MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Freed
561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu or
Dr. Walid Phares
phares@walidphares.com
FAU Hosts 'The War on Terror Analyzed' by Dr. Walid Phares and Ranking Military Experts
BOCA RATON, FL (April 7, 2006) – Three of the most qualified military analysts in the nation – Colonel Ken Allard, Colonel Jack Jacobs and Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cowen – will join Dr. Walid Phares in a special FAU Lifelong Learning Society (LLS) lecture and panel discussion, “The War on Terror Analyzed.” The program is offered twice on Saturday April 15, with a morning lecture scheduled at FAU’s Jupiter campus at 10 a.m. and an afternoon lecture on FAU’s Boca Raton campus at 2:30 p.m.
The group will discuss insights and analyses on the military campaign in Iraq in the context of the greater war on terrorism. They also will discuss the threats posed from other nation-state sponsors of terror in the region. This will include their analyses of potential military strategies in the context of the complicated political landscape that exists in the region.
Col. Ken Allard, retired from the U.S. Army, now serves as an adjunct professor in the National Securities Program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He holds a Ph.D. in international security from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard. A noted author and lecturer, Allard's many publications include “Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned” and “Command, Control and the Common Defense,” which won the 1991 National Security Book Award. He operates his own consulting company in McLean, Virginia and appears frequently as foreign policy and security analyst on television and radio. Allard is a consultant to NBC News and a featured military analyst on MSNBC and CNBC.
Col. Jack Jacobs, retired from the U.S. Army, is one of the most highly decorated soldiers of the Vietnam era, having earned three Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars and a Medal of Honor. Awarded his Medal of Honor in 1968, he is the only living Jewish Congressional Medal of Honor winner. Jacobs took command when the South Vietnamese unit he was advising came under heavy enemy attack. Despite being seriously wounded, he personally saved the lives of 13 Vietnamese soldiers and an other American adviser with whom he was serving. He holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from Rutgers University. Jacobs is the McDermott Distinguished Chair of Politics at West Point. He is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relation, and appears regularly on MSNBC where he serves as a military analyst.
Lt. Col. Bill Cowan, retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, is a former commander of U.S. Special Forces who served on many battlefields around the world. He began his career as a Navy enlisted man and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Cowan spent three-and-a-half years in combat in Vietnam. He was specially selected to serve in the 1980s as one of the first members and the only Marine in the Pentagon's most classified counter-terrorist unit, known now as Task Force Orange. In 1990, on behalf of a major New York law firm and working with former CIA Director Bill Colby, he organized and successfully conducted a series of operations resulting in the repatriation of a number of Western hostages from Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. Cowan is a regularly featured military analyst for FOX News Channel.
Dr. Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., and a consultant to the United States and foreign governments and institutions. He is a senior lecturer in Middle East Studies at the LLS of FAU. He is a regular contributor on MSNBC, providing the latest analysis on terrorism, Jihadism and Middle East events. Phares has authored several books and hundreds of articles over the last 25 years, many in Arabic and French. His most recent book, “Future Jihad,” has received high praise and acclaim. Phares was educated at the Jesuit and Lebanese Universities of Beirut where he obtained degrees in law and political science, as well as a certificate in sociology. He obtained a master's degree in international law from the Universite de Lyons in France and a Ph.D. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami.
Registration for this event is required. One-time guest passes may be purchased in the lobby for $10 per student and will be sold according to the number of seats available after members are seated. The FAU Bookstore will have books by the four speakers available for signing in the lobby. For more information, call the LLS Boca Raton office at 561-297-3185, or the LLS Jupiter office at 561-799-8667, or visit www.fau.edu/divdept/lifelong/llshome.htm.
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