Yaron Brook

Yaron Brook is the current president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute (since 2000). Born in Israel in 1961 Brook received his B.Sc. in civil engineering from the Technion in 1986, and an MBA (1989) and Ph.D. in finance in 1994 from the University of Texas at Austin. Formerly a professor of finance (at Santa Clara University), Brook is an expert on Objectivist philosophy, particularly in its applications to business and foreign policy; partly due to his service in Israeli army intelligence he is also considered^{[citation needed]} an expert on the history of the Middle East.

He advocates an American policy supporting Israel against terrorism. Despite Brook's speaking positively about scholars such as Daniel Pipes, he is highly critical of neoconservatism (and conservatism in general) [1]. He opposes President Bush's handling of the Iraq War because he believes that Bush has needlessly sacrificed American troops in order to appease the international community and the United Nations. He also advocates military action against Iran and support of the Iranian students opposing their government.

During an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, Impact Section: Aftermath of Fallujah Activities, on Friday, December 17, 2004, he suggested to bring the "war to civilians" by turning "Fallujah into dust." Video recording. The Factor's online summery reads:

Some observers believe the United States should take the gloves off in Fallujah and other Iraqi hot spots. "We want to see the rules of engagement in Iraq change totally," said Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute. "The only way to win this insurgency is for America to be a lot more brutal. We should start bringing the consequences of this war to the civilians who are harboring terrorists and insurgents. We brought the Japanese people to their knees, and that is the only way you can establish democracy in a culture that is opposed to freedom." The Factor argued that brutalizing civilians could have grave consequences. "We would lose the high moral ground, and create more enemies. We do need to get tougher, but we have to do it smarter." [2]

Brook has argued, in both print [3] and in lectures [4] and at the Ford Hall Forum, [5] that the Bush administration's execution of the war in Iraq and, more broadly, the war on terrorism, has been immoral and a failure. In an August 14, 2005 lecture aired on C-SPAN, Brook said, “If we cannot fight this [Iraq] war properly, then bring the troops home.” [6]

In October 2006, Brook delivered a lecture on the subject of Islamic totalitarian states to an audience at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He argued that such states pose a severe threat to the security of western nations, and suggested that killing up to hundreds of thousands of their supporters may be necessary to bring about their defeat. Brook also called for a renewal of pride in Western civilization. The lecture was sponsored by UCLA L.O.G.I.C. and Bruins for Israel.[7]