McCain Led Republican Group Had Ties to Blackwater, Lehman Bros., Lobbying Groups & Big Oil Companies

International Republican Institute

According to an Associated Press article from October 2007, Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s time as chairman of the International Republican Institute connected him to a wide range of international interests.  We now know this included Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi, whom the McCain-Palin campaign is smearing in the press in an attempt to dissuade Americans from voting for presidential candidate Barack Obama.  Additionally, McCain and the IRI had a long list of corporate donors, including Blackwater USA, the paramilitary security firm responsible for killing 11 innocent Iraqi civilians, investment bank Lehman Bros., corporate lobbying firms and big oil companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP.