Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Allison Barber, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense who launched the America Supports You (ASY) program and was also heavily involved in the Pentagon pundit program, is resigning. Barber leaves as the Pentagon's inspector general continues to investigate ASY's financial practices and the pundit program (which is also being investigated by the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Communications Commission). Her boss, Robert Hastings, says Barber's resignation has nothing to do with the ASY investigation. "She and I have been discussing the timing of her departure since early summer," Hastings told Stars and Stripes. "I asked her to stay until DMA was launched," he said, referring to the Defense Media Activity, which has consolidated the Pentagon's media operations. The Pentagon announced DMA's "activation" on October 20. According to military support blogs, Barber sent a farewell to ASY groups saying, "Our troops deserve this type of support and together, we have made it happen." Neither the Pentagon public affairs office nor Barber herself responded to the Center for Media and Democracy's request for comment.
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xflyboy replied on Permalink
Barber is Whitehouse Flack more than Pentagon Flack
Barber is one of the few DoD "members" to have a biography on whitehouse.gov (http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/abarber-bio.html). She has been an obvious agent of the Bush administration, acting to gain support for the administration, far and above any concerns for military personnel. Support for military personnel was just a means to an end. She finished the evisceration of the ethical work force in the American Forces Information Service that her friend Victoria Clarke started. Clarke was installed by the White House as the Asst. Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs over the the first choice of then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. Barber came into DoD as Clarke's special assistant.