Abram Shulsky — Person

About

Abram Shulsky (born August 15, 1942) is an American political scientist, philosopher, neoconservative intelligence expert and author. A Cornell University alumnus affiliated with Telluride House and described as a "Straussian scholar," he was a student of Leo Strauss and a college roommate of Paul Wolfowitz. Shulsky has worked as an analyst with the RAND Corporation and has served as a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, focusing on national security, intelligence analysis, and foreign policy issues, particularly concerning Iraq and Iran.

From 2002 to 2003 he was director of the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans (OSP) under Douglas Feith during the George W. Bush administration. The OSP was a controversial unit created to process and disseminate intelligence—including raw intelligence community sources—bypassing traditional CIA analysis and providing alternative assessments that influenced the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion. Under Shulsky’s leadership the office produced memos linking Iraq to weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, drew comparisons to the 1970s Team B exercise, and approved key talking points used in policy debates; critics accused the unit of cherry-picking intelligence to justify military action.

Intellectually, Shulsky has criticized traditional social-scientific methods of intelligence analysis in favor of a policy-oriented, military intelligence model, arguing that intelligence should serve policy objectives and help achieve "victory" rather than pursue disinterested “truth.” A longtime figure in neoconservative circles, he signed a letter to the Clinton White House advocating regime change in Iraq, has advocated robust U.S. interventionism, and has expressed skepticism toward independent intelligence bureaucracies. His work and the role of the OSP have been polarizing in debates over intelligence and policymaking in American foreign affairs.

Key Relationships

Larry Franklin

project_partner

As director of the OSP, Shulsky oversaw Franklin's work on Iranian affairs and intelligence analysis; their partnership contributed to controversial reports bypassing traditional intelligence channels to support preemptive actions against perceived threats.

Since 2002

David Wurmser

partner

David Wurmser was a key contact and contributor to Abram Shulsky's Office of Special Plans (OSP), an intelligence unit accused of 'cherry-picking' intelligence to build the case for the Iraq War. Shulsky directed the OSP, which absorbed and institutionalized the work of Wurmser and Michael Maloof's Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group. Shulsky was part of a regular group that met in Douglas Feith's office alongside Wurmser, Feith, William Luti, Harold Rhode, Richard Perle, and Maloof. Described as a 'Straussian scholar,' Shulsky connected the OSP to the broader Straussian intellectual network that influenced neoconservative policy. Both Shulsky and Wurmser are currently fellows at the Hudson Institute.

Since 2002

Robert Loewenberg

influenced

Abram Shulsky directed the Office of Special Plans (OSP), the Pentagon unit under Douglas Feith that produced alternative intelligence assessments on Iraq-al Qaeda connections to justify the Iraq War. The OSP grew out of the Counter-Terrorism Evaluation Group, a two-person unit staffed by David Wurmser (IASPS research director) and Michael Maloof. Shulsky, like Wolfowitz and Fairbanks, was a product of the Allan Bloom/Telluride House intellectual circle at Cornell. While Shulsky had no documented direct relationship with Loewenberg, he directed the unit that operationalized the Clean Break policy framework within the Pentagon.

Since 2002

Ahmad Chalabi

private_channel

Abram Shulsky, a University of Chicago-trained political philosopher and student of Leo Strauss (like Wolfowitz), directed the Office of Special Plans that served as the Pentagon's primary processor of INC intelligence. The OSP cherry-picked and re-analyzed raw intelligence from INC defectors that the CIA had dismissed, repackaging it for Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Cheney's office. Shulsky's Straussian background — emphasizing reading between the lines — was noted by Seymour Hersh as informing the OSP's willingness to find hidden meanings in ambiguous intelligence supporting predetermined conclusions.

Since 2002

Paul Wolfowitz

classmate

Abram Shulsky was Paul Wolfowitz's college roommate and fellow member of the Telluride House circle at Cornell under Allan Bloom's mentorship. Decades later, Wolfowitz advocated for Shulsky to direct the Office of Special Plans at the Pentagon, the controversial intelligence unit that cherry-picked evidence to build the case for war against Iraq. Shulsky, like Wolfowitz a student of Leo Strauss's philosophy, ran the unit that fed uncorroborated intelligence on Iraqi WMD and al-Qaeda links to senior Pentagon and White House officials.

Since 1962

Judith Miller

private_channel

Abram Shulsky directed the Office of Special Plans, the Pentagon unit that worked with Chalabi's INC to produce intelligence supporting war. Shulsky, a Leo Strauss student and former RAND analyst, oversaw the processing of INC defector claims into intelligence products that reached both policymakers and journalists like Miller.

Since 2002

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Key Relationships