| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Land of the Free |
| U.S. Central Command ISIS reporting and whistleblower politics |
| 2016-05-09 |
| [Daily Beast] TAMPA, Florida -- She worked on and off for five years identifying targets for the U.S. military's Central Command. And then, when, some believe, she spoke up about cherry-picked intelligence in the ISIS war, she was drummed out of her job--allegedly for cursing twice in the span of the year. Those were just some of the surreal allegations thrown around last week in a Tampa law office conference room turned into a quasi-courtroom. Had the case not involved the third-highest ranking person at the Defense Intelligence Agency, a two-star general, a military judge, and hours of testimony--all at a cost of thousands of dollars--it would have been hard to take seriously. Even with those high-ranking officials, at times it was hard not to do a double-take about what was happening. After all, if cursing were really a fireable offense in the military, every soldier, sailor, Marine, and Defense Department civilian would have to be sent home. The case suggested that, at CENTCOM, there are two wars being waged: one against ISIS and a separate internal fight between whistleblowers and commanders. This all came to the fore during a rare public hearing last Wednesday before the government appeals board, brought by a subordinate of Gregory Ryckman, the top-ranking civilian at CENTCOM's Joint Intelligence office, known as the J2. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #3 "The board is supposed to be independent, but the statistics suggest otherwise." Ever hear of the saying "live by the documentation, die by the documentation"? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-05-09 14:32 |
| #2 Lousy reporting. One must go more than a dozen paragraphs down before discovering the 'who' that governs the proceeding: "Stewart is appealing that decision to the United States Merit System Protection Board, a quasi-judicial agency in which federal employees suspended more than 14 days can appeal their cases." As for the hearing itself, we can guess the outcome: "The board is supposed to be independent, but the statistics suggest otherwise. It has found in favor of the Defense Department in 99.7 percent of cases put before it, according to the latest statistics." |
| Posted by: Albemarle Prince of the Chinese7177 2016-05-09 09:23 |
| #1 Perhaps the Central Command Inspector General could use some outside assistance. Please make a few SES parking spots, desks. secure phones, and NIPR/SIPR laptops available sometime in the Jan-Feb time frame. Badges and access to the Mole Hole as well please. Nothing left to chance. Three to six months is all that should be necessary. Yes, weekly reporting to the CG, new DnI and Attorney General. No Inter-Agency transfers or PCS's, retirements, or terminations of anyone above the rank or equivalent pay grade of 03 until this is fully concluded. Please everyone, just stick around for a bit if you would. When the 'assistance team' is finished in Tampa, they'll be moving on to Washington D.C. and IRS headquarters. Following that, possibly Foggy Bottom and the VA. The list appears to be endless. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-05-09 08:08 |