Is there a Byrnes-like purge going on at the State Dept., too?

[DeepModem Mom]

(Thanks to TorchesandPitchforks, who posted this in Editorials and Other Articles.)


Washington Post:
At State, Some Employees Languish in Security Limbo
By Stephen Barr
Sunday, August 14, 2005; Page C02

There are about 40 of them -- ghost employees of the State Department. They have had their security clearances suspended and are under investigation until officials decide whether to revoke or restore them.

Some of the employees are Foreign Service officers with decades of experience. They say they have been waiting for as long as two and three years for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which investigates possible security risks, to make decisions in their cases.

Daniel Hirsch , one of the diplomats with a suspended clearance, was recalled to Washington from a Central Asian nation after his wife sought marital counseling. He has been in limbo, as he called it in an interview, for more than two years. Hirsch has retained his salary and, he said, performs "some light duties" in an office "with a lovely view of the Capitol dome."

Bill Savich , whose case has been pending for two years, was recalled from a "critical threat" nation after allegations were made that he had an improper relationship with a local woman. He denied the charge and said senior officials in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security will not respond to his requests for a ruling in his case.

Another diplomat, a 21-year veteran recognized for heroism in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, was accused in 2003 of making a sexual pass at a guard. He denied the allegation but was recalled and has worked in nonsensitive jobs since. The diplomat is gay and said he disclosed his sexual orientation to the department in 1988 to allay the risk of blackmail. He spoke on condition that he not be identified....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081301050.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. How do you spell P-U-R-G-E?

Very proud of my :tinfoilhat:

In the old USSR, they used to put them in mental institutions, here they accuse them of sexual improprieties...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. just wait. The hospitals are coming to theater near you.

For your own good, of course. and in the name of National security.

[wli]

5. "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health" n/t

[Fridays Child]

3. What do you want to bet that the common thread among these people...

...is that they're suspected of disloyalty to George? This is vigilantism at its worst. George wants his own version of Saddam's Republican Guard. After all, he did tell us that "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I agree -- you don't need a tinfoil hat...

to suspect a purge of those who do not exhibit absolute loyalty to the Bush cabal.