In this age of the daily indiscretion, a relatively senior naval intelligence officer has been openly relieved of duty. He said, orally and in writing, things that conflicted with Administration's views. Two articles follow:
First from Navy Times, a summary that says he was relieved, that he said things that SECDEF, CNO, and CSA either disagreed with or new nothing about, and that his relief may have been predicated on mishandling classified info and running a negative command climate.
Second article, from Real Clear Defense and written by a contractor, says that he was telling the truth, and used only UNCLASSIFIED open sources.
Senior intel officer removed after controversial comments on China (Navy Times)
Phi Beta Iota: Everyone looks bad here. Worst of all are the allegations about mis-handling classified information and a negative command environment. Those are signs of an abuse of power by the security establishment acting unprofessionally and under political pressure. Both the Captain and the White House are in the wrong. The Captain is wrong to believe that anything China does in its natural sphere of influence is to be feared and condemned. The White House is wrong to think that we have any rights at all in the Pacific. The Pentagon is wrong to bluff. We have a hollow-military that is incapable of effective sustained action far from our shores — the Navy is a monstrous joke with as many Admirals as ships, the Air Force could not compete with Federal Express in delivering power anywhere, and the Army is a combination of toxic leadership, suicidal veterans, and a force structure totally unsuited to modern needs. The lack of intelligence with integrity at all levels, in relation to our needs for coherent strategy, policy, acquisition, and operations, is glaring. The US Navy is NOT afloat and it is NOT “combat credible” (nor is it “logistics credible.”)
See Also:
YouTube (1:18:00) WEST 2014: What About China?
