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EZ SU
KLMNO THE FED PAGE Good news and bad news on the Castro front H
emay be the last one to figure it out, but Fidel Castro’s recent
observationto JeffreyGoldberg of theAtlantic that theCuban economicmodel “doesn’t even work forus anymore’’was nonetheless stunning. It also comes at a timewhen
long-underratedbrotherRaul Castro,nowrunning theplace, has beensayingmuchthe same thing, andhas beenmoving quickly to shake thingsup. Onanother front, anumber of
Cubanpoliticalprisonerswere releasedover the summer, and according to a forthcoming article inSoldier ofFortune magazine,Raulhas takenother “steps to lessenthe repressive grip” of the communist dictatorship, including allowing someprotests andeasingupon treatment ofdissidents. Lest anyone get carriedaway
andthinkHavana is about to becomeDesMoines, the article, writtenby formerRadioMarti newsdirector JayMallinand formerMiamiHeraldLatin America editorDonBohning, notes thatRaul “has visitedChina andis believedto admire the Chinesemodel (rampant capitalisminthe economy, tight communist control of the government) andtowant to install it inCuba.” But relations between
WashingtonandHavana are clearlyde-icing, thoughthe odd case ofAlanGross ofPotomac, an Agency for International Development contractor imprisonedinCuba for the crime ofdistributing cellphones and laptops inCuba’s tiny Jewish community,probablywillneedto be resolved—maybe aYom Kippur release?—for the thawto continue. Meanwhile, the cultural
landscape continues to change. TheObama administrationlast monthgrantedapproval for the AmericanBalletTheater,where the famousCubanprima ballerinaAliciaAlonsogother start, toperforminHavana for the first time in50years—at the KarlMarxTheatre inNovember. Fidel is a fanofAlonso,now89,
AL KAMEN In the Loop
the Soldier ofFortunepiecenotes. Maybe one of theCastroswill
escorther to the ballet,Mallin suggestedinane-mail.
Not quite sowindy WhiteHouseChief of Staff
RahmEmanuelmay be the luckiest guy intheworld. OutgoingChicagoMayorRichard M.Daleyhas givenhima “get out of town” card—whichhe’s almost certainto take—sohe can decampbefore all the backbiting andrecriminations amongst the Dems aboutwho lost theHouse, if not the Senate, get intohighgear. Hewon’t be aroundas thenew
HouseOversight and GovernmentReformchairman, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), firesdaily subpoenas at theWhiteHouse. Then, ifhewins,he gets to run
one ofAmerica’s greatest and most beautiful cities.Better yet, if hedecideshedoesn’t like the job, he canrunfor the Senate insix years againstRep.MarkKirk(R- Ill.) shouldKirkwinthe open Obama seat this fall. Meanwhile,Emanuel’sNo. 2,
DeputyChief of Staff Jim Messina,has long beenslatedto manage theObama 2012 campaign,whichwouldprobably meanhe’ddepart sometime inthe firsthalf ofnext year.
Recipes for happiness The 2010“BestPlaces toWork”
rankings for government agencieshave become one of the hottest reads around. The report, the first onthe
Obama administration,was releasedlastweek by the PartnershipforPublic Service andAmericanUniversity’s AmericanInstitute for the Study ofPublicPolicy Implementation. Agencies that faredwell are crowing—Secretary of State
ASoldier of Fortune article suggests that Cuba is getting a little more tolerant, and looking to emulate . . . China.
HillaryRodhamClinton’spress officeput out a statementnoting thedepartmenthadrankedinthe top10, “placing seventhoverall among . . . largeFederal agencies.” TransportationSecretaryRay
LaHoodsent out aninternal “BroadcastMessage” to all employees,highlighting thathis departmentwas the “most improved” of the large agencies. It rankedonly 26th, but ithadbeen deadlast among 32 agencies. Troubledagenciespledgedto do better.The losersmaywant to
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take a look at some of the things higher-rankedagencies, suchas the 17th-place Interior Department,do to buildesprit. Interior, aspart of its sixth
annual “DiversityDays,”next month, isdeveloping a “one- INTERIORDiversityCookbook.” TheCookbook, ane-mailed
announcement explained, “is an opportunity to share your favorite recipe andto sampledishes from diverse cultures.” So, if you’ve got a goodrecipe,
something as goodas ours for mondongo, a slow-cookeddiced tripe (the cleanedstomachof a cow) souppopular inSanto Domingo, sendit in. “Submit a recipe fromone of the following categories: starters,
soups andchili,maincourse, sides, breads,desserts andsoft drinks,” the announcement says. (ThedeadlinewasTuesday, but maybe they’ll accept it.)
Get out yourMagic 8-Ball Speaking of entries,don’t
forget to enter the IntheLoop CongressionalElectionContest. Towin, simply guesswhat the newlineupwill be inthe Senate andtheHouse after the elections. Sendyourpredictions to
loopcontest@washpost.com.You must include yourhome,work or cellphonenumber to be eligible. Entriesmust be submittedby midnight Sept. 27. (But get them inpromptly.Tieswill be broken bydate of entry.)The 20winners
(10 for theHouse and10for the Senate)will bementionedinthe columnandget one of those official IntheLoopT-shirts.
Moving along Howclosely attunedare
Defense SecretaryRobertM. Gates andSecretary of State HillaryRodhamClinton?Close enoughthatClintonhas just tappedGates speechwriter Josh Daniel asher chief speechwriter. Andspeaking of speechwriters,
MarkCohenmoves fromthe office of Sen. FrankLautenberg (D-N.J.) towork the keys for Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner,whoneverworkedfor GoldmanSachs.
kamena@washpost.com
Pentagon aims to buy up book
Reservist shares covert planned operations; copies to be destroyed
BY PETER FINN AND GREGMILLER The Defense Department is at-
tempting to buy the entire first printing — 10,000 copies — of a memoir by a controversial former Defense Intelligence Agency offi- cer so that the book can be de- stroyed, according tomilitary and other sources. “Operation DarkHeart,” which
was scheduled to be published this month by St. Martin’s Press, recounts the adventures and frus- trations of an Army reservist, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, who served inAfghanistanin2003, amoment whenthe attentionofWashington and the military had shifted to Iraq. Shaffer, who is now a senior
fellowat the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, describes a number of planned covert operations, including an aborted cross-border surveillance operation using sophisticated eavesdropping technology that targetedhigh-levelal-Qaedaoper- atives based in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The operation was shut down
by military officials concerned about offending Pakistan, accord- ing to Shaffer’s account. Shaffer’s book was reviewed
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andclearedinwritingbytheArmy Reserve earlier this year, but this summer the Defense Intelligence Agency objected to the use of the names of American intelligence officers, among other issues. A senior Pentagon official said
The Federal Worker Going Green
To comply with the president’s emissions-reduction goal, 56 agencies have come up with strategies to reduce their carbon footprint in the next decade. B3
that theDIAobtainedacopyof the manuscript in mid-July, adding that the agency “did a quick re- view” and found “some issues we were very concerned with.” The agency thenreferredthematter to the Office of the Secretary of De- fense,which distributed theman- uscript to other agencies,presum- ably including the CIA, “all of whom had major objections to things in the book,” said the offi- cial,whospokeontheconditionof anonymity. The official said the Defense
Department “sent up a team to talkwith the publisher some time ago,” and has been negotiating an agreement that might allow the Pentagon to purchase already printed copies of the book and permit a subsequent version to go forward as long as it complies withU.S. government requests. Both sides now appear to have
agreed on the contents of the sec- ondprinting, butnegotiations are focused on what to with the 10,000 copies already published. The Pentagon is now negotiat-
ingwithShaffer’spublisher tobuy the entire first print run, accord- ing to a source familiar with the negotiations. The Pentagon’s plan to destroy all 10,000 copies of the initial printing was first reported Thursday night by the New York Times. A new print run, without the
disputed passages, is being pre- pared by the publisher. Mean- while, the first printing is sitting in awarehouse in Virginia. Sever- al dozen review copies of the first edition have already been circu- lated to media outlets, including TheWashingtonPost. “Tony proceeded through the
proper review process and his manuscript was approved for re- lease,” said Shaffer’s attorney,
Mark Zaid. “Months later, other agencies informed us otherwise and that led to us to cooperate fully with the Defense Depart- ment to eliminate any concerns they have. There are certain thingsoutsideofourcontrol,how- ever. We do not control the pub- lisher. And we do not control the fact that copies were disseminat- ed prior to that second review process.” Pentagon officials said the
books should have been submit- ted to the Pentagon in the first place. “It had never been submit- ted for a full review,” the senior Defense official said, adding that Shaffer had shown the manu- script only to his unit. The Pentagon said in a state-
ment that the “manuscriptdidnot undergo a pre-publication infor- mation security review as re- quired by DoD regulation. This becameknowntotheDepartment only recently, and after themanu- scriptwas printed by the publish- er. DoD has been working closely and cooperatively with the pub- lisher,LTCShafferandhiscounsel to address the problem and any potential issues involving classi- fied information.” Shaffer was previously known
for alleging before the 9/11 Com- mission and Congress that a co- vert Pentagon task force called “Able Danger” had identifiedMo- hamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks, before the assaults onNewYork andthePen- tagon. Shaffer’s claim was later rejected by congressional investi- gators, among others. But he re- peats the assertioninthe book.
finnp@washpost.com
millergreg@washpost.com
StaffwriterGreg Jaffe contributed to this report.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
The Federal Coach
Tom Fox fields Post readers’ feedback and questions about the good and the bad when it comes to managers in the world of government agencies. B3
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