Kerry/McCain Syria advisor fired for lying about credentials

[Dianne]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/11/kerry-and-mccains-favorite-syria-expert-fired-for-faking-credentials/

Kerry and McCain’s favorite Syria ‘expert’ fired for faking credentials

A prominent pro-Syrian intervention expert, cited by both Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sec. of State John Kerry, lied about her academic credentials and failed to disclose her ties to rebel groups in the embattled republic. According to Buzzfeed, the Institute for the Study of War, a non-partisan Washington think tank, fired Elizabeth O’Bagy on Tuesday after finding out she lied about earning a Ph.D. from Georgetown, University in Washington.

On Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War website said, “The Institute for the Study of War has learned and confirmed that, contrary to her representations, Ms. Elizabeth O’Bagy does not in fact have a Ph.D. degree from Georgetown University. ISW has accordingly terminated Ms. O’Bagy’s employment, effective immediately.”

O’Bagy wrote to Buzzfeed’s Susannah George via email, “I was just fired from ISW and I’m no longer legally allowed to discuss my employment with them or affiliate it any way.”

An op-ed piece by O’Bagy published in the Wall Street Journal drew fire over O’Bagy’s failure to disclose her ties to rebel groups in Syria. In the Journal piece, she wrote that she has spent “hundreds of hours” in Syria in the company of various rebel factions arrayed against Pres. Bashar al-Assad.

“Contrary to many media accounts, the war in Syria is not being waged entirely, or even predominantly, by dangerous Islamists and al Qaeda die-hards,” O’Bagy asserted.

Sen. McCain read a portion of her op-ed piece aloud on the Senate floor to advocate for U.S. intervention. Sec. of State Kerry called her argument in the piece “very interesting” and urged members of Congress to read it.

After the article was published on Aug. 30, it came to light that she is affiliated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a lobbying group that facilitates contract negotiations involving the U.S. and British governments and other agencies which provide aid to Syrian rebels. The Task Force is still in the process of being certified a 501(c)3 nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service.

Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, praised O’Bagy’s work to Buzzfeed, saying, “Elizabeth is one of the best experts on Syria and her field work inside Syria along with her extensive networks on the ground makes her one of few people that can help inform policy makers on the reality on the ground.”

O’Bagy insisted that her work as a journalist is independent of her financial affiliations in the region.

“My research is completely separate” she said to George in a pre-firing interview. “Every journalist and every researcher goes into the conflict with their own background and their own ideas.”

UPDATE: O’Bagy received a Master of Arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, according to Politico. She said she also submitted and defended a dissertation, but was still waiting to receive a Ph.D. from the university.

[puppetmaster]

Lol good.

[angelatc]

Liars gotta lie.

[GregSarnowski]

As if a piece of paper from Georgetown would make her opinion worth anything anyhow.

[VIDEODROME]

http://images.wikia.com/plantsvszombies/images/6/6f/You_don%27t_say%3F.jpg

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Here's the beauty in hiring fake consultants with non-existent credentials.

If you get you want, they keep their jobs because they were right.

If you don't get what you want, you fire them because they were incompetent and lied about their credentials.

Does anyone really think McCain and Kerry follow advice? Or do they manufacture advice that they can follow? (thus, giving themselves plausible dependability for things gone wrong?)

Pay attention here, people.

I expect more out of rpf.

[thoughtomator]

Does anyone really think McCain and Kerry follow advice? Or do they manufacture advice that they can follow? (thus, giving themselves plausible dependability for things gone wrong?)

I don't think McCain and Kerry manufacture advice - but they DO take orders from people who do. All signs point to "O'Bagy" being an intel agent.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

I don't think McCain and Kerry manufacture advice - but they DO take orders from people who do. All signs point to "O'Bagy" being an intel agent.


Well, either way, really.

[juleswin]

As if a piece of paper from Georgetown would make her opinion worth anything anyhow.

For her role, her credibility is more important than her credentials and she had to go after it was discovered that she lacked both the credentials and credibility. I bet if someone did a bit more snooping, they will discovered that she did not write the articles the WSJ is attributing to her

[ClydeCoulter]

For her role, her credibility is more important than her credentials and she had to go after it was discovered that she lacked both the credentials and credibility. I bet if someone did a bit more snooping, they will discovered that she did not write the articles the WSJ is attributing to her

I think that once her connection to pro-rebels was made public, she had to go. Where's that thread here from the other day...hmmmm.....

[ClydeCoulter]

I think that once her connection to pro-rebels was made public, she had to go. Where's that thread here from the other day...hmmmm.....

Oh, here it is:

Woman informing Kerry, McCain’s opinions on Syria also an advocate for Syrian rebels
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?426892-Woman-Kerry-kept-mentioning-in-testimony-a-paid-advocate-for-the-rebels&highlight=O%27Bagy

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Oh, here it is:

Woman informing Kerry, McCain’s opinions on Syria also an advocate for Syrian rebels
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?426892-Woman-Kerry-kept-mentioning-in-testimony-a-paid-advocate-for-the-rebels&highlight=O%27Bagy


Yeah, but there's still the "chicken or the egg" issue.

I've been around too long to think McCain does anything because he's actually misinformed. Dumb as he is, I believe that. I'm sure he's uninformed constantly.

[Occam's Banana]

"NOW we're ready to vett us some Syrian rebels ..."

[enhanced_deficit]

"NOW we're ready to vett us some Syrian rebels ..."

There is vetting and then there is wetting.

It is mind boggling why Al Qaeda linked militants and US Zionist jewish groups have been wetting together so publicly since First Puppet SWC's getting in the WH. So Mrs Frederick Kagan working for Institute of War led by notorious neocon William Kristol is cited by flip flopping SWC Kerry for starting another war to find WMDs?

"
Shady PR operatives, pro-Israel ties
Inside the Syrian opposition’s DC spin machine

What Kerry and McCain neglected to mention was that O’Bagy had been recently hired (http://syriantaskforce.org/index.php/2013-01-23-13-29-32/press-releases/59-setf-welcomes-dr-elizabeth-o-bagy-to-dc-staff) as the political director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a little known outfit that functions as a lobbying arm of the Syrian opposition in Washington.

Until today, O’Bagy had failed to note her role as a paid Syrian opposition lobbyist in her Wall Street Journal byline and did not note the position in her official bio at the Institute for the Study of War. Only after a storm of criticism did the Wall Street Journal insert a note in O’Bagy’s recent op-ed disclosing (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/wall-street-journal-syria-elizabeth-obagy_n_3881477.html) her paid position at SETF. O’Bagy was also compelled to amend her bio with a lengthy clarification (http://www.understandingwar.org/press-media/staff-bios/elizabeth-obagy) about her work at SETF.

But her work at the Institute for the Study of War should have been enough to set off alarm bells.
“Logrolling for war”
The Institute for the Study of War’s (ISW) board of directors is led by William Kristol. Kimberly Kagan, the group’s president, was on General Stanley McChrystal’s strategic review team in 2009, advocating for a dramatic expansion of the US presence in Afghanistan. Her husband is Frederick Kagan, the AEI fellow who is the uncle of fellow neocon Robert Kagan."




The 20 Most Influential Conservative Jews In Politics

Right Wing News
Deciding who’s the “most influential” anything is inherently an arbitrary business. It’s even more difficult in this case when we’re comparing *politicians*, TV *personalities*, radio hosts, and columnists. Still, somebody had to do it, so…


*20) Jeff Jacoby:* Columnist
*19) Jennifer Rubin:* Columnist and blogger for the Washington Post
*18) Lucianne Goldberg:* Lucianne.com
*17) Ben Shapiro:* Columnist, radio host.
*16) Pamela Geller:* Blogger, activist, Executive Director of Stop
Islamization of America.
*15) Ari Fleischer:* Former *White House Press* Secretary, CNN Contributor

*14) Ben Stein:* American Spectator columnist, actor
*13) Ken Mehlman:* Former Bush campaign manager, Former RNC Chairman
*12) Michael Medved:* 3.75 million radio listeners, columnist
*11) John Podhoretz:* Editor of Commentary, New York Post columnist
*10) David Horowitz:* FrontPageMagzine, David Horowitz Freedom Center, & Students for Academic Freedom.
*9) Dennis Prager:* 1.5 radio listeners, columnist
*8) Jonah Goldberg:* Columnist
*7) Michael Savage:* 9 million radio listeners
*6) William Kristol:* Founder and Editor of the Weekly Standard
*5) Charles Krauthammer:* Columnist, frequent TV appearances
*4) Eric Cantor:* House Majority Leader
*3) Andrew Breitbart:* Breitbart.com, Big Journalism, Big Hollywood, Big Peace.
*2) Mark Levin:* 8.5 million radio listeners
*1) Matt Drudge:* Founder of the *Drudge Report*

*Honorable Mentions:* Max Boot, Carolyn Glick, Michael Ledeen, Richard
Perle, Daniel PipeS, Norman Podhoretz, Dorothy Rabinowitz, Evan Sayet, Paul Wolfowitz

http://www.israpundit.com/archives/41775

[Bryan]

Another angle to this story...


http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/11/think-tank-knew-about-obagys-phd-question-long-before-firing-her

Think tank knew about O’Bagy’s Ph.D. question long before firing her

The Institute for the Study of War knew that controversial Syria analyst Elizabeth O’Bagy lacked a Ph.D. long before it fired her, according to the group’s own website.

The Institute announced Wednesday that it had fired O’Bagy, ostensibly for faking her PhD credentials. The termination came after a series of articles in The Daily Caller revealed O’Bagy’s connection with a pro-rebel lobbying group that was not disclosed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed by O’Bagy. (Related: Woman informing Kerry, McCain’s opinions on Syria also an advocate for Syrian rebels)

In fact, the neoconservative think tank knew she was in a joint Ph.D. program all along. The author bio from her March 2013 study of the Free Syrian Army says O’Bagy is “in a joint Master’s/PhD program in Arab Studies and Political Science at Georgetown University and is working on a dissertation on women’s militancy.”

[erowe1]

UPDATE: O’Bagy received a Master of Arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, according to Politico. She said she also submitted and defended a dissertation, but was still waiting to receive a Ph.D. from the university.

If she only claimed to have a PhD after having successfully defended her dissertation, then that wasn't a lie.

It's possible that this line at the end of the article is just her still lying, and she either still hasn't successfully defended a doctoral dissertation, or else she hadn't at a time when she claimed she already had.

ETA: On the other hand, it doesn't explicitly say that she passed her defense.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Who cares bout this Kabuki Credentials Crap... where the fuck are all the CIA agents and station chiefs with their contacts and al-CIAda vetting... :rolleyes:

[J_White]

they were just cherry picking anything they could to support their case.
just like McInsane was having his picture taken with that kidnapper in Syria !
they just want war, thats all.

[HOLLYWOOD]

they were just cherry picking anything they could to support their case.
just like McInsane was having his picture taken with that kidnapper in Syria !
they just want war, thats all.Exactly, you think the US Government and these political mouthpieces are relying on a soul person as running point for WAR? Mat Drudge called it for everyone... CURVEBALL. They need a lie for WAR, then everything that fails, TPTB can blame it on that individual lying and once again the Washington DC spineless cowards get a pass.