Elizabeth O'Bagy, Author of an Op-Ed Cited in the Case for War by John Kerry and John McCain, Fired from Her Position at a Think Tank for Misrepresenting Her Status as a Holder of a Ph.D.

I don't know why someone would do this, but I guess they do.

The Ph.D. is a nice degree and all but the idea that it's So Impressive You Guys that one should gamble one's career on lying about having one is... flawed, let's say.

The Syria researcher whose Wall Street Journal op-piece was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain during congressional hearings about the use of force has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for lying about having a Ph.D., the group announced on Wednesday.

“The Institute for the Study of War has learned and confirmed that, contrary to her representations, Ms. Elizabeth O’Bagy does not in fact have a Ph.D. degree from Georgetown University,” the institute said in a statement. “ISW has accordingly terminated Ms. O’Bagy’s employment, effective immediately.”

O’Bagy told POLITICO’s Kate Brannen in an interview Monday that she had submitted and defended her dissertation and was waiting for Georgetown University to confer her degree.

Don't they just usually say "Ph.D. candidate" in these situations? And personally, I take "Ph.D. candidate" to mean "will probably have a Ph.D. in a year."

I guess she just wanted that credential so bad she couldn't wait for it.

As a little window into how Washington DC works, this Daily Caller story notes that the United States government pays the "task force" which employs Ms. O'Bagy to... lobby the United States government.

Think about this. A group which lobbies the US government for foreign policy action is actually funded by the US government itself. The US government is paying people to tell it what it probably already thinks.

And no one really raises an eyebrow about this, because in the Imperial Capital, of course every penny that drops into a till was raided from the coffers of the unfashionable people of the hinterlands.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, the pro-rebel lobbying outfit that employs widely quoted intervention advocate Elizabeth O’Bagy as its political director, receives funding from the U.S. Department of State and related government contractors.

I mean why not pay think tanks to lobby you to do what you already have decided to do? It's Free Money. Have a party. Go crazy with it.

posted by Ace at 02:06 PM

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