, and investigative journalistspecializing in intelligence
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and international affairs. He has written for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, The Progressive
The Progressive
The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, CounterPunch
Counterpunch
Counterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
, CorpWatch
CorpWatch
CorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...
, Multinational Monitor
Multinational Monitor
The Multinational Monitor is a bimonthly magazine founded by Ralph Nader in 1980. It is published by Essential Information. Although its primary focus is on analysis of corporations, it also publishes articles on labor issues and occupational safety and health, the environment, globalization,...
, CovertAction Quarterly
CovertAction Quarterly
CovertAction Quarterly was an American publication focused on and critical of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was founded by former CIA officer turned agency critic Philip Agee and others in 1978. It is most famous for its "Naming Names" column which published the names of undercover CIA...
, In These Times
In These Times
In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago...
, and The American Conservative
The American Conservative
The American Conservative is a monthly U.S. opinion magazine published by Ron Unz. Its first editor was Scott McConnell, his successors being Kara Hopkins and the present incumbent, Daniel McCarthy....
. His columns have appeared in The Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, Philadelphia Inquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Sacramento Bee, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others. He is the author of the blog Wayne Madsen Report.
He has been described by many journalists including Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
at the Atlantic Monthly, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, and Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
as a conspiracy theorist
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
.
Background and Early Life
Madsen was born in Ridley Park, PennsylvaniaRidley Park, Pennsylvania
Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,196 at the 2000 census. Ridley Park is the home of Boeing Helicopters.-Native American:...
on 28 April 1954 to an American mother and a Danish mariner. His grandmother, who emigrated to the U.S. with his father after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was Victoria Madsen, a Danish communist party
Communist Party of Denmark
Communist Party of Denmark is a communist political party in Denmark which was founded as Venstresocialistiske Parti in 1919. VSP was a split from the Danish Social Democratic Party. The party assumed its present name in 1920...
official. In the 1950s Victoria Madsen was deported
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
by the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
Madsen attended the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
where he joined the Navy ROTC
Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.-Origins:...
.
U.S. Navy
Upon graduation from University of Mississippi, he joined the U.S. Navy. He was commissioned an ensignEnsign
An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
and underwent training at the Surface Warfare School. Later he was assigned to anti-submarine acoustic sensing operations. He subsequently received a Navy Unit Commendation
Navy Unit Commendation
The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...
for being part of the team that found the first acoustic signature of a Soviet Alfa class submarine
Alfa class submarine
The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa...
.
In 1982 he was stationed at the Coos Head
Coos Bay, Oregon
Coos Bay is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one entity called either Coos Bay-North Bend or the Bay Area...
Naval Facility. Naval Facility Coos Head had an allowance of twelve officers, ninety-five enlisted and 15 civilians. At Coos Head he was involved in a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
conducted by the FBI and NCIS
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...
which ultimately ended in the arrest of his commanding officer Lt Cmdr Lawrence William Frawley for pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
on 11 September. Madsen was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal
Achievement Medal
The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States military. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the Meritorious Service...
for his involvement and assistance in the investigation. He was later given a bad fitness report by his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Marney Finch.
His new commanding officer at Coos Bay transferred him to Washington D.C. He resigned from the Navy in 1985 as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, having been passed over for promotion. Madsen described himself as the "most senior lieutenant in the Navy" at the time of his resignation and has blamed his lack of advance on a powerful group of pedophiles hidden in the top of the U.S. Navy ranks. Madsen says that independent investigations into illegal homosexual activity in the federal government by other journalists were eventually published by the Washington Times in 1989.
In 1984 he "benefitted from the 1983 bombing of the Computer Area in the Washington Navy Yard" and the 1984 White House screening of the movie War Games
WarGames
WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
which he suggests prompted President Reagan into putting money into computer security. He was loaned in 1984 to the NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
by the Navy to work in computer security.
Post Navy Career
Between 1985 and 1989 Madsen held a series of jobs, first working for RCARCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
as a government consultant on contracts for the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA). Later he worked for the Navy's Naval Data Automation Command as a civilian employee. After this Madsen briefly established his own consulting firm, then worked for the National Bureau of Standards, and later for the State Department.
In 1990 Madsen joined CSC
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
, working there from 1990 until 1997, when he joined the Electronic Privacy Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest research group in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values in the information age...
(EPIC) as a senior fellow. In late January 2005 Madsen left EPIC, attributing his departure to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
pressure to remove Washington insiders aligned with the Democrats or liberal causes.
Journalism career
Following the 1998 United States embassy bombings1998 United States embassy bombings
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The date of the...
in Kenya and Tanzania, Madsen appeared on ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
as an East Africa expert and has also appeared on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, World News Tonight
World News Tonight
World News Tonight may refer to:* ABC World News, the daily evening program of ABC News, formally known as World News Tonight from 1978 to 2006* World News Tonight , a former Sky News program...
, Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
, 20/20
20/20
20/20 is an American "television newsmagazine", , broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the show was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes but focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
.
Madsen says that in 2001 he was denied a press pass
Press pass
A press pass grants some type of special privilege to journalists. Some cards have recognized legal status; others merely indicate that the bearer is a practicing journalist...
as an Internet journalist to cover the first inauguration of George W. Bush
First inauguration of George W. Bush
The first inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on January 20, 2001. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President...
.
In 2005 Madsen began working as a free-lance journalist, and publishing his own news blog. He describes the Wayne Madsen Report as following in the tradition of Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson (journalist)
Andrew Russell Pearson , known professionally as Drew Pearson, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round," in which he attacked various public persons, sometimes with little or no objective proof for his...
, Jack Anderson's famous "Washington Merry-Go-Round" syndicated column, and columns by I.F. Stone. His columns have appeared in The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, Philadelphia Inquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Sacramento Bee, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Reporting and Opinions
In 2000, Madsen expressed concern over the Carnivore Internet information monitoring program of the FBI and Project Echelon of the National Security AgencyNational Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
which he said were threats to the privacy rights of Americans. In 2002 he suggested to the Guardian newspaper that the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
had aided in an attempted overthrow of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n president, Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
. In January 2002 he expressed concern over the possible use of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
by the United States government against suspected terorrists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, as well as possible plans to use the military in domestic law enforcement, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
Posse Comitatus Act
The Posse Comitatus Act is an often misunderstood and misquoted United States federal law passed on June 18, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction. Its intent was to limit the powers of local governments and law enforcement agencies from using federal military personnel to enforce the laws of...
.
In 2003 he said that he had uncovered information linking the September 11 attacks to the government of 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...
as well as to Bush administration. In 2005, he wrote than an unidentified former CIA agent claimed that the USS Cole
USS Cole bombing
The USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured...
was actually hit by a Popeye cruise missile launched from an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine.
In 2005 he said that the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, had pressured American politicians to stay away from protests against the Iraq war.
In 2006 he criticized the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
, saying:
- "I think it is a whitewash group and nothing will come of it, except that they may concoct some reason for the US to stay the course in Iraq, with perhaps a little more international support, like Germany and Canada. The commission is a whitewash because the members are all consummate Washington insiders, many of whom have a political and financial stake in the successful outcome of the war. The longer the war goes on the more money they make."
Later that year he criticized the movie industry for indirectly causing suffering in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
by promoting diamonds in movies like Breakfast At Tiffany's and Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , which was written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin...
. He included Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, whose film Blood Diamond
Blood Diamond (film)
Blood Diamond is a 2006 political thriller film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou...
dealt with the issue, as well as Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
who is selling a line of "nonconflict diamonds." Madsen said about them, "It's a p.r. campaign. They should be saying, 'Don't buy diamonds at all.'"
In a 2008 ArabNews article, Madsen is quoted as suggesting that the criminal prosecution of New York State governor Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
was partly due to the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i intelligence agency Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
.
On June 9, 2008 he reported that unnamed "GOP dirty tricks operatives" had found a Kenyan birth certificate registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. on August 4, 1961. "However, the registration is a common practice in African countries whose citizens abroad have families with foreign nationals." This birth certificate was a cornerstone of the "Kenyan Born" subset of the birther conspiracy theories
Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories about the citizenship of Barack Obama claim that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore not eligible to be President of the United States under Article Two of the U.S. Constitution. Some theories allege that Obama was born in Kenya, not...
, and Madsen's article was cited in a Washington state petition challenging Obama's eligibility to serve.
On April 25, 2009, Madsen reported that some unidentified UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
officials and scientists believed the 2009 new H1N1 strain of swine flu virus appeared to be the product of U.S. military sponsored gene splicing
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
, as opposed to natural processes. While it can not be ruled out that the virus was created in a research laboratory or vaccine factory, the most plausable explanation is that the virus is the result of modern farming techniques. New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
magazine cited the example of a H1N2 influenza pandemic in the 1990s that only affected pigs in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This subtype of the H1N2 was also a reassortment
Reassortment
Reassortment is the mixing of the genetic material of a species into new combinations in different individuals. Several different processes contribute to reassortment, including assortment of chromosomes, and chromosomal crossover. It is particularly used when two similar viruses that are infecting...
(mix) of swine, human and avian strains.
In July 2009, Madsen released a report saying there was a Q Group within the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
tasked with concealing US government involvement in 9/11.
In 2010, Madsen reported in the Pakistan Daily on claims by General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistans Intelligence Service
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
, that Xe Services, the company formerly known as Blackwater
Blackwater Worldwide
Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
, had been conducting false-flag operations in Pakistan that were blamed on the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP...
. The claims were supported by General Mirza Aslam Beg
Mirza Aslam Beg
General Mirza Aslam Beg, SBt, HI, NI, afwc, psc , is a retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army succeeding General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter died in an air crash on 17 August 1988...
, former Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, who said that former President Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
approved the operations. Several terrorist attacks in Pakistan have been blamed on Blackwater by Pakistani Islamic leaders and Blackwater has been accused of smuggling weapons and munitions into Pakistan.