Did Burrowed Pentagon Employees Leak Detainee Information?

[BlueJessamine]

Source: The Huffington Post

by Sam Stein

One day after President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close down the detention center at Guantanamo within a year, the New York Times ran a front page story detailing how a released detainee from that facility had gone on to help head a local al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.

The timing seemed suspicious.

Then, last week, word came from the Associated Press that "three senior Pentagon officials tapped by the Bush administration to oversee detainee policy at Guantanamo Bay remain on the job despite President Barack Obama's order to reverse course."

That revelation was enough to prompt Sen. Dianne Feinstein to ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to investigate the "burrowing" of political appointees to career positions. It also has some foreign policy hands wondering whether that late January Times story was leaked by Bush loyalists as a way of sending a signal to the new president.

"The question isn't so much that will have their hands on policy, because the Obama people have a pretty firm grip on it," said a Democrat outside of the administration. "The problem is they have their hands on information and can cause a problem as a result. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sources from inside the Pentagon that released that information."



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/10/did-burrowed-pentagon-emp_n_165570.html

[stillcool]

1. That's so 'coup' like...

Cheney really does not want Gitmo closed. For some reason those remaining detainee's must be stopped from getting anywhere close to a court of law.

[cosmicone]

7. Cheney probably masturbates while watching live feeds of torture. n/t

[bluestateguy]

2. Obama should fire them, and ignore civil service rules

nt

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[acmavm]

4. I would be suspicious of everyone from lowliest office clerk to the top dogs

if they were hold-overs from the bush** admin. As we've found, a new administration can't just go in and clear the decks of everyone down to the bottom of the employee barrel. But this is how these neocon/'conservative' fucks survive and thrive. In the times they're out of power they go underground and REBUILD.

What to do, what to do?

[rfranklin]

8. The problem is the "burrowing"

The civil service system is fine, it is just that this practice corrupts the system and should be abolished.

[Soylent Brice]

5. moer than likely, yes.

timing was very fishy.

:tinfoilhat:

[benld74]

6. I dunno - what are the vegas odds they did?

[crikkett]

9. I wonder if civil service law allows lateral transfers.

Maybe they can be moved into a safer job.

[enuegii]

10. Now, that's a good idea!

They could be reassigned to inspect hazardous mine shafts, or something like that.

[lark]

11. Send them to AK

They'd work out fine with their heart throb Sarah in charge of them, and keep them totally out of the loop. If the don't move, fine, they are fired.

[tanyev]

12. Get rid of those ticks. They're carrying Lyin' Disease.