STEROID-GOBBLING KLEPTO EX-MARINE: Exposes war on terror follies
"Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California," read the most ridiculous and unintentionally annoying story of the day, courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune. (See here.)
In January, Maziarz had been exposed as a steroid-pumping stealer of war swag who just happened to work as a Marine Corps intelligence analyst in Fallujah and later at Camp Pendleton in southern California.
With an apparent fondness for nickel-plated, gold-painted AK47's, Russian sniper rifles, pistols and swords taken by the US military from the palaces of Saddam Hussein, Maziarz was the target of an Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe in January, one in which he was reasonably deemed a threat to the security of the United States.
Maziarz eventually pled guilty to mishandling hundreds of classified documents and passing them on to four alleged co-conspirators in law enforcement in Los Angeles County.
In return for a reduced sentence, Maziarz has become the primary source in an investigation into what has been dubbed a "spy ring," one which is said to include Larry Richards, an employee of the LA Sheriff's Department, a man said to be an intelligence analyst in great standing within the county's Terrorism Early Warning Center. (Note sarcasm. The center exists, known under the acronym as TEW, but you'll be hard-pressed to show that it's work has been worth anything if you require evidence from the public record. The San Diego Union Tribune revealed Richards had been awarded a Bronze Star for "psychological warfare strategies" developed for or during the Iraq War. Your friendly neighborhood GlobalSecurity.Org Senior Fellow cannot help but think readers will find the claim a source of great jollity, psychological warfare having obviously worked so well in that country.)
Another alleged conspirator, named by the Union Tribune and the Los Angeles Times is David Litaker, an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department assigned to the Rampart division. Rampart is well known mostly for a past history of corruption -- but not counter-terrorism.
Two other members claimed to be part of the spy ring were Lauren Martin, a civilian intelligence analyst at Peterson AFB in Colorado and Mark Lowe, another Marine reserve officer.
"[Maziarz] knew his group was violating national security laws," wrote the Union Tribune. "But he said bureaucratic walls erected by the military and civilian agencies were hampering intelligence sharing and coordination, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorists."
DD now asks readers to reflect upon the testimony and rationalization put forward by a disgraced ex-Marine, one given time off from stir for good behavior -- testimony to incriminate his former colleagues.
"Maziarz isn't alone in asserting that terrorists are operating in the United States," asserted the San Diego newspaper's report, somewhat nonsensically given that part of the article seems to be intended to portray a seemingly crazed, bad and troublesome ex-military man as a patriot, someone invaluable in our struggle for national existence.
"In the big picture, defense experts said, the Maziarz case isn't just about patriotism," continued the newspaper.
Naturally, patriotism and the desire to protect America from terrorists at all costs are things one always thinks of first as the motives of those who accumulate war booty, take steroids and collect mountains of intelligence documents, stowing them away in sheds in Carlsbad, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
The Los Angeles Times reported today that alleged Maziarz collaborator Larry Richards had been placed on leave. Alleged collaborator and LAPD officer Litaker had been assigned to desk duty.
"Richards is perhaps best known as the co-creator of the [LA County] Sheriff's Department's Terrorism Early Warning Center," wrote the Times, a claim not really backed up by the public record or Lexis which contain virtually no mention of the organization, or Richards' alleged invention of it, in the last ten years.
"[Richards] is one of the top guys in the field," said Sheriff's Chief William J. McSweeney to the Times.
Richards and Litaker, as well as the LAPD, the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would have essentially had to have known of Maziarz's troubles and their ties to him much earlier in the year.
However, until the San Diego Union Tribune broke the story, there has been no public comment on what must be substantial internal investigations.
The LAPD's anti-terror division, while mostly invisible, has occasionally attempted to emphasize its role in the war on terror.
Judith Miller, famously ejected from the New York Times for Iraq war articles which turned out to be an assortment of interesting lies and frauds, has reported on the excellence of the unit.
Miller now very occasionally writes for the LA Times Sunday opinion section as a desperate nutbag eager to regain some of her former mojo.
LA's terror forces, "analysts [who] vet tips and leads -- nearly 25 a week, on average -- [trying] to identify the one percent that prove serious," she wrote in July of this year for a piece entitled, "Lacking funds and manpower, [Police Chief William J.] Bratton's war on terror is based on the principle of sharing..."
Now rendered unintentionally hilarious, DD blog points out some of this "sharing" was apparently illegal and involved a very dodgy person. And it has been hushed up. Until now.
Miller wrote Los Angeles's counter-terror operation was understaffed. Counter-terrorism operations make up about 2 percent of the LAPD's annual operating budget.
"If someone threatens to spread anthrax in the city, for instance, the [Terror Early Warning] center's 'threat squad' tries to figure out if the danger is real," wrote Miller.
There's been no anthrax in LA county. Good job!
No Miller story would be complete without at least one invention, something no one else could or can see.
"[Details of which haven't yet been made public," wrote Miller of "the uncovering in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 of a group of French-speaking North Africans, then living in an apartment complex in Hollywood, who may have provided support to the 9/11 hijackers."
Presumably an editor made Miller add the qualifier: "Neither the FBI, which helped investigate the cell, nor the 9/11 commission agreed with the LAPD that this was an Al Qaeda support cell."
Maziarz spy ring investigation in the Los Angeles Times.
Information sharing, by hook or by crook -- on Steven Aftergood's Secrecy blog.
Iraq war loot, steroids and classified information found in sheds in Virginia and California.
"Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California," read the most ridiculous and unintentionally annoying story of the day, courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune. (See here.)
In January, Maziarz had been exposed as a steroid-pumping stealer of war swag who just happened to work as a Marine Corps intelligence analyst in Fallujah and later at Camp Pendleton in southern California.
With an apparent fondness for nickel-plated, gold-painted AK47's, Russian sniper rifles, pistols and swords taken by the US military from the palaces of Saddam Hussein, Maziarz was the target of an Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe in January, one in which he was reasonably deemed a threat to the security of the United States.
Maziarz eventually pled guilty to mishandling hundreds of classified documents and passing them on to four alleged co-conspirators in law enforcement in Los Angeles County.
In return for a reduced sentence, Maziarz has become the primary source in an investigation into what has been dubbed a "spy ring," one which is said to include Larry Richards, an employee of the LA Sheriff's Department, a man said to be an intelligence analyst in great standing within the county's Terrorism Early Warning Center. (Note sarcasm. The center exists, known under the acronym as TEW, but you'll be hard-pressed to show that it's work has been worth anything if you require evidence from the public record. The San Diego Union Tribune revealed Richards had been awarded a Bronze Star for "psychological warfare strategies" developed for or during the Iraq War. Your friendly neighborhood GlobalSecurity.Org Senior Fellow cannot help but think readers will find the claim a source of great jollity, psychological warfare having obviously worked so well in that country.)
Another alleged conspirator, named by the Union Tribune and the Los Angeles Times is David Litaker, an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department assigned to the Rampart division. Rampart is well known mostly for a past history of corruption -- but not counter-terrorism.
Two other members claimed to be part of the spy ring were Lauren Martin, a civilian intelligence analyst at Peterson AFB in Colorado and Mark Lowe, another Marine reserve officer.
"[Maziarz] knew his group was violating national security laws," wrote the Union Tribune. "But he said bureaucratic walls erected by the military and civilian agencies were hampering intelligence sharing and coordination, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorists."
DD now asks readers to reflect upon the testimony and rationalization put forward by a disgraced ex-Marine, one given time off from stir for good behavior -- testimony to incriminate his former colleagues.
"Maziarz isn't alone in asserting that terrorists are operating in the United States," asserted the San Diego newspaper's report, somewhat nonsensically given that part of the article seems to be intended to portray a seemingly crazed, bad and troublesome ex-military man as a patriot, someone invaluable in our struggle for national existence.
"In the big picture, defense experts said, the Maziarz case isn't just about patriotism," continued the newspaper.
Naturally, patriotism and the desire to protect America from terrorists at all costs are things one always thinks of first as the motives of those who accumulate war booty, take steroids and collect mountains of intelligence documents, stowing them away in sheds in Carlsbad, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia.
The Los Angeles Times reported today that alleged Maziarz collaborator Larry Richards had been placed on leave. Alleged collaborator and LAPD officer Litaker had been assigned to desk duty.
"Richards is perhaps best known as the co-creator of the [LA County] Sheriff's Department's Terrorism Early Warning Center," wrote the Times, a claim not really backed up by the public record or Lexis which contain virtually no mention of the organization, or Richards' alleged invention of it, in the last ten years.
"[Richards] is one of the top guys in the field," said Sheriff's Chief William J. McSweeney to the Times.
Richards and Litaker, as well as the LAPD, the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would have essentially had to have known of Maziarz's troubles and their ties to him much earlier in the year.
However, until the San Diego Union Tribune broke the story, there has been no public comment on what must be substantial internal investigations.
The LAPD's anti-terror division, while mostly invisible, has occasionally attempted to emphasize its role in the war on terror.
Judith Miller, famously ejected from the New York Times for Iraq war articles which turned out to be an assortment of interesting lies and frauds, has reported on the excellence of the unit.
Miller now very occasionally writes for the LA Times Sunday opinion section as a desperate nutbag eager to regain some of her former mojo.
LA's terror forces, "analysts [who] vet tips and leads -- nearly 25 a week, on average -- [trying] to identify the one percent that prove serious," she wrote in July of this year for a piece entitled, "Lacking funds and manpower, [Police Chief William J.] Bratton's war on terror is based on the principle of sharing..."
Now rendered unintentionally hilarious, DD blog points out some of this "sharing" was apparently illegal and involved a very dodgy person. And it has been hushed up. Until now.
Miller wrote Los Angeles's counter-terror operation was understaffed. Counter-terrorism operations make up about 2 percent of the LAPD's annual operating budget.
"If someone threatens to spread anthrax in the city, for instance, the [Terror Early Warning] center's 'threat squad' tries to figure out if the danger is real," wrote Miller.
There's been no anthrax in LA county. Good job!
No Miller story would be complete without at least one invention, something no one else could or can see.
"[Details of which haven't yet been made public," wrote Miller of "the uncovering in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 of a group of French-speaking North Africans, then living in an apartment complex in Hollywood, who may have provided support to the 9/11 hijackers."
Presumably an editor made Miller add the qualifier: "Neither the FBI, which helped investigate the cell, nor the 9/11 commission agreed with the LAPD that this was an Al Qaeda support cell."
Maziarz spy ring investigation in the Los Angeles Times.
Information sharing, by hook or by crook -- on Steven Aftergood's Secrecy blog.
Iraq war loot, steroids and classified information found in sheds in Virginia and California.
posted by George Smith at 3:22 PM
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