Cold Warriors and Conterjihadists gather in New York

The Center for Security Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan national security organization headed by frequent Blaze guest Frank Gaffney hosted its annual Mightier Pen Award ceremony in Manhattan yesterday, pulling together a diverse crowd of Cold Warriors, Counterjihadists and assorted conservatives from Communist historian M. Stanton Evans to Pentagon expert on Islamic law Stephen Coughlin to commentator David Webb.

The event honored Diana West for her penetrating, insightful, and controversy-generating American Betrayal, wherein she contends that World War II era government and media were infiltrated by subversive Communists, fellow travelers and dupes, and used as an instrument of the Soviet government to help further Soviet goals to the detriment of the West. West further argues that this era and its fallout are highly relevant and paralleled in today’s placement throughout the highest levels of government and media of subversive Islamic supremacists, fellow travelers and dupes, who are similarly pushing America towards Islamic goals to the detriment of the West.

Following an introduction by Frank Gaffney, M. Stanton Evans, author of titles such as Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies and Stalin's Secret Agents: The Subversion of Roosevelt's Government provided a few words on his career and praised West’s book for building on his prior work to expose the extent of Soviet infiltration and its significance, despite the lack of mainstream interest in the topic.

Then Diana West gave a stirring speech in defense of her book against mainly those on the right who surprisingly attacked her work, generating a major controversy in the conservative blogosphere (covered in great depth here) from Communists turned anti-Communists including most notably David Horowitz and Ronald Radosh. The debate in which West was attacked in academic circles but supported by amateur historians and independent bloggers even prompted an entire book rebutting her accusers.

In her speech, West argued that leftists and jihadists both ideologically and tactically were parallel enemies to the country, requiring patriots to stand up and counter them. Perhaps her most compelling line was when she noted that despite the threats of EMPs and other conventional weapons, it is the ideological battle war against Western Civilization that has proven the most resistant and powerful force.

M. Stanton's Evans' introduction and Diana West's address can be found below.