Stephen Cambone

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name = Stephen Cambone


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birth_date = 1951
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office = United States Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
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term_start = 2003
term_end = 2007
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Stephen A. Cambone (born 1951) was the first United States Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, a post created in March 2003. He was said to be very close to former 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. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17812-2004May11.html "Transcript : Taguba, Cambone on Abu Ghraib Report"] , "The Washington Post", 11 May 2004.] [ [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040531/vest "Implausible Denial"] by Jason Vest, "The Nation", 31 May 2004.] Cambone resigned at the beginning of 2007 and was replaced by James R. Clapper, Jr., former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042402540.html "Pentagon To End Talon Data-Gathering Program"] By Walter Pincus, "The Washington Post", 25 April 2007.]

Early life and career

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. [http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/cambone_bio.html Official DoD Biography] ]

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.

Undersecretary of Department of Defense

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.

In January 2001, as George W. Bush prepared to take office, Cambone served on a panel for nuclear weapons issues sponsored by the [http://www.nipp.org/ 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. [ [http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact "The Iran Plans"] , by Seymour Hersh, "The New Yorker", 17 April 2006.]

According to Peter Ogden, of the Center for American Progress, Cambone's nomination as undersecretary of defense for intelligence was "the culmination of [Donald] Rumsfeld's efforts to politicize intelligence gathering and analysis... Cambone is despised by many within the Pentagon for his attempts to steamroll all opposition to Rumsfeld's military transformation projects and is widely perceived as a pompous ideologue who cannot be trusted to bring the requisite objectivity to intelligence matters." [Victorino Matus [http://www.afji.com/2006/04/1813786 Who is Steve Cambone? A look at Rumsfeld’s right-hand man] . Armed Forces Journal]

Cambone was known in the Pentagon as Donald Rumsfeld's "chief henchman". [http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1066 "Profile: Stephen A. Cambone"] , "Right Web", 28 June 2005.] 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. [ [http://eatthestate.org/08-19/NaturePolitics.htm "Nature & Politics"] , by Jeffrey St. Clair, "Eat The State", 16 June 2004.] 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. [http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair02072006.html "Rumsfeld's Enforcer"] , by Jeffrey St. Clair, "Counterpunch", 7 February 2006.] Several sources report that Cambone has become so hated and feared inside the Pentagon as Rumsfeld's hatchetman that one general told the Army Times: 'If I had one round left in my revolver, I would take out Stephen Cambone.' " . In early December 2006 it was announced that Dr. Cambone would step down at the end of that year, becoming the first key department member to leave in the wake of Rumsfeld's resignation.

War crimes prosecution

On 10 November 2006, the German Federal Government announced that it had decided, within the legal framework of universal jurisdiction, 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. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. [ [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html "Exclusive: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse,"] by Adam Zagorin, "Time Inc.", 10 Nov 2006.]

However, on 27 April 2007, the German federal prosecutor announced the government would not pursue charges against Cambone, Rumsfeld and 10 other U.S. officials, stating the accusations did not apply to German law, in part because there was insufficient evidence that the alleged acts occurred on German soil, nor did the accused live in Germany. [ [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a3ZI8uTWUHVo&refer=germany "German Prosecutor Won't Set Rumsfeld Probe Following Complaint,"] by Patrick Donahue, "Bloomberg.com", 27 April 2007.]

Books by Stephen Cambone

* "A New Structure for National Security Policy Planning." Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1998. ISBN 0-89206-345-9.
* "NATO's Role in European Stability." Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1995. ISBN 0-89206-324-6.

Pamphlets by Stephen Cambone

* "Defense in the Late 1990s: Avoiding the Trainwreck." Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1995. ISBN 0-89206-316-5.
* "Organizing for security in Europe — What missions, what forces? Who leads, who pays?" Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1996.
* "Kodak moments, inescapable momentum, and the World Wide Web: Has the infocomm revolution transformed diplomacy?" CISP, 1996.

References

External links

* [http://www.tomflocco.com/fs/TopSecretNotes.htm "Top-secret notes" from Stephen Cambone about congressional, 9-11 Commission & Pentagon' Iraq war plans on 9-11-01]