Founded 2012 Website syriantaskforce.org | Headquarters Washington, D.C., U.S. | |
Key people Mouaz Moustafa, Executive-Director | ||
The Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) is a United States-based organization that advocates for the armed overthrow of the government of Syria. It first gained widespread public attention in the wake of the Elizabeth O'Bagy resume padding scandal; O'Bagy had served as a paid lobbyist for the group. The group's primary activity is advocating for U.S. military involvement in the Syrian Civil War through congressional office visits, media awareness campaigns, and organizing junkets for key U.S. foreign policy decisionmakers. According to SETF, it is also committed to supporting the overthrow of the government of Cuba; a statement co-signed by it and the Florida-based Cuban exile organization "Assembly of the Resistance" declared it would work for "the overthrow of the dictatorial regimes of Assad and Castro."
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SETF is indirectly funded by the U.S. State Department through contracting firms including Chemonics and Creative Associates International.
Staff
SETF's executive-director, Mouaz Moustafa, is a former field organizer for the U.S. Democratic National Committee and previously served as executive-director of the Libyan Council of North America.
Other staff members include Toby Cadman, a British-based lawyer who previously served as defense attorney to members of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a Bangladesh militant group whose leaders were recently convicted of war crimes, including genocide and rape, by the International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh).
Elizabeth O'Bagy - formerly of the defense-industry funded Institute for the Study of War - served as political director of SETF until her 2013 dismissal as part of a resume padding scandal.
The organization's communications director is Cassie Chesley who, prior to her tenure with SETF, held an appointment as a server at TJ's Seafood Shack in Oviedo, Florida. Chesley concurrently serves as chair of the public relations committee of the Coalition for a Democratic Syria.
Programs
SETF officials - including Moustafa and Chesley - have been widely cited in media reports on the Syrian Civil War and have been influential in advising United States policymakers on issues related to Syria. According to the group, SETF staff have held meetings with more than two-thirds of the membership of the U.S. Congress and have organized junkets for members of congress to visit selected regions in northern Syria.
In 2013, an op-ed by political director Elizabeth O'Bagy was cited by Senator John McCain and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during congressional hearings on possible U.S. military involvement in the Syrian Civil War. O'Bagy was subsequently hired by McCain as a legislative assistant in the Arizona senator's Washington, D.C. office.