Bigwig leakers
by digby
It’s interesting that we’ve had a leak about an investigation into a General’s alleged leaking. I guess we’re all supposed to breathe a sigh of relief that the government is not just targeting the lower level whistleblowers and journalists but is going after people high up the food chain as well. But that’s a little bit silly in an era in which journalists report high level leaks from all over the government every single day and nobody blinks an eye because it’s government propaganda.
Still, this one is interesting, but mostly because of the fact that someone had earlier dropped a dime on the General over an alleged sex scandal that didn’t turn out to be a sex scandal. (If you want to know the details of it, you can read it at the link. I’m uninterested in that.) But I am interested in this, from 2011:
General Cartwright is emerging as a likely front-runner to replace Adm. Mike Mullen when he retires as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct…General Cartwright, a Marine Corps fighter pilot who is among the Pentagon’s experts on computer-network warfare and missile defense, was described by the journalist Bob Woodward in his book, “Obama’s Wars,” as the president’s favorite general.
But during the contentious review process that led to a new White House strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, senior officers — including Admiral Mullen and Gen. David H. Petraeus — were reported to have felt that General Cartwright went behind their backs to align himself too closely with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and others in the White House against the consensus advice of the military and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Let’s just say that in the Village, whenever a bigwig gets targeted, look for the stab wounds in his back from the other bigwigs. It’s fascinating that this would be the one high level person who’s being investigated for leaks.
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