Posted on 07/23/2014 1:08:56 PM PDT by kristinn
Montana Democrat’s Thesis Presented Others’ Work as His Own
Senator John Walsh of Montana Confronts Questions of Plagiarism
Democrats were thrilled when John Walsh of Montana was appointed to the United States Senate in February. A decorated veteran of the Iraq war and former adjutant general of his state’s National Guard, Mr. Walsh offered the Democratic Party something it frequently lacks: a seasoned military man.
On the campaign trail this year, Mr. Walsh, 53, has made his military service a main selling point. Still wearing his hair close-cropped, he notes he was targeted for killing by Iraqi militants and says his time in uniform informs his views on a range of issues.
But one of the highest-profile credentials of Mr. Walsh’s 33-year military career appears to have been improperly attained. An examination of the final paper required for Mr. Walsh’s master’s degree from the United States Army War College indicates the senator appropriated at least a quarter of his thesis on American Middle East policy from other authors’ works, with no attribution.
Mr. Walsh completed the paper, what the War College calls a “strategy research project,” to earn his degree in 2007, when he was 46. The sources of the material he presents as his own include academic papers, policy journal essays and books that are almost all available online.
Most strikingly, each of the six recommendations Mr. Walsh laid out at the conclusion of his 14-page paper, titled “The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy,” is taken nearly word-for-word without attribution from a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace document on the same topic.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It is when you can get something for nothing, at least nothing out of your own pocket.
My goodness! Doesn’t the plaque in this story show his branch as “OD” (Ordinance)? Didn’t I read that he was sporting the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) from his tour in Iraq? I thought you had to be an Infantryman to wear that badge?
As a matter of fact, I think he’s sporting that CIB in the photo in the article.
Regardless of his branch, he commanded an infantry battalion in Iraq. It appears General Walsh took his commission as a Armor officer, and was assigned the 1st of the 163rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a major unit of the Montana National Guard. The unit morphed into the 1st of the 163rd Infantry Regiment prior to deployment.
With regard to “his” masters thesis, democracy is NOT sufficient to democratize the Middle East. Freedom would be. But, freedom and democracy are not the same thing. Democracy is a form of government. Elections and purple thumbs. Freedom involves personal liberty and a private property/market-oriented economy. The “transformational” quality of democracy was a bill of goods sold by “neo-conservatives” (anti-communist liberals from the democratic party) who shifted over to the Republican Party after the Democratic Party went squish.
Why does the plaque at the US Army War College list his branch as Ordinance? How did an Ordinance Officer come to command an Infantry battalion?
Let me give you a hint. Look at what branch the Adjutant General of Montana was.
Walsh lied, cheated and stole. What kind of people would promote a man like that and select him to command a battalion and go to the War College? People just like him, I suppose.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.