Saturday, April 22, 2006

All about Mary McCarthy

Flopping Aces has a very large backgrounder on Mary McCarthy, the CIA operative who is being accused of passing classified information to the Washington Post. Nearly all of it is circumstantial, but startling nevertheless. Here are some snippets.

1998: Washington — National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger announced June 16 the appointment of Mary O’Neil McCarthy as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs.

2001: McCarthy joins the CSIS think tank. Three of her fellow experts are Zbigniew Brzezinski, General Wesley Clark, General Anthony Zinni

2001: McCarthy and Richard Clarke work on a plan to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan.

There's much more.

Since McCarthy had reached a fairly senior level it was only natural that she should interact with these individuals. Still, it looks like the start of a pretty interesting week.

44 Comments:

Blogger Deuce ☂ said...

Man, the Belmont club will have no open tables for Vegans. I hope Wretchard does not run out of the Cabernet to serve with all this red meat.

4/22/2006 07:25:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

"2001: McCarthy and Richard Clarke work on a plan to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan"
---
They definately know how to set up
counter-ops.
Problem is, against who?

4/22/2006 07:27:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Zinni was an instantaneous left meme in the 2004 election. People who hate the military were suddenly all over the place touting their great respect for his career.

4/22/2006 07:30:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

I copy, paste, and shall retire.
Adieu.
---
Airedale:
"I wonder if she was put in that slot to protect other Democratic Party leakers."
---
Reminds us of the sickness, sadness, and depravity of Bergler running free after stuffing his undies and socks with unmentionables.
The Unmentionable has become the Norm.

4/22/2006 07:32:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Hey, if I retire do I automatically become a celeb?
...so much LEFT to do!

4/22/2006 07:34:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Wonder where Gerry Adams stands on Mary O'Neil McCarthy? Oh, boy--this is riiiiich.

4/22/2006 07:36:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Mark, you pun to much.
At least you ARE Rich.

4/22/2006 07:40:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Dana Priest:
"Well, actually, the media is not breaking the law by publishing classified information. That’s still a safeguard we have in the law. The person/s who turn it over are breaking the law, technically.

But the courts and the body politic have always looked at this as the cost of democracy and that is one huge reason why reporters have not be pursued previously. It’s the trade off for having a free press.
The alternative is prior censorship and government control of the media, a la Israel, China, Iran, etc.
"
---
The Espionage Act makes it a crime for a government official with access to “national defense information” to communicate it intentionally to any unauthorized person.

A 1950 amendment aimed at Soviet spying broadened the law, forbidding an unauthorized recipient of the information to pass it on, or even to keep it to himself.

4/22/2006 08:13:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Coups and counter coups, US History is full of them
"... The Business Plot, The Plot Against FDR, or The White House Putsch, was an alleged conspiracy to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 by a retired general backed by big money interests. The allegations of the plot came to light when retired Marine Corps General Smedley Butler testified that one Gerald MacGuire told Butler that he had been selected to lead the plot. Butler testified before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee in 1934 [1]. In his testimony, Butler claimed that a group of several men had approached him as part of a plot to overthrow Roosevelt in a military coup. MacGuire vehemently denied any such plot. In their final report, the Congressional committee supported Butler's allegations on the existence of the plot, [2] but no prosecutions or further investigations followed, and the matter was mostly forgotten. ... "

Wikipedia gives some more background on that plot.

The MSM of the day, covered it up and let the story die.

4/22/2006 08:18:00 AM  
Blogger Jamie Irons said...

Somewhat OT, but perhaps not really, here is a piece by the Counterterrorism Blog that Rat called our attention to.

It continues the theme of how we are allowing ourselves to be undermined from within.

The case interests me because it concerns a Moroccan, and my dear sister has lived her entire adult life in Morocco. The country has its fair share of Islamists, but overall it should be considered (for a country in the Maghreb) "on our side."

A Moroccan with clear ties to multiple SDGT (Specially Designated Global Terrorist) entities is working with "Baghdad Jim" McDermott:

On Mustafa Khalfi


Jamie Irons

4/22/2006 08:31:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

You know, Jamie, that if they'd just stop killing people, they could enter politics, and join the nice pleasant world a-building before the jihad gunpowder plot was launched upon it.

4/22/2006 08:59:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

As I have written here previously, it was my opinion in 2000 that Mr. Bush should have ruthlessly purged the military of Mr. Clinton’s flag appoints and officers somewhat lower down the chain-of-command. Admittedly, my recommendation is bad policy and not the sort one would hope to see with passing administrations. Nevertheless, I believed in the instance it was sound. To believe that a solipsistic narcissist such as Mr. Clinton would ever conceive of promoting to upper management echelons those who would not at least quietly acquiesce in his perversions was foolish. Enter Ms. McCarthy.

Since taking office, Mr. Bush’s administration has been systematically been done to death by Chinese water torture: death by a thousand leaks. It is probably too late to rectify the systemic damage done in the time remaining to the administration. It is not, however, too late to cleanse the stables to the good of the country and the next administration.

4/22/2006 09:45:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

A part of me, unquestionably mean, would like to see Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Pollard sharing notes for the rest of their natural lives. I'm thinking of the clanking of tin cups on cells, a la Count of Monte Cristo.

4/22/2006 09:57:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

Oh, Sandy Berger would keep them company in a fair scenario.

4/22/2006 09:59:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

It's a problem with the agencies in general. They're just too big. In the executive branch, under administrative law, answerable only to the executive.

But, aside from naming the directorate, an incoming exec has no other control over the vast sprawl of unionized public servants who are largely--naturally--of the party of government.

Democrats, that is, with a vested interest in the failure of Pub administrations. It's just an expensive and demoralizing waste in the usual case, but becomes downright dangerous in the national security iterations. Especially in a war of this sort, in times like these. Termites.

4/22/2006 10:03:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

buddy larsen,

"Termites"

They will be with us always, as will be the Orkin man. The administration must do what it can.

Many of the folk who need replac'n are not covered under labor agreements. For them the President may use the block and ax at will.

Again, I say, we must not expect an immediate pay-off. This disease has metastasized beyond the point of "take an aspirin and see me tomorrow." The traitors are no entitled.

For espionage, a speedy public trial and execution, with all the pageantry entailed might prove therapeutic. Unlikely, though. Wouldn't be prudent. Not compassionate.

4/22/2006 10:56:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

"now" entitled. Sorry

4/22/2006 10:57:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

what, you mean you favor a Right Wing Takeover Of The Government ?

4/22/2006 10:57:00 AM  
Blogger snowonpine said...

Connections, all these connections and coincidences--working lunches, conferences, research teams and projects. A chance meeting here or there. Dinner parties with like-minded friends too,no doubt, and lazy discussions out on the deck with a good glass of wine on how to get their stories straight.

Hand cuffs. lots and lots of hand cuffs and plenty of those little oblong signboards for the mug shots. Lots of little stuffy rooms and bright, bright lights with a mirror on one wall. A very public trial or maybe not, perhaps a vacation at Guantanamo. Then a very long but good cardio workout say, stamping license plates, work in the laundry or even breaking big ones into little ones.

Boy, they sure need to call RotoRooter.

4/22/2006 11:01:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Unintended Consequences

Be careful what one wishes for. Imagine that every "civil servant" at Foggybottom and Langley were summarily dismissed.

For a month or two, the world supply of Chardonnay would dry up. Newstand copies of the Nation, the WaPo, and the Times would be impossible to find. Starbucks stock would skyrocket. But then reality would rudely intrude. These people would need to find work, but what could they do?

Lefty profs--already taken. Politcal Hacks--need not apply. Social activists--maybe but the pay is lousy.

Exposes--now we're talking--and the prison variety even better. I can see it now--Mary McCarthy Sings: Sandy Was Lousy In the Rack.

4/22/2006 11:35:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

The first time I saw Richard Clarke on the tv, he was outside some Big Meeting, accosted by camera and crew while getting into the backseat of a chauffeured limo. He was wearing a buff-colored camels hair overcoat--somewhere in the $1k range I'd guess, and carrying an Italian rococo-looking embossed leather briefcase with brass fittings--probably also in the $1K range.

His head was turning on gimbals, surveying the tops of heads only, as his auto-antennae soaked up available camera angles and lighting cues during his elegant, rather prissy, entry into the vehicle.

I remember thinking "Oh, Jesus, God, no, not another one of these!"

4/22/2006 12:07:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

A little heads up on the links please.

It's a little too early to start drinking.

I believe he served in Viet Nam, no?

4/22/2006 12:11:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

catorenasci--one thing the Clintons really delivered was the "permanent campaign", as they proudly call it.

4/22/2006 12:14:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Old dad--sorry--you're right--that was a little much.

4/22/2006 12:16:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

At least Ms. McCarthy is generous.

4/22/2006 12:49:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

confounded "Corner" architecture--linked wrong--I meant this title:
CIA-LEAK SIDEBAR [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

4/22/2006 12:59:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

No worries. It could have been worse

4/22/2006 01:04:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Ha--"How To Make 2008-2012 Last Forever And Ever"

4/22/2006 01:21:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Instapundit rounds up a half dozen links.

4/22/2006 01:30:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

"The Washington Post (which ran Clarke's defense of the intelligence connecting Iraq and al Qaeda in Sudan in January 1999) itself has been and would continue to be remiss if it didn't pick up on this angle of the story.

There was a time when Mary McCarthy knew about the connection between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda. Just as Richard Clarke did. Will The Washington Post explore this topic? Probably not.

Why? That's not what Mary McCarthy was leaking to them.


posted by Thomas Joscelyn at 10:14 AM

4/22/2006 01:43:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Dan, "ah no a he" means "Kick Me" in Pawnee.

4/22/2006 01:50:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Reminds me of LBJ/Nixon.
Dick learned a bunch of his Tricks from Tex.
Nixon got busted as Tricky Dick.
Current admin carries on practices
AND PERSONNEL from previous admin...
Woeful Woodie and Bernie become rich and famous archetypes, and role models.
Bubba's Personnel Get Pulitzers.

4/22/2006 02:01:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Mark Levin weighs in.
They will downplay that McCarthy was a Clintonoid who somehow managed to land a top post at the CIA, ultimately winding up in the CIA's Inspector General's Office, from where she could monitor CIA internal investigations of, well, leaks, among other things.
The news spin,
to the extent attention is being paid to this by the big media outlets, is that McCarthy's firing is unprecedented!
Or it's Bush's fault!
In one of the most absurd comments by any newsman anywhere, Newsbusters.org notes that Bob Schieffer of CBS Evening News asserted that
“it is no secret that the current administration does not like its people hanging out with news reporters without permission”
and he described the firing as
“a first — a dubious first, to be sure
.” Here.
Is this guy for real?
.

4/22/2006 02:13:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Didn't Smedley Butler go by "Buddy?"
Good ol Buddy Smed.

4/22/2006 02:20:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"ah no a he" in Hawaiian means
he can do a slick Hula,
among other things.

4/22/2006 02:22:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Colleagues Say C.I.A. Analyst Played by Rules
NY Times 3:23 PM ET
Mary O. McCarthy, dismissed after being accused of leaking information to reporters, once was responsible for guarding some of the nation's most sensitive secrets.

4/22/2006 02:26:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Trish's most trusted source weighs in:

"It looks to me like Mary is being used as a sacrificial lamb," said Larry Johnson a former C.I.A. officer who worked for Ms. McCarthy , in the agency's Latin America section.

She's just a mom, like those Duke dancers, making a living in the world's oldest profession:
Married with one child, she also began attending law school at night, two former co-workers said, and talked about switching to a career in public interest law.

4/22/2006 02:37:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Smedley escapes memory, doug--radio, from your 1920s childhood perhaps?

Hey, the Inspector General's office circumstances--that's what we need to know more about. How did she get that assignment?

4/22/2006 02:39:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

raw data--you don't think the national tradition could re-evolve to the pre-clinton condition, before the extreme degree of politicization within the agencies?

4/22/2006 02:43:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

It's 'Rat's 8:18 AM, Smed.

4/22/2006 03:04:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Elmer Fudd Fights Govt Grwoth!

4/22/2006 03:06:00 PM  
Blogger snowonpine said...

So I see that some of her fellow analysts said "she played by the rules." And what rules might they be at the CIA, pray tell?

I also see that the MSM is starting to break out the violins--"just a mom" , night school ,etc. I'd appreciate it if they'd cut the crap but, if they're going to start with the violins, they at least should use some of those teeny tiny miniature violins from China, because that little, almost inaudible sound they make is more than she deserves.

A traitor is a traitor.

4/22/2006 03:37:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

snowonpine, 3:37 PM

Just a mom

So was Linda Tripp. Think that anyone in the administration will pick-up on that? They are not blessed.

4/22/2006 04:39:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I think they meant ...she played "Bye, the Rules!"

4/22/2006 04:49:00 PM  

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