Richard Barlow
Encyclopedia
Richard Barlow is an American
intelligence analyst and a former senior member of the counter-proliferation
desk at the Central Intelligence Agency
who lost his job when he acted as a whistleblower
about the George H. W. Bush administration's misleading Congress over Pakistan
's nuclear programme. Following several investigations, he was vindicated in 1997; unable to collect a government pension, he lives in a trailer in Montana
.
In 1989, Barlow transferred to the office of the Secretary of Defense
, where he initiated an in-house intelligence analysis programme. He was in a chain of command below Stephen J. Hadley, then Assistant Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Defense was Dick Cheney
. His early work included an effort to sound the alarm about the now-discredited Pakistani nuclear scientist and proliferator, Abdul Qadeer Khan
. In particular, he discovered that Pakistan's nuclear program depended upon clandestine and illegal procurement activity within the United States. The US administration, however, knew that this was the case; indeed, his report detailed occasions when the State Department under Ronald Reagan
had actually helped it happen, warning targets of sealed arrest warrants in FBI operations and approving export licenses for restricted goods.
which prohibited the sale of any matériel
or armaments which might assist in the development or delivery of nuclear weapons. Barlow's analysis of Pakistan's nuclear programme indicated that Pakistan possessed the capability to use the fighters to drop nuclear bombs, and the report which he submitted to Dick Cheney concluded that the F-16 sale indisputably violated the law. He drew on details available to the intelligence community about how Pakistan had used the F-16s it already possessed.
Barlow then learned that Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Hughes had delivered testimony to Congress that stated the exact opposite, including the statement that using F-16s to deliver nuclear weapons "far exceeded the state of art in Pakistan," which Barlow knew to be untrue. Barlow believed that the details had been "willfully falsified by officials at the Office of the Secretary of Defense", including then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz
and then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Scooter Libby. On examining the archives he discovered that his reports were "mysteriously substituted or altered".
Within days of Barlow's sharing his concerns with colleagues at the Department of Defense, he was fired.
Following Congress-ordered investigations, the inspector-general at the State Department concluded that Barlow had been fired as a reprisal; however, the inspector-generals at the CIA and the Defense Department stated that the Pentagon was within its rights to fire Barlow. A final investigation by Congress' own Government Accountability Office
was completed in 1997 and "largely vindicated" Barlow, who had his security clearance restored. During the investigation, the State department inspector-general, Sherman Funk, described Barlow as "“one of the most brilliant analysts I’ve ever seen".
The activities of the Defense Department officials, however, including Cheney, Libby, Wolfowitz and Hadley, were never investigated. Rep. Stephen Solarz, a major player in counter-proliferation, told Seymour Hersh
for the latter's famous exposé of the Pakistani nuclear programme that "If what Barlow says is true, this would have been a major scandal of Iran-Contra proportions, and the officials involved would have had to resign".
Barlow, however, was unable to find employment after his clearance was removed and marriage broke up. "They viciously tried to destroy my life, personally and professionally" he is quoted as saying. "Not just my career, but they went after my marriage, my livelihood, and smeared my name in truly extraordinary ways that no one had ever seen before or since—at least not until the Wilsons were victims of the same people years later." According to Barlow the allegations included the "fabrication" that he "was an ‘intended’ Congressional spy", that he was an alcoholic, had not paid his taxes, and was an adulterer. "Then they accused me of being psychotic and used that to invade my marital privacy, including that of my now ex-wife who also worked at the CIA, and sought to destroy my marriage as punishment."
Although he was found to have breached no national security regulations and was vindicated, Barlow did not receive his government pension and has had trouble finding employment. The authors of The Nuclear Jihadist, a biography of A.Q. Khan, caused a sensation in 2005 when they revealed that they had tracked him down to a motor home
in Montana where he lived with two dogs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
intelligence analyst and a former senior member of the counter-proliferation
Counter-proliferation
Counter-proliferation refers to diplomatic, intelligence, and military efforts to combat the proliferation of weapons, including both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction...
desk at the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
who lost his job when he acted as a whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
about the George H. W. Bush administration's misleading Congress over Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's nuclear programme. Following several investigations, he was vindicated in 1997; unable to collect a government pension, he lives in a trailer in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
Career in government
Barlow entered the intelligence community with two years of work at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He then, in 1985, entered the CIA, where he collated and examined information about nuclear programs in the Third World. He worked on the National Intelligence Estimates, and won the CIA's Exceptional Accomplishment Award in 1988.In 1989, Barlow transferred to the office of the Secretary of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense
The Office of the Secretary of Defense is a headquarters-level staff of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It is the principal civilian staff element of the Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department...
, where he initiated an in-house intelligence analysis programme. He was in a chain of command below Stephen J. Hadley, then Assistant Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Defense was Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
. His early work included an effort to sound the alarm about the now-discredited Pakistani nuclear scientist and proliferator, Abdul Qadeer Khan
Abdul Qadeer Khan
Abdul Qadeer Khan , also known in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan , D.Eng, Sc.D, HI, NI , FPAS; more widely known as Dr. A. Q...
. In particular, he discovered that Pakistan's nuclear program depended upon clandestine and illegal procurement activity within the United States. The US administration, however, knew that this was the case; indeed, his report detailed occasions when the State Department under Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
had actually helped it happen, warning targets of sealed arrest warrants in FBI operations and approving export licenses for restricted goods.
Whistleblowing
During the debate over the sale of F-16s to Pakistan in 1989, the U.S. administration was constrained by the 1985 Pressler amendment of the Foreign Assistance ActForeign Assistance Act
The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development to administer those...
which prohibited the sale of any matériel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
or armaments which might assist in the development or delivery of nuclear weapons. Barlow's analysis of Pakistan's nuclear programme indicated that Pakistan possessed the capability to use the fighters to drop nuclear bombs, and the report which he submitted to Dick Cheney concluded that the F-16 sale indisputably violated the law. He drew on details available to the intelligence community about how Pakistan had used the F-16s it already possessed.
Barlow then learned that Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Hughes had delivered testimony to Congress that stated the exact opposite, including the statement that using F-16s to deliver nuclear weapons "far exceeded the state of art in Pakistan," which Barlow knew to be untrue. Barlow believed that the details had been "willfully falsified by officials at the Office of the Secretary of Defense", including then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
and then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Scooter Libby. On examining the archives he discovered that his reports were "mysteriously substituted or altered".
Within days of Barlow's sharing his concerns with colleagues at the Department of Defense, he was fired.
Events following dismissal
Barlow brought a legal action for wrongful dismissal that received considerable attention, including from the United States Congress, where he was defended by Paul Wolfowitz, who said "there have been times on that issue when I specifically sensed that people thought we could somehow construct a policy on a house of cards that the Congress wouldn't know what the Pakistanis were doing" and that the retaliation Barlow had faced was "wrong".Following Congress-ordered investigations, the inspector-general at the State Department concluded that Barlow had been fired as a reprisal; however, the inspector-generals at the CIA and the Defense Department stated that the Pentagon was within its rights to fire Barlow. A final investigation by Congress' own Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
was completed in 1997 and "largely vindicated" Barlow, who had his security clearance restored. During the investigation, the State department inspector-general, Sherman Funk, described Barlow as "“one of the most brilliant analysts I’ve ever seen".
The activities of the Defense Department officials, however, including Cheney, Libby, Wolfowitz and Hadley, were never investigated. Rep. Stephen Solarz, a major player in counter-proliferation, told Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
for the latter's famous exposé of the Pakistani nuclear programme that "If what Barlow says is true, this would have been a major scandal of Iran-Contra proportions, and the officials involved would have had to resign".
Barlow, however, was unable to find employment after his clearance was removed and marriage broke up. "They viciously tried to destroy my life, personally and professionally" he is quoted as saying. "Not just my career, but they went after my marriage, my livelihood, and smeared my name in truly extraordinary ways that no one had ever seen before or since—at least not until the Wilsons were victims of the same people years later." According to Barlow the allegations included the "fabrication" that he "was an ‘intended’ Congressional spy", that he was an alcoholic, had not paid his taxes, and was an adulterer. "Then they accused me of being psychotic and used that to invade my marital privacy, including that of my now ex-wife who also worked at the CIA, and sought to destroy my marriage as punishment."
Although he was found to have breached no national security regulations and was vindicated, Barlow did not receive his government pension and has had trouble finding employment. The authors of The Nuclear Jihadist, a biography of A.Q. Khan, caused a sensation in 2005 when they revealed that they had tracked him down to a motor home
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
in Montana where he lived with two dogs.