[5]by David Chavern
U.S. Chamber of Commerce [6]
Reaching a new low, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress has now decided to blame the US Chamber of Commerce for unrest in Egypt! What’s next – holding us responsible for snow storms in the Northeast and volcanoes in Iceland? Showing an penchant for international conspiracy theories worthy of Robert Ludlum and the John Birch Society, C.A.P. somehow ties together the Mubarak regime, the activities of an individual who is President of the AmCham in Cairo and John Negroponte into some theory whereby the U.S. Chamber has been repressing democracy in Egypt. Wow! The Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group have nothing on us.
Podesta’s group seems to live by the old motto “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” The truth is that all of the 115 or so AmChams around the world are separate and independent organizations – we don’t tell them what to do and they don’t tell us what to do. Moreover, we certainly don’t direct the activities of the successful business executives who volunteer to run AmChams – particularly someone with as many commercial, political and philanthropic activities as Mr. Gabr.
AmChams, as a group, have a multi-decade reputation for being credible organizations that successfully represent the interests of their members. It doesn’t appear that the Center for American Progress will ever achieve the same level of credibility.