He has worked at the predominantly neoconservative American Enterprise Institute and was manager of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he co-founded the Center for Law and Counterterrorism with Andrew C.
[8] While attending the LSE, he wrote an academic piece defending George W. Bush's argument for "preemptive" war in Iraq as being grounded in both historical precedent and "original texts on international law".
[10] In January 2006, he criticized The Globe and Mail newspaper for referring to Israel's separation barrier as a "wall"; Velshi argued that it should be called a "fence.
He called for the United States to recognize the breakaway republic of Somaliland, arguing that this would demonstrate a commitment to the "Bush doctrine" and also be in America's strategic interests.
This work described Kofi Annan's legacy as United Nations Secretary-General as one of "scandal and failure", asserting that the UN was implicated in an "elaborate child prostitution ring" in the Congo and referring to the UN's Oil-For-Food program in Iraq as "the biggest financial fraud of modern times".
Velshi also described Annan's eventual successor Ban Ki-moon, as unfit for the position, accusing him of bribery and of holding anti-American views.
[18] In late 2006, Velshi described the prosecution of Canadian-born newspaper baron Conrad Black as a "tragedy", and as representative of a legal system "focused less on securing justice than on bringing down the high and mighty while pandering to the politics of envy".
He argued that the legal proceedings had ruined Black's financial status and reputation before any finding of guilt, and further asserted that the regulatory state created by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was ultimately responsible for this situation.
In the same article, Velshi wrote that Black "hearkened back to the good old days of grand newspaper proprietors, family dynasties and concern for the value of the brand rather than vulgar things like day-to-day movements in share prices".
The Hill Times described this as an important position, in that Velshi had a role in formulating the government's response to Liberal Party Stéphane Dion's proposed Green Tax Shift.
[1] Jason Kenney was promoted to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration after the 2008 federal election, and Velshi returned to work with him as Director of Communications and Parliamentary Affairs.
Other CAF representatives described Mouammar's choice of language as unfortunate, but rejected the charge of anti-Semitism and expressed concern that the proposed cuts were vindictive in nature.
He added that Kenney's position toward the CAF was unchanged, and was quoted as saying, "Groups that promote hatred and anti-Semitism don't deserve a single red cent of taxpayer support.
CAF executive director Mohamed Boudjenane expressed surprise at this decision, indicating that these contracts allowed his organization to help settle and provide English lessons for recent immigrants.
[38] Velshi told the media that the Canadian government would not reverse this decision, stating that Galloway had expressed sympathy for the Taliban cause in Afghanistan and describing him as an "infandous street-corner Cromwell who actually brags about giving 'financial support' to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada.
[38] Galloway described the decision to forbid him entry as "irrational, inexplicable and an affront to Canada's good name", adding that it "further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are".
[46] On 27 September 2010, Federal Court judge Richard Mosley found that Kenney's office had acted inappropriately, using "a flawed and overreaching interpretation of the standards under Canadian law for labelling someone as engaging in terrorism or being a member of a terrorist organization."
[47] Noting that Velshi had told reporters the decision to bar Galloway was made on national security grounds, Mosley wrote, "one might hope that a ministerial aide would exercise greater restraint in purporting to speak on behalf of the government, his comments to the press amount to little more than posturing.