WP: Retaliation Case Of Arab Specialist At FBI Advances

[DeepModem Mom]

Retaliation Case Of Arab Specialist At FBI Advances
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Page A03

The Justice Department has concluded there is "reasonable cause" to believe that senior FBI officials retaliated against the bureau's highest-ranking Arabic speaker for complaining that he was cut out of terrorism cases despite his expertise.

An internal investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility found "sufficient circumstantial evidence" that Special Agent Bassem Youssef was blocked from a counterterrorism assignment in 2002 after he and U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) met with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to discuss Youssef's complaints....

***

The 12-page report, dated last month and provided to The Washington Post yesterday by the office of Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), represents a rare endorsement of a whistle-blower's allegations by the Justice Department's internal review office. It also represents another setback for the FBI as it struggles to attract Arabic speakers and informants in its fight against Islamic extremists.

"Because of this retaliation, we lost four years of expertise for the war on terror from a highly qualified Arab-American agent," Grassley said in a statement....

***

Youssef, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Egypt, says his expertise in Arabic, terrorism and Middle Eastern issues was ignored after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He began making formal complaints after being assigned to a budget unit in February 2002. He was later transferred to a unit that processed documents taken from Afghanistan and other overseas locations....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701203.html

[Dr.Phool]

1. Maybe they ought to check with Sibel Edmonds also!!!!

[UpInArms]

2. also from your link:

Youssef's attorney, Stephen M. Kohn, said his client has remained in the documents section ever since. Kohn said the OPR report is troubling because it indicates "the FBI is playing games with national security after 9/11."

"What is wrong with the FBI that it would take four years of litigation and an investigation by the Justice Department just because one of their leading experts on counterterrorism wants to do operational counterterrorism work?" he asked.

The FBI is too busy pestering the Quakers, PETA, et al - they don't give a rat's ass about finding bin Laden or doing their job.