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Terrorist on un team { December 5 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11081-2002Dec4.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11081-2002Dec4.html
Inspector Linked To Explosives Case
By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 5, 2002; Page A25
U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix chose a Virginia munitions specialist for the diplomatically sensitive Iraq inspection team without investigating his handling of a military explosive device that later turned up at a New York crime scene.
Neither the United Nations nor the State Department felt it necessary to check the background of Harvey John "Jack" McGeorge, who resigned from the Secret Service in 1980 after the device, a Claymore mine, ended up in the hands of an assassin, according to federal sources. McGeorge divulged a misdemeanor charge related to the explosives incident, along with another 1980s misdemeanor case, in a routine disclosure statement filed with the United Nations, officials said.
Ewen Buchanan, Blix's spokesman, said that Blix interviewed McGeorge, 53, and reviewed his disclosures on a U.N. "personnel history" form. Buchanan said he did not know whether McGeorge had been charged or convicted in both misdemeanor cases, but said he was sentenced to probation in at least one case. The United Nations did not further explore the incident or McGeorge's abrupt departure from the law enforcement job, Buchanan said. "He [McGeorge] did not withhold this from us."
Former supervisors of McGeorge said they were concerned that the incident raised questions about his judgment. Although federal sources said they believed he had no "criminal intent" in his handling of the weapon, one said he "lacked common sense. . . . It is what got him in trouble with the Secret Service."
McGeorge did not return numerous phone calls.
In the mine case, McGeorge told investigators that while serving in the Marine Corps reserves, he gave a Claymore mine to another Marine and did not track its whereabouts. The mine later detonated when a would-be assassin tried to place it under a target's car in New York, the sources said. The bomber was seriously injured.
McGeorge resigned from the Secret Service after officials questioned him, the sources said.
U.N. officials said this week that they relied on what they believed were State Department recommendations of some of the 30 U.S. specialists, including McGeorge, who will inspect Iraq for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. A spokesman said the State Department forwarded qualified candidates to the United Nations.
The United Nations has chosen a broad international team of inspectors, who must handle sensitive communications with the Iraqis. Inspectors undergo one month of training and other specialized courses and must complete cultural sensitivity training.
Concerns about the selection process have surfaced as the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) tries to address Iraq's insistence that inspectors be neutral U.N. employees rather than government designees who might share information with intelligence agencies. Former U.N. inspectors criticize the process as weeding out some of the most experienced and qualified candidates.
In Iraq inspections following the Persian Gulf War, the United Nations Special Commission team included employees on leave from government agencies who had implicit government support. Current inspectors must be U.N. employees.
McGeorge said in an interview last week that he was asked by a State Department official in 2000 to forward his application for the team.
"I have the background and I'm good at what I do," McGeorge said.
McGeorge runs a Woodbridge consulting firm that conducts weapons and bioterrorism training for federal agencies. With an associate degree in security management, he lacks the specialized scientific degrees the United Nations said it was seeking when recruiting inspectors. His résumé cites three years of Secret Service munitions experience and Marine Corps service.
The Washington Post reported last week that McGeorge has an open involvement in Washington-area sadomasochistic sex clubs and teaches courses on the use of knives and ropes. Blix last week refused to accept McGeorge's resignation.
The Post learned of the circumstances surrounding McGeorge's departure from the Secret Service from a federal official who was concerned about McGeorge's role in the U.N. mission.
The McGeorge controversy is the second instance in which questions have surfaced about the screening of trainees. Earlier this year, press reports described how Steven Jay Hatfill, who has been under FBI scrutiny in the anthrax probe, became a U.N. trainee after nominating himself to the team.
McGeorge said the FBI questioned him about his association with Hatfill, whom he once invited to speak at a bioterrorism seminar.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker explained the agency's role in recruiting inspectors.
"Dr. Blix's letter outlined what he was looking for in terms of the technical expertise," Reeker said. He said a munitions expert could be "someone that might have 20 or more years of experience" or "someone who may be well known to the media in terms of using their expertise."
Former Secret Service agents told The Post they were surprised to learn that McGeorge had been selected for the U.N. mission. "I feel the U.N. should do [background] checking," said Robert R. Snow, a former Secret Service agent who knows McGeorge.
One of McGeorge's former supervisors, who asked not to be named, offered this account of his resignation: As a Marine reservist from 1974 to 1979, McGeorge took a Claymore antipersonnel mine to a private residence and passed it along to a Marine colleague in the Special Forces. A Claymore mine is an explosive that can be remotely activated; larger versions can damage light vehicles.
Later, the mine blew up prematurely when an assassin tried to plant it under a car. The assassin was seriously injured, and the subsequent investigation led to McGeorge. Supervisors asked for his resignation, the former supervisor said.
"His name kept coming up and it was an embarrassment," the former supervisor said. "The FBI was investigating. He was not involved in any way. It was to a point [he was told], 'You either quit, or we will get rid of you.' "
McGeorge resigned in May 1980. He did not return phone calls this week seeking comment. Asked last week why he resigned, McGeorge said, "I was ready to leave."
It was unclear exactly when the Claymore mine was used.
The former supervisor described McGeorge as "a very, very intelligent person" who exercised poor judgment but had not engaged in deliberate lawbreaking.
Staff researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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