Larry C. Johnson, Expert
Using the following biographies:
Fox News
B.E.R.G. Associates
No Quarter
- 1976: B.S. degree in Sociology, graduating Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, University of Missouri
- 1978: M.S. degree in Community Development, University of Missouri
- 1979-1983: American University’s School of International Service, teaching and working towards a Ph.D. in political science
- 1985 through September 1989: employed by Central Intelligence Agency, paramilitary training, served in both Directorates of Operations and Intelligence, in 1989 received two Exceptional Performance Awards
- 1989 until October 1993: U.S. State Department - employed as Deputy Director - Office of Counter Terrorism
- 1996: U.S. representative, OSCE Terrorism Conference in Vienna, Austria [A search of the OSCE site reveals 137 documents from 1996. None of them mention a conference on Terrorism in July in Vienna.}
- Current: principal in B.E.R.G. Associates, helping businesses protect themselves against fraud, product counterfeiting, contraband, or criminal subversion. The other two principals are ex-DEA.
The Fox News bio contains this item:
Mr. Johnson also supervised the multi-million dollar U.S. Anti-Terrorism Assistance Training Program, which provided training to more than 15,000 security officials from over 70 nations.
The web site for the program suggests that he was but a clog in the wheel.
During the early 1980s following several serious terrorist incidents throughout the world, it became evident that in countries where such incidents had occurred, many local police and security forces lacked the necessary expertise and equipment to deter and respond in an effective manner. Therefore in 1983, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of a special program designed to enhance the antiterrorism skills of friendly countries by providing training and equipment necessary to deter and counter terrorist threats.
Congress established the Antiterrorism Assistance Program under an amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which provides its legislative mandate and assigns responsibility for its administration to the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS).
Perhaps Fox got the blurb incorrect? Because Larry didn't work for Diplomatic Security. And the numbers quoted are over quite a period of time. The program's web site currently states 25,000 trained, 2,741 in the year 2000. Unlikely that he was involved in training 15,000.
I cannot find any sign on the Net, other than from Larry, that OSCE had a terrorism conference in Vienna in July of 1996. It may just not be on the Net, though I will note that OSCE posts 137 documents from that year, including about a half dozen from July. His name does not appear in a Net search of the Department of State site, while even Joe Wilson does.
Who is Larry C. Johnson and why should anyone believe him? He had a modest career in government, and little or no public record afterwards. He maintains he is an expert in terrorism, and in intelligence matters, without any proof but jobs two decades past.
One more little niggle: The State Department Office of Counter-Terrorism is headed by a coordinator, not a director.
The predecessor organization to S/CT was the Office for Combatting Terrorism, created in 1972 upon the recommendation of a special committee appointed by President Richard Nixon following the Munich Olympics terrorist attack. The committee determined that an office was needed within the Department of State to provide day-to-day counterterrorism coordination and to develop policy initiatives and responses for the U.S. Government. The Office for Combatting Terrorism became the Office of the Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism in 1985, and the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in 1989.
In 1994, Congress officially mandated the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in Public Law 103-236 [H.R. 2333]. In 1998, Congress further defined the role of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in Public Law 105-277 [H.R. 4328]:
There is within the office of the Secretary of State a Coordinator for Counterterrorism…who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate…. The principal duty of the coordinator shall be the overall supervision (including policy oversight of resources) of international counterterrorism activities. The Coordinator shall be the principal adviser to the Secretary of State on international counterterrorism matters. The coordinator shall be the principal counterterrorism official within the senior management of the Department of State and shall report directly to the Secretary of State…The Coordinator shall have the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.
The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT) is led by Ambassador-at-Large Henry A. Crumpton. He is supported by Frank Urbancic, Principal Deputy Coordinator, and four Deputy Coordinators, each of whom leads a functional directorate. The Deputy Coordinators and their directorates are: Susan Burk/Homeland Security; Gerald Feierstein/Programs, Plans, Press and Public Diplomacy; Thomas Hastings/Operations; and Virginia Palmer/Regional and Trans-Regional Affairs.
Notice? No Deputy Directors.
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