Kenneth R. Timmerman
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Kenneth R. Timmerman (born November 4, 1953) is a political writer and conservative activist who was the
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nominee for
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for the newly redrawn , facing the
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...
Chris Van Hollen Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (born January 10, 1959) is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maryland since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Van Hollen served as the U.S. representative for ...
, a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
. Timmerman lost to Van Hollen, 33% to 63%. In
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, Timmerman was a candidate for the Republican nomination for
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
from
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. Timmerman is executive director of the
Foundation for Democracy in Iran The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit organization established in 1995 with grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to promote regime change in Iran. The former board members of this NGO are David M. Beasley, ...
, an organization that works to support democratic movements in Iran. He authored ''Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson.'' Timmerman has also written on the spread of
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...
in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. He is currently an Expert at
Wikistrat Wikistrat Inc. is a geostrategic analysis and business consultancy founded in Israel in 2010 by Joel Zamel and Daniel Green and headquartered in the United States. It describes itself as the world's first crowdsourced consultancy leveraging a glo ...
. He ran for
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland The lieutenant governor of Maryland is the second highest-ranking official in the executive branch of the Government of Maryland, state government of Maryland in the United States. The officeholder is elected on the same ticket as the governor of ...
on a ticket with businessman
Charles Lollar Charles Lollar (born June 22, 1971) is an American businessman and Republican Party politician. A former Marine Corps officer, he was the Republican nominee for Maryland's 5th congressional district in 2010, losing to Democratic incumbent Steny ...
in the
2014 Maryland gubernatorial election The 2014 Maryland gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Incumbent Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley was term-limited and could not run for reelection to a third consec ...
. The Lollar/Timmerman ticket finished third in the Republican primary.


Early life and career

Born in New York in 1953, Timmerman obtained a BA from
Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...
in 1973 and an M.A. from
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in 1976. He moved to France, where he pursued a career as a novelist, publishing a novel called ''Wren Hunt'' in 1976 and a novella called ''The Iskra Scrolls'' in 1980.


Middle East and defense correspondent

In the early 1980s, Timmerman became a
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
correspondent for ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' and developed an expertise in arms trade. In 1982, he was taken prisoner for 24 days by
Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
guerrillas in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. He was the first U.S. journalist on the scene when Islamic militants bombed the U.S. Embassy in 1983. From 1985 to 1987, Timmerman was a correspondent for ''Defense and Armament'' ''Newsweek'' and ''Military Technology'', covering the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
and the arms industry in the Middle East. He won the
Joe Petrosino Prize for Investigative Reporting Joseph Petrosino (born Giuseppe Petrosino, ; August 30, 1860 – March 12, 1909) was an Italian-born New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. Crime fighting techniques that Petrosino ...
in 1987 for an investigation of an Iranian arms procurement group. From 1987 to 1993, Timmerman published the ''Middle East Defense News'' and was international correspondent for ''Defense Electronics''. He also wrote monographs for the
Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...
on efforts by
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
to acquire weapons of mass destruction.


Author and activist

In 1991, Timmerman published ''The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq'' after the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
. Timmerman advised the
United Nations Special Commission United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 199 ...
for the Disarmament of Iraq on the location of weapons plants. In 1993, Timmerman returned to the US where he worked as a member of the staff of the
U.S. House Committee on International Relations The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...
. In 1995, he founded the
Foundation for Democracy in Iran The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit organization established in 1995 with grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to promote regime change in Iran. The former board members of this NGO are David M. Beasley, ...
with
Peter Rodman Peter Warren Rodman (November 24, 1943 – August 2, 2008) was an American attorney, government official, author, and national security adviser. Early life and education Born in Boston, he was educated at The Roxbury Latin School. He earned ...
, Joshua Muravchick and Iranian opposition expatriates to attempt to topple the Iranian government. He founded the Middle East Data Project to advise governments and private companies. In 1998, he made suggestions to the Rumsfeld Commission supporting the deployment of a national
missile defence Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...
system. In 1998, he wrote a piece on
Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
and his training camps in Afghanistan just before
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
attacked two US embassies in Africa. He also wrote features for the ''
American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...
'' criticizing the export of high-technology equipment to China, which was published as a book in 2000. In 2000 Timmerman sought the nomination of the Maryland GOP to run against Democratic incumbent
Paul Sarbanes Paul Spyros Sarbanes (; February 3, 1933 – December 6, 2020) was an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party from Maryland, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 a ...
. Timmerman won less than ten percent in the party primary; Paul Rappaport won the Republican nomination but lost to Sarbanes, who won with 63% of the vote. Timmerman wrote ''Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson'' as a change of pace from his focus on international issues in 2002. The argument claimed that Jackson alleging connections with criminals and claiming that Rev. Jackson practised extortion of businesses. It proved to be highly successful making the top ten bestseller list with 200,000 copies printed. It also reached the top of the Amazon bestseller list. On February 7, 2006, Sweden's former deputy prime minister and Liberal party leader
Per Ahlmark Per Axel Ahlmark (15 January 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Swedish politician and writer. He was the leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1978, and Minister for Employment and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government from 1976 ...
said that he had nominated Timmerman for a
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
along with UN Ambassador
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...
for "their repeated warnings and documentation of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's secret nuclear buildup and revealing Iran's repeated lying and false reports to the
International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
." The Nobel Foundation will not confirm nominations, however, until 50 years have passed.


Bibliography

* Honor Killing," Cassiopeia Press, 2007 *Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi, Broadside Books, 2014 *Deception: The Making of the YouTube Video Hillary and Obama Blamed for Benghazi, PostHill Press, 2016 *ISIS Begins, a Novel of the War in Iraq, PostHill Press, 2019 *The Election Heist, PostHill Press, 2020


References

* "Kenneth R. Timmerman" ''Contemporary Authors Online'' Gale 2002 published on ''Biography Resource Center'' Thomson Gale 2005


External links


Ken Timmerman's web site

Insight Magazine Staff Biography for Timmerman

Open Secrets page on Timmerman's fundraising for his Senate campaign

Article
by Timmerman on "Mullahs Best Friends" published on ''National Review Online'' 31 August 2005 (archived)
Kenneth Timmerman's biography on Wikistrat
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timmerman, Kenneth R. 1953 births American critics of Islam American male journalists American political writers Timmermann, Kenneth R. Living people Maryland Republicans The American Spectator people