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| Gunny sent to brig for protecting SoCal. Officers to follow? |
| 2007-10-09 |
| This is wrong on so many levels and just screams about how frivolously we are conducting this so-called war. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California. He knew his group was violating national security laws. But he said bureaucratic walls erected by the military and civilian agencies were hampering intelligence sharing and coordination, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorists. Maybe there will be a place for him in the Clinton administration as an assistant to Sandy Burglar. Maziarz, a member of the Marine Forces Reserve, had helped search for survivors in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “I decided to make a difference and act,” Maziarz testified during his court-martial in July at Camp Pendleton. Big mistake, wanting to make a difference. Better to make a buck. He'll need to internalize that lesson before the Clintons pardon him. Details of Maziarz's case emerged after he pleaded guilty to mishandling more than 100 classified documents from 2004 to last year. The overall breach could be far larger: Investigators believe that as far back as the early 1990s, the intelligence-filching ring began taking hundreds of secret files from Camp Pendleton and the U.S. Northern Command, which tracks terrorist activity in the United States. During his trial, Maziarz said he passed the classified files to at least four men. These alleged accomplices were military reserve officers, and two of them also worked with anti-terrorism units for police and sheriff's departments in Los Angeles County. Maziarz said he took the documents while serving as an intelligence analyst for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. In a plea agreement, he received a 26-month jail sentence in exchange for detailing the spy ring. He also agreed to testify against his alleged accomplices if they are charged. The plea deal bars Maziarz, 37, from talking with the media. His purported conspirators could not be reached for comment, and investigators refused to discuss any developments. We wouldn't people to know other people are going to jail for trying to protect them when the bureaucracy won't. Steven Aftergood, a research analyst for the nonprofit Federation of American Scientists, couldn't remember another instance of people being driven by patriotic frustration to break the law. “It's incredible. We had better understand their motivations or else this is going to keep happening,” said Aftergood, whose organization works to reduce government secrecy while improving security practices. “The failure of agencies to share information is a real one and has been raised over and over again without a satisfactory resolution.” The people whom Maziarz described as his accomplices include: Larry Richards, a Marine reserve colonel and detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He co-founded the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group in 1996. On the military side, he has received a Bronze Star for developing psychological-warfare strategies during the Iraq war. Richards, Litaker, Lowe and Maziarz came to know one another through their military ties. Maziarz testified that Richards recruited him in 2004 as his successor for taking classified documents from Camp Pendleton. Maziarz said he routinely passed such information to Richards, plus to and from Martin. The operation started unraveling about a year ago when Camp Pendleton officials began searching for missing war trophies brought back from Iraq. An internal investigation eventually focused on Maziarz, who had done intelligence work in Iraq. Investigators tracked the missing goods to his apartment in Carlsbad and to storage units he rented in Carlsbad and Manassas, Va. They recovered items such as Iraqi swords, several types of assault weapons and digital cameras. You need to be careful how many laws you break at one time. Along with the war booty, the investigators found surveillance data on suspected terrorists, two locked briefcases, a government record book, government maps, ammunition and body armor. Based on such evidence, their case broadened to include accusations of spying. Maziarz isn't alone in asserting that terrorists are operating in the United States. Those who share his perspective include John Miller, former head of the Los Angeles Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau. In 2003, Miller told The New York Times that his office had identified 605 terrorism targets scattered across Los Angeles County. He said al-Qaeda operatives were working in the region to raise money, identify targets and secure weapons. He also said the bureau had arrested 74 suspected terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001. In the big picture, defense experts said, the Maziarz case isn't just about patriotism. They worry that foreign agents might find it easier to steal secret documents from law enforcement groups, which generally have fewer measures for protecting classified information than federal intelligence agencies. Can't trust those cops. They don't have the same level of internal security as the CIA or NSA as Aldrich and Ames demonstrate. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #4 Give him 6 mos or a stiff fine for the war trophy theft...(another stupid rule but still a rule)...commute the rest if a court martial board is convinced he acted in good faith w/the spirit of defending the constitution vice the letter of the law. The beaurocrats need to fix themselves & the admin mockery that's slowing down info sharing....people and their rice bowls. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-10-09 21:48 |
| #3 Link to Union-Tribune article here. |
| Posted by: GK 2007-10-09 11:47 |
| #2 I do agree with your specific point, RWV. But as I said, it is wrong on a lot of levels and that is just one of them. I'm po'ed about all of them. And I can't figure out which I'm most po'ed about because I'm so po'ed. I need to hit the lav. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-09 11:27 |
| #1 NS, the point here is that, rightly or wrongly, when you take the oath of service in the US military you agree to obey the lawful orders of your superiors. Gunnery Sergeants and Colonels do not get to make policy and if they choose to break the rules, they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I hope that Gunnery Sergeant Maziarz and his accomplices become well acquainted with the inside of a federal penitentiary. There are right ways and wrong ways to do things. This is the wrong way. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-10-09 11:19 |