Stephen Cambone
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| Stephen Cambone | |
 Official Photo |
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| United States Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951 |
| Political party | Republican |
Stephen A. Cambone (born 1951) is the first United States Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, a post created in March 2003. He is said to be very close to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as the Pentagon's top man in intelligence. Cambone first came to the attention of the public at large during the testimony of Major General Antonio Taguba before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, where he disputed the General's statement that prison guards were under the effective control of military intelligence personnel and interrogators. [1] [2]
Cambone was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence on March 7, 2003. Prior to March 7th, he was the Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Dr. Cambone held that position since July 1, 2002. On July 19, 2001, he was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He held that position until July 1, 2002. Prior to that, he served as The Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense from January 2001 to July 2001. [3]
In January of 2001, as George W. Bush prepared to take office, Cambone served on a panel for nuclear weapons issues sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. Other members of the panel included Stephen Hadley, William Schneider, and Robert Joseph. This panel advocated using tactical nuclear weapons as a standard part of the United States defense arsenal. [4]
Cambone was the Staff Director for the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization from July 2000 to January 2001. He was the Director of Research at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University from August 1998 to July 2000. Before that he was the Staff Director for the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States from January 1998 to July 1998; a Senior Fellow in Political-Military Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 1993 to 1998; the Director for Strategic Defense Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1990 to 1993; the Deputy Director, Strategic Analysis, SRS Technologies (Washington Operations) from 1986 to 1990; and a Staff Member in the Office of the Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1982 to 1986. [3]
Cambone graduated from Catholic University in 1973 with a B.A. degree in Political Science, from the Claremont Graduate School in 1977 with an M.A. degree in Political Science, and from the Claremont Graduate School in 1982 with a Ph.D. in Political Science. His numerous awards include the Secretary of Defense Award for Outstanding Service in 1993 and the Employee of the Year Award with SRS Technologies (Washington Operations) in 1988. [3]
Cambone is known in the Pentagon as Donald Rumsfeld's "chief henchman". [5] The orders to soften up Iraqi prisoners for intelligence interrogators (both military and private contractors) are said to have come directly from Cambone's office. [6] In a 2006 Counterpunch article, Jeffrey St. Clair reported that Cambone is responsible for intelligence operations like Gray Fox, a kind of sabotage and assassination squad. [7] Several sources report that Cambone has become so hated and feared inside the Pentagon as Rumsfeld's hatchetman that one general joked: 'If I had one round left in my revolver, I would take out Stephen Cambone.' " [5][7]
[edit] War crimes prosecution
On 10 November 2006, the German Federal Government announced that it had decided to permit the war crimes prosecution of Stephen A. Cambone for his alleged role in condoning the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison during his tenure from 2001 to 2003 as U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General, under the legal framework of universal jurisdiction. [8]
[edit] References
- ^ "Transcript : Taguba, Cambone on Abu Ghraib Report", The Washington Post, 11 May 2004.
- ^ "Implausible Denial" by Jason Vest, The Nation, 31 May 2004.
- ^ a b c Official DoD Biography
- ^ "The Iran Plans", by Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, 17 April 2006.
- ^ a b "Profile: Stephen A. Cambone", Right Web, 28 June 2005.
- ^ "Nature & Politics", by Jeffrey St. Clair, Eat The State, 16 June 2004.
- ^ a b "Rumsfeld's Enforcer", by Jeffrey St. Clair, Counterpunch, 7 February 2006.
- ^ "Exclusive: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse," by Adam Zagorin, Time Inc., 10 Nov 2006.
