Word: cohenable
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
WASHINGTON: With soldiers from Operation Tailwind in the room as living corroboration, Secretary of Defense William Cohen spoke slowly and clearly: "We have found absolutely no evidence to support CNN-TIME's assertions" that the operation involved the use of deadly sarin nerve gas on American defectors. The statement was hardly surprising -- the Pentagon has denied the substance of the report ever since it originally aired on CNN on June 7 -- but a defensive Cohen acknowledged the difficulty of stuffing the report back in its Pandora...
...ever prove to every individual that [the use of sarin] was not the case? Probably not," Cohen said from the Pentagon. But "the retractions of both CNN and TIME should say it all." After mentioning pointedly that the story was welcome grist for Saddam Hussein in his propaganda campaign against the U.S., Cohen repeatedly praised the participants of Operation Tailwind for their valor and said that he hoped their reputations could be fully restored. Cohen looked relieved when the questioning moved on to other topics -- and he is certainly not alone in that sentiment...
...easy persuading an organization whose motto means "Always Faithful" to lighten up on adultery. Indeed, Defense Secretary William Cohen's attempts to standardize the military's response to adultery in the ranks may have set him on a collision course with the Marines. "The Marines think of themselves as bound by a higher code, while Cohen wants uniformity, so there's bound to be conflict," says TIME Pentagon Correspondent Mark Thompson. "But defense secretaries have learned that you don't want to tangle with the Marines if you can avoid it -- they wield a lot of political power...
...Cohen has pushed for military codes to be brought closer to civilian standards on adultery after two high-profile cases last year -- those of Capt. Kelly Flynn and Gen. Joseph Ralston -- raised questions of a double standard. But to avoid a bruising battle, Cohen is more likely to seek a compromise: "In the end, the Defense Secretary will probably set a minimum standard that functions as a floor rather than as a ceiling," says Thompson. "In that scenario the Marines would still have the leeway to apply a higher standard." After all, they just wouldn't be Marines if they...
...secrets, and there?s no longer any way to obscure that. But losing some PR bloom won?t deter the White House legal team. "Ordinarily, a third party like Cockell isn?t covered by attorney/client privilege -- if the window washer overhears things, he can talk about them," says Cohen. "But the White House can claim that since Clinton is required to have the agents near him, he still deserves the same privacy he would if he could be alone with his lawyer." And as Cohen points out, that?s only one stall tactic of many: "There?s really no limit...