Panetta orders investigation into all DoD childcare centers

Panetta has ordered an immediate investigation into all Defense Department childcare centers. After the Army found problems with the security background checks of some 30 employees of childcare facilities at a major base in Virginia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the investigation of all centers to ensure that the caregivers at each location have been properly vetted.

"The extraordinary move comes more than two months after two childcare employees at Fort Myer were arrested by military police for allegedly assaulting two children on September 26, a defense official told the E-Ring," Kevin Baron writes. "But court documents revealed in October by a local television station showed the caregivers are accused of far worse than slapping. Local television station WJLA first reported in October that federal court documents allege that Rebecca Smallwood-Briscoe, 57, ‘pulled a 2-year-old boy across the floor by one leg several times’ and that she ‘hit the face/chin area of a 2-year-old boy with her fist.’ Sharon Blakeney allegedly hit ‘another 2-year-old boy in the head’ while Tonya Fagan-Clarke allegedly knocked a boy to the floor by grabbing his arm violently and ‘picked up an 18-month-old girl by the arm and proceeded to drop her on her stomach.’" The E-Ring: http://atfp.co/PWNCgx

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Situation Report. Follow me @glubold. Or hit me anytime at gordon.lubold@foreignpolicy.com. And sign up for Situation Report here: http://bit.ly/NCN9uN or just send me an e-mail and I’ll put you on the list. And if you have a report, piece of news, or tidbit you want teased, send it to us early for maximum tease.

Jeff Sinclair is headed to court-martial for adultery, forcible sodomy, and fraud. The case of Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair is headed to general court martial and he’ll be arraigned Jan. 22. The list of charges against Sinclair are long, but they include having sexual intercourse with a captain and then threatening her if she told anyone about the relationship, wrongfully engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a major, and forcible sodomy of a captain in Afghanistan. He faces prison time and or expulsion from the Army. The charges span five years in incidents at Fort Bragg, N.C. and Army posts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, and Kuwait, as well as on military flights, writes the Fayetteville Observer: http://bit.ly/T6Z0X4

Sinclair’s wife, Rebecca Sinclair, wrote an op-ed in the Post last month on how the strains of war lead to infidelity that was seen as some as self-serving: http://bit.ly/YkjK2s

State takes a hit on Benghazi. An independent panel knocked State pretty hard for "grossly inadequate" security arrangements in Benghazi in an unclassified version of a report released last night. The Cable’s Josh Rogin: "Poor coordination in Washington and an overwhelming neglect of security risks at the U.S. mission in Benghazi exacerbated the damage caused by a ‘series of terrorist attacks’ there on Sept. 11," according to the independent panel, which included former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and was chaired by retired ambassador Tom Pickering.

From the report: "Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place." Rogin points out that the "two bureaus" are the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, headed by Eric Boswell and Beth Jones respectively — though neither is mentioned by name in the report.

Security at the diplomatic installation was not a "shared responsibility" between agencies in Washington charged with supporting the installation, "resulting in stove-piped discussions and decisions on policy and security."

On the autonomy Washington gave Amb. Chris Stevens: "The ambassador did not see a direct threat of an attack of this nature and scale on the U.S. mission in the overall negative trend line of security incidents from spring to summer 2012. His status as the leading U.S. government advocate on Libya policy and his expertise on Benghazi in particular, caused Washington to give unusual deference to his judgments."

On Washington’s view of the Benghazi mission: "Board members found a pervasive realization among personnel who served in Benghazi that the Special Mission was not a high priority for Washington when it came to security-related requests, especially those relating to staffing," the report said. "In the weeks and months leading up to the attacks, the response from post, Embassy Tripoli and Washington to a deteriorating security situation was inadequate."

Rogin: http://atfp.co/ZhCrVS

The report: http://1.usa.gov/TYkdAW

A special relationship: the Kagans are under fire. The WaPo’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran, in a lengthy Page Oner today, looks at the cozy relationship between David Petraeus and Kim and Fred Kagan, two well-known Washington think tankers who were given special access by Petraeus in Afghanistan. Fred, who is with the American Enterprise Institute, and Kim, who leads the Institute for the Study of War, put their jobs on hold for nearly a year to work for Petraeus in Afghanistan, living in Kabul, visiting the battlefield, reading classified intelligence reports, and advising Petraeus on strategy, creating confusion among his staff. "Their compensation from the U.S. government for their efforts, which often involved 18-hour workdays, seven days a week and dangerous battlefield visits? Zero dollars." Chandrasekaran reports that the Kagans wanted to remain "completely independent," as Fred told him, but "the extraordinary arrangement raises new questions about the access and influence Petraeus accorded to civilian friends while he was running the Afghan war." http://wapo.st/UQFKg5

Choice Q&A from Panetta’s remarks at the Press Club yesterday: Q:  "As the former head of the CIA, please explain why General Petraeus was forced to resign, rather than a lesser punishment." Panetta: [laughing]:  You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve got to be kidding me.  You know, in this town, with that kind of e-mail, do you think he could have survived as director of the CIA?  I don’t think so."  

Ben Affleck testifies this morning on the Congo. The actor, most recently of "Argo" fame, will sit before the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the "evolving security situation" in the Congo and "implications for U.S. national security." He’ll appear on a second panel, alongside Heritage’s Jim Carafano and Jendayi Frazer, from Carnegie Mellon. The Pentagon’s Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, will appear on the first panel. Info plus "watch it live" link: http://1.usa.gov/VLv1Ca

Jim Amos wants the Syrian rebels to take the fight to the Pacific. JK! The Duffel Blog, the military’s Onion, reports that the Corps’ top general held a presser "to address the increasing violence in Syria and to request that the Syrians somehow move their conflict to the Pacific Ocean." The blog reports: "Speaking from the Marine Barracks, General James F. Amos said that the Marine Corps would be more than willing to intervene in Syria provided it was in an amphibious capacity and off the coast of China." Amos, according to the blog: "For the past two years we’ve been saying that the Marine Corps is not a second land army, but they obviously didn’t get the message. After a decade in which the Marine Corps conducted combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, we’re eager to get back to our roots as an amphibious force in the Pacific — not another land campaign in the Middle East." http://bit.ly/T7qFbu

Is Hagel getting swift-boated on Israel? The White House may nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary any day now, but we’re told there may be second thoughts — and even a new round of vetting – at the White House because of the concerns that Hagel’s stance on Israel is shakier than some conservatives would like. Dana Milbank’s piece this morning in the WaPo looks at the right wing’s concerns, including those of Bill Kristol’s Weekly Standard. In a post last week, a Republican senate aide was quoted, anonymously, as saying: "Hagel has made clear he believes in the existence of a nefarious Jewish lobby that secretly controls U.S. foreign policy. This is the worst kind of anti-Semitism there is." Some of the criticism of Hagel stems from a voting record that suggests he is soft on groups like Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, voting against designating the Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, for example, according to the NYT, attributing that to analysts, as well as comments he made in a book on the Middle East process, "The Much Too Promised Land," in which he seemed to refer to groups like AIPAC as the "Jewish lobby." Other pro-Israel groups have raised concerns. But even some pro-Israel groups, albeit liberal in their views, think the attacks against Hagel are unfair:

Jeremy Ben-Ami exec director of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group that defends Hagel, as quoted in the NYT this morning: "It is simply beyond disturbing to think that somebody of chuck Hagel’s stature and significant record of national service is being slandered in this way."

Milbank, this morning, on Hagel’s record: "He voted for the Iran Nonproliferation Act, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act and the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act. He co-sponsored resolutions opposing any unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state and praising Israel’s efforts ‘in the face of terrorism, hostility and belligerence by many of her neighbors.’ He also co-sponsored legislation urging the international community ‘to avoid contact with and refrain from supporting the terrorist organization Hamas until it agrees to recognize Israel, renounce violence, disarm and accept prior agreements.’ Such gestures won’t satisfy the neocon hard-liners, and Hagel’s occasional criticism of the Israeli military’s excesses doesn’t help. But this isn’t indicative of anti-Semitism, or even of anti-Israel sentiments." Weekly Standard blog: http://bit.ly/UoTZrq  Milbank: http://wapo.st/T5ODCI

If Bravo could talk. Panetta, at the Press Club, on his dog and the secrets he’s kept: "Sylvia and I with Bravo, when I was at our institute, we used to bring Bravo to work with us.  And so, you know, when I came back to these jobs, you know, Sylvia continued to bring Bravo there, and I used to bring Bravo back with me.  And he used to come to the office when I was CIA director.  And Bravo sat in on almost all of the meetings involving the operation against bin Laden.  And, you know, to this day, he hasn’t told a damn soul what happened."

Hageling

• The Atlantic: (Fallows): The bogus case against Chuck Hagel. http://bit.ly/UQ7r8Q
• NYT: Contender for Defense job criticized on Israel record.
• http://nyti.ms/ZiyP5Y
• Jersusalem Post: Obama faces backlash over Hagel. http://bit.ly/RDQult
•  

• The Stan BBC: Prime minister to announce withdrawal of 3,800 troops. http://bbc.in/U7FsmE
• Reuters: Can policewomen survive in Afghanistan? http://reut.rs/VQ96Kl
• WaPo: Data says many insider attacks stem from personal motives.
• http://wapo.st/R42Ph2

Noting

• Defense News (Intercepts): Could Vickers’ disclosure DQ him for CIA job? http://bit.ly/Unymuw
• Small Wars: Making intelligence relevant for 21^st Century. http://bit.ly/12yIuTT
• Danger Room: The 15 most dangerous people in the world. http://bit.ly/UchsQ0
• FP’s Killer Apps: 3D printing and the future of warfare. http://atfp.co/OSwCE7