cannabisnews.com: Report Targets Drug Office 





Report Targets Drug Office 
Posted by FoM on June 16, 2000 at 22:02:21 PT
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff
Source: Boston Globe
McCaffrey's military style threatens efforts and morale, authors say. An independent review of the White House drug czar's office has found an understaffed and troubled bureaucracy led by a director who is a ''high-pressure and military-oriented'' leader, driving many career professionals to quit.
A 53-page report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, obtained by the Globe, was mandated by a House and Senate conference committee, which was concerned about reports of problems in employee retention and the management style at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The General Accounting Office is overseeing the $125,000 report, which is ''still a work in progress,'' a GAO official said yesterday.A final report could be issued next week and would include comment from the drug control office. The House and Senate asked for an outside review to underscore the appearance of impartiality in investigating part of the executive branch.The report positively noted that the office has set clear goals for reduced drug use around the country and is ''results-oriented and effective in performing its responsibilities externally.'' It called the organization ''generally sophisticated'' in that regard.But even with clearly defined goals, the office's own strategy report issued this year found that it has come up short in the most important measuring sticks of America's war on drugs. This year's report found a record level of drug-related deaths in America and some of the lowest prices ever for cocaine and heroin on the street.The PricewaterhouseCooper review of the office's troubled inner workings is at odds with the public face of its often-charming and articulate director, Barry R. McCaffrey, who spends 54 percent of his non-office time involved in media events - making an estimated 386 public appearances a year, the report noted. In contrast, he spends 43 percent of his time in policy-related matters.But in recent interviews, more than a dozen past and current office workers have told the Globe that McCaffrey runs the organization with the firm hand of the four-star Army general that he once was, causing morale among many to suffer.The report also follows a lengthy New Yorker magazine story sharply critical of McCaffrey's role in the Gulf War. The article, written by Seymour Hersh, quotes by name several people who served under McCaffrey's command saying that he unnecessarily attacked fleeing Iraqi soldiers, killing an unknown number. McCaffrey has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, saying Iraqi troops first fired on his soldiers. Pancho Kinney, the office's director of strategy, declined to comment yesterday on the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. ''We would be happy to comment on it once it is finalized,'' he said.The report's authors, who based their conclusions on office documents and interviews with 25 named employees with the office, found it took the equivalent of 20 full-time workers to manage McCaffrey's schedule, about one-seventh of the total office staff.In a section titled, ''Leadership Style: `He's difficult to work for,'' - an often-heard comment from staff members - the report's authors said McCaffrey's ''leadership style has been described as aggressive, high-pressure, and military-oriented. Under the current directorship, a military structure has been imposed on a previously civilian culture. As incompatibilities have developed, people have made the decision to leave.''The report also said: ''The leadership is focused on `the mission and the budget,' with little attention given directly to the organization's people.''In 1999, the office experienced a turnover rate of 27 percent. This year, the report estimated that turnover could increase to 38 percent, a reflection somewhat of the high number of political appointments expected to leave after this fall's elections.But McCaffrey, a Boston area native, also has been unable to consistently fill deputy director posts, which have been vacant 73 percent of his four-year tenure.Instead, he has often used acting deputy directors, which the report noted ''serve at the pleasure of the director, but confirmed deputy directors (by Congress) can only be dismissed by the President or impeached by Congress.''One of the most bothersome aspects of the office's internal workings, the report said, was the strong possibility of a loss of continuity when McCaffrey leaves office.It said the ''authority and institutional knowledge are concentrated centrally with the current director and ... the knowledge base appears to be weakened and vulnerable.''The report said that if McCaffrey had deputy directors in place, ''there would be less risk to the overall continuity and long-term benefit of the organization.''The number of deputy directors forecast by the end of the year, when McCaffrey is expected to step down:''Zero,'' the report said.This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 6/16/2000. © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company. Related Articles & Web Site:PricewaterhouseCoopershttp://www.pwcglobal.com/POWs Under Fire http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6076.shtmlThe Last Battle of the Gulf Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5771.shtmlArticle on McCaffrey Sparks Furorhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5758.shtmlCannabisNews Barry McCaffrey Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/McCaffrey.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on June 17, 2000 at 19:16:55 PT
had to smile
today, been bit sad about Peter. So, I had to smile. It is a small wonder why the office kept spewing alot of misdisinformations that any sane folk who can read will know. Know the truth and truth shall set us free.
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Comment #6 posted by Jeaneous on June 17, 2000 at 17:37:28 PT:
THIS ONE
This is the article that I read in the Sac Bee. Wanted to send it in... but it wasn't in the online paper.Isn't this a nice change? To hear it isn't just "us" that finds this man to be out of control with power.Thanks for posting... I'm glad it wasn't edited everywhere. 
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Comment #5 posted by MikeEEEEE on June 17, 2000 at 07:15:50 PT
I knew it
I knew McCareFreak was a piece of sh$t!!!
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on June 17, 2000 at 06:55:56 PT:
Maybe the last laugh *will* be ours
I was wondering how a career Army General was getting along in the suit-and-tie world. Evidently, not very well.Many employers like hiring ex-military types for several reasons. Most vets won't talk back, slack off, or dodge a difficult job; because compared to what we have done before, a civilian job is a piece of cake. But some employers like to hire ex-military people partly out of a mistaken sense that the ex-military guy has been sufficiently robotized by his experience as to jump through whatever hoops the boss sets up... rather like the poor dogs you see running obstacle courses on the Animal Planet Channel. Klinton probably thought McC was the perfect performing poodle. Turned out he got a pit bull.What many civilian employers never seem to tumble to is that many of us *didn't* stay in because of the enormous amount of BS that happens in a peacetime military. For example, most veterans will tell you thay have a distinct aversion to standing in lines. So what does this have to do with the article? The two cultures are distictly *incompatible*. The General orders... and the ONDCP 'troops' are still sitting on their arses 5 minutes later. He growls, they snicker. He gets really angry and berates his 'junior officers' publicly... and they tell him to take a flyingleap. And then they quit. The rest, who 'really need the job' because they are incapable of making it on the outside (a real irony, eh, vets?) will continue to publicly lick his boots while scheming behind his back, and sharpening their knives.Maybe we should leave Barry right where he is. He's doing a better job of disgracing the ONDCP than anything anyone else could do.
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Comment #3 posted by military officer guy on June 17, 2000 at 00:06:18 PT
you're right dank hank...
you've said a mouth full...we are winning this war...we are constantly hearing more people shot the words of freedom...we are able to make decision on our own...we can win this war and we are winning this war...vote libertarian in nov...mog...
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Comment #2 posted by dankhank on June 16, 2000 at 22:49:38 PT:
general business
In the Army the business of the generals is and should be to win.Sometimes it's not very nice, or very moral or even very legal.The army motto was "Mission First, People Always"Career bureacrats don't know how to focus that tightly or monomaniacally. That is typical thinking for high ranking officers as they strain to support a general.No excuse, he's still an evil man who thinks adults can't make decisions for themselves.
HEMP n STUFF
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Comment #1 posted by Rainbow on June 16, 2000 at 22:18:37 PT
The war office seems to be crumbling
Hasn't he heard of OUTLOOK or someother PIM? Where is our money going? This man has been wasting money for a long time and this report basically shows the evidence. Nothing has been gained but a lot has been lost>>The report's authors, who based their conclusions on office documents and interviews with 25 named employees with the office, found it took the equivalent of 20 full-time workers to manage McCaffrey's schedule, about one-seventh of the total office staff.Kind of telling regarding his attitude of people in general.>>The report also said: ''The leadership is focused on `the mission and the budget,' with little attention given directly to the organization's people.''I wonder if the employees are feeling disgraced as well by the lies and immorality of this War on the People ofthe USA>>In 1999, the office experienced a turnover rate of 27 percent. This year, the report estimated that turnover could increase to 38 percent, a reflection somewhat of the high number of political appointments expected to leave after this fall's elections.I have sent several emails to the czar's office on the internet asking people to search their soul and consider leaving this organization. It might have worked but I think goood ole barry has done enough convincing.He kills prisoners, sick people and who knows who else. PeaceRainbow
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