Cliff Kincaid
Obama's "dangerous hands" and the security breakdown
By Cliff Kincaid
Even when "60 Minutes" does a very worthwhile show, it still has to bow at the altar of political correctness. Hence, the program "Into Dangerous Hands," about flaws in the security clearance process, was itself flawed in a very strange way. Correspondent Scott Pelley danced around the issue of illegal leaker and former Army analyst Bradley/Chelsea Manning's sexual perversion.
Pelley focused on three people who had security clearances and either stole and leaked classified documents or committed mass murder. They were Manning, Edward Snowden, and Aaron Alexis. Before getting into some dramatic new information about all three of them, Pelley said, "Some believe Snowden and Manning were right to expose what they saw as government abuses – like the NSA's domestic surveillance program."
These "some" are those who condone illegal behavior that benefits America's enemies, such as Russia and China.
CBS interviewed a number of people who discussed terrible problems in the process of granting security clearances. One of the most significant was former Army specialist Jihrleah Showman, who supervised Bradley/Chelsea Manning in Iraq. Showman "was tasked with controlling security clearances for her unit and keeping secure facilities safe," CBS noted. She said she had reason to doubt Manning's loyalty to America and told her superiors she thought he was a spy. She told Pelley that even before the unit deployed to Iraq, she had grave concerns about Manning.
This is from the CBS account: "His behavior was erratic, she says, and he told her he had 'no allegiance' to America. But when she tried to alert her superiors, she says, she was told they couldn't afford to lose someone with a valuable top-secret clearance."
CBS added, "In Iraq, Manning was prone to fits of rage, Showman says, even punching her at one point. She says she also saw him bring CDs and a camera into a high-security intelligence vault, where classified material was kept. Over eight months, Manning used the CDs to record hundreds of thousands of secrets, delivering them to the website WikiLeaks. In 2013, Manning was convicted of espionage and other charges, and sentenced to 35 years in prison."
CBS forgot to mention one thing: he was an active homosexual at the time he was in the Army.
Viewers may have gotten a hint of that, since Manning has changed his name from male to female. Pelley noted that he now considered himself a "transgender woman." But the fact that he was an active homosexual at the time of his treachery is a big part of the story. At the time he was out of the closet and advertising his perversion, a law was still in place banning displays of open homosexuality in the Armed Forces.
Manning had been an active participant in the homosexual subculture, under the noses of his military superiors, and even went to gay bars. He advertised his homosexuality on Facebook.
However, it was known that the Obama administration was moving toward the acceptance of homosexuals in the military at that time.
We noted that Manning was a pervert who should have been booted out of the Army and should never have received a security clearance. We added, "The key question – not pursued by the media – is why Manning was allowed to remain in the Army when he was acting in violation of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' policy."
In 2010, we asked, "Who in the Obama administration – and the Department of Defense – was aware of his conduct and looked the other way? Was Manning given a pass because his 'lifestyle' was considered to be in favor and acceptable under the Obama administration?"
Manning had claimed connections inside the Pentagon and the White House. But our media never followed up.
"60 Minutes" got into some of this, but still ignores the big issue – promotion of homosexuality by the Obama administration. The Department of Defense had a liberal policy about gays in the military, in deference to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief.
Our conclusion at the time is still valid: the buck stops with President Obama, whose announced desire to overturn the homosexual exclusion policy was undoubtedly a factor in Army officials' looking the other way on Manning.
Yet, in reviewing the problems in the security clearance process, Pelley never once put any blame on the President of the United States.
In addition, Pelley never mentioned another critical fact: President Obama, the person ultimately in charge of the security clearance process, did not go through any kind of security clearance background investigation at all.
The title of the piece came from Pelley's observation that there were "shortcuts" in the security clearance process that had put American security "into dangerous hands." One of the biggest shortcuts, or loopholes, is the failure to make sure that federal elected officials are loyal to the United States.
Former FBI agent Max Noel told me the Bureau used to investigate candidates for federal employment by analyzing Character, Associates, Reputation, and Loyalty to the United States. The first letters in those words make up the acronym CARL. Noel told me that Obama could not have been elected president if he had been subjected to the CARL test.
One reason for this has been cited by Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, who has questioned the scrutiny he's been given over issues in his background that occurred 40 or 50 years ago. "I do not remember this level of scrutiny for one President Barack Obama, when he was running," Carson said. "In fact, I remember just the opposite, I remember people just said: Oh, we won't really talk about that. We won't talk about that relationship; well, Frank Marshall Davis, oh, we don't want to talk about that. Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers – yeah, well, he didn't really know him. You know, all the things that Jeremiah Wright was saying – ehh, not a big problem. Goes to Occidental college, doesn't do all that well, and somehow ends up at Columbia University. Well, I dunno. His records are sealed. Why are his records sealed? Why are you guys not interested in why his records are sealed? Why are you not interested in that? Let me ask that: Can somebody tell me why, please?"
Technically, Obama's records haven't been "sealed;" he has just refused to release them.
But Carson's reference to the media's dereliction in regard to investigating Obama's communist connections, such as his mentor Frank Marshall Davis, is backed up by the evidence.
Our media don't want to come to grips with this part of Obama's background for several different reasons, including that it is a factor that would have prevented Obama from getting a security clearance in the government he now heads.
Into dangerous hands? Yes, indeed.
© Cliff Kincaid
November 11, 2015
Even when "60 Minutes" does a very worthwhile show, it still has to bow at the altar of political correctness. Hence, the program "Into Dangerous Hands," about flaws in the security clearance process, was itself flawed in a very strange way. Correspondent Scott Pelley danced around the issue of illegal leaker and former Army analyst Bradley/Chelsea Manning's sexual perversion.
Pelley focused on three people who had security clearances and either stole and leaked classified documents or committed mass murder. They were Manning, Edward Snowden, and Aaron Alexis. Before getting into some dramatic new information about all three of them, Pelley said, "Some believe Snowden and Manning were right to expose what they saw as government abuses – like the NSA's domestic surveillance program."
These "some" are those who condone illegal behavior that benefits America's enemies, such as Russia and China.
CBS interviewed a number of people who discussed terrible problems in the process of granting security clearances. One of the most significant was former Army specialist Jihrleah Showman, who supervised Bradley/Chelsea Manning in Iraq. Showman "was tasked with controlling security clearances for her unit and keeping secure facilities safe," CBS noted. She said she had reason to doubt Manning's loyalty to America and told her superiors she thought he was a spy. She told Pelley that even before the unit deployed to Iraq, she had grave concerns about Manning.
This is from the CBS account: "His behavior was erratic, she says, and he told her he had 'no allegiance' to America. But when she tried to alert her superiors, she says, she was told they couldn't afford to lose someone with a valuable top-secret clearance."
CBS added, "In Iraq, Manning was prone to fits of rage, Showman says, even punching her at one point. She says she also saw him bring CDs and a camera into a high-security intelligence vault, where classified material was kept. Over eight months, Manning used the CDs to record hundreds of thousands of secrets, delivering them to the website WikiLeaks. In 2013, Manning was convicted of espionage and other charges, and sentenced to 35 years in prison."
CBS forgot to mention one thing: he was an active homosexual at the time he was in the Army.
Viewers may have gotten a hint of that, since Manning has changed his name from male to female. Pelley noted that he now considered himself a "transgender woman." But the fact that he was an active homosexual at the time of his treachery is a big part of the story. At the time he was out of the closet and advertising his perversion, a law was still in place banning displays of open homosexuality in the Armed Forces.
Manning had been an active participant in the homosexual subculture, under the noses of his military superiors, and even went to gay bars. He advertised his homosexuality on Facebook.
However, it was known that the Obama administration was moving toward the acceptance of homosexuals in the military at that time.
We noted that Manning was a pervert who should have been booted out of the Army and should never have received a security clearance. We added, "The key question – not pursued by the media – is why Manning was allowed to remain in the Army when he was acting in violation of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' policy."
In 2010, we asked, "Who in the Obama administration – and the Department of Defense – was aware of his conduct and looked the other way? Was Manning given a pass because his 'lifestyle' was considered to be in favor and acceptable under the Obama administration?"
Manning had claimed connections inside the Pentagon and the White House. But our media never followed up.
"60 Minutes" got into some of this, but still ignores the big issue – promotion of homosexuality by the Obama administration. The Department of Defense had a liberal policy about gays in the military, in deference to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief.
Our conclusion at the time is still valid: the buck stops with President Obama, whose announced desire to overturn the homosexual exclusion policy was undoubtedly a factor in Army officials' looking the other way on Manning.
Yet, in reviewing the problems in the security clearance process, Pelley never once put any blame on the President of the United States.
In addition, Pelley never mentioned another critical fact: President Obama, the person ultimately in charge of the security clearance process, did not go through any kind of security clearance background investigation at all.
The title of the piece came from Pelley's observation that there were "shortcuts" in the security clearance process that had put American security "into dangerous hands." One of the biggest shortcuts, or loopholes, is the failure to make sure that federal elected officials are loyal to the United States.
Former FBI agent Max Noel told me the Bureau used to investigate candidates for federal employment by analyzing Character, Associates, Reputation, and Loyalty to the United States. The first letters in those words make up the acronym CARL. Noel told me that Obama could not have been elected president if he had been subjected to the CARL test.
One reason for this has been cited by Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, who has questioned the scrutiny he's been given over issues in his background that occurred 40 or 50 years ago. "I do not remember this level of scrutiny for one President Barack Obama, when he was running," Carson said. "In fact, I remember just the opposite, I remember people just said: Oh, we won't really talk about that. We won't talk about that relationship; well, Frank Marshall Davis, oh, we don't want to talk about that. Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers – yeah, well, he didn't really know him. You know, all the things that Jeremiah Wright was saying – ehh, not a big problem. Goes to Occidental college, doesn't do all that well, and somehow ends up at Columbia University. Well, I dunno. His records are sealed. Why are his records sealed? Why are you guys not interested in why his records are sealed? Why are you not interested in that? Let me ask that: Can somebody tell me why, please?"
Technically, Obama's records haven't been "sealed;" he has just refused to release them.
But Carson's reference to the media's dereliction in regard to investigating Obama's communist connections, such as his mentor Frank Marshall Davis, is backed up by the evidence.
Our media don't want to come to grips with this part of Obama's background for several different reasons, including that it is a factor that would have prevented Obama from getting a security clearance in the government he now heads.
Into dangerous hands? Yes, indeed.
© Cliff Kincaid
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