Dana Priest. (File)

August 11, 1999

Dana Priest, the Post's military affairs reporter, was online to discuss the latest developments in military affairs. What were the motives behind the Pentagon's controversial decision to replace NATO commander Wesley Clark? What is the status of the KFOR peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo? A Post reporter for 13 years, Priest started out as an assistant foreign editor and then became a Metropolitan staff reporter. After joining the National staff nine years ago, Priest covered federal regulatory issues and went to Baghdad to write about American hostages being held in Iraq.

Priest has covered the Pentagon for the past four years. Her reporting has taken her to Bosnia to write about U.S. troops stationed there and on overseas trips with defense secretaries William Perry and William Cohen. She has also written extensively about the Army's efforts to integrate women into the workforce.

Read the transcript below:

Washingtonpost.com: Welcome to our live discussion with the Post's Dana Priest. Thank you for joining us Dana. To get us started, can you give us an update on KFOR and their attempts to bring order to Kosovo?

Dana Priest: KFOR is struggling right now to gain control over — no great surprise — the KLA and Albanians taking revenge against the Serbs. Commanders are discussing ways to get all of their troops in the various sectors to be more diligent in cracking down on offenders. Military and political leaders are pushing the U.N. to get the international police force in place — hopefully to provide some order and establish minimal law and order. There is even talk the creation of de facto "safe havens" for Serbs in the province.

Herndon, VA: Ms. Priest: Is there any support at the Pentagon for a return to the draft? One "plus" I can see is the US middle class — and above — again serving in our armed forces in more than token numbers. I realize this makes me a Neanderthal — but I do worry about a large portion of our population opting out of military service. Steve

Dana Priest: Some. Right now all the services except the Marine are having the toughest time ever recruiting people to serve. The draft would obviously solve that problem. The trade off is this: the recruits accepted are the most educated the military has ever and people are now used to a certain level of performance. Your concern is focused on the social implication of having a shrinking percentage of the population with a a military background. Many people are worried about this and there is clear evidence that, in Congress or the administration, for example, fewer and fewer members are conversant in military matters and comfortable with the culture. One can only believe that will get worse if the current trend continues.

Washington, D.C.: The Defense Department has aggressively mandated the force-wide inoculation — including DoD civilians — with the anthrax vaccine. There is no doubt that a threat exists — to what extent we don't know — as there does with smallpox and a whole host of other biological and chemical compounds. Yet no one is being provided the smallpox vaccine, to name just one. It would appear that the more significant threat is a terrorist attack on civilians rather than one on the military. Why the members of the military service's bands need anthrax protection is somewhat unclear. Have you any insight as to why the Pentagon — reportedly originating with the civilian leadership — has targeted anthrax with such vigor?

Dana Priest: Because, theoretically, everyone in the military is subject to combat service. If they are deployed to the next battlefield — even if they are band members — the belief is they should be protected in order to carry out their duties.
Secretary Cohen, in particular, is convinced this threat is real and that it is only a matter of time before some kind of biological attack occurs. His department is devoting millions — actually probably billions — to prepare and prevent such an attack. As they do, the military is being trained to take on a much greater role within the United States in this area. They make up the response teams for cities so it is very likely they would be involved in any attack on civilians here that you referred to.

Mt. Rainier MD: It seems like the killing of a young private at Fort Campbell is going to bring out a lot of highly unpleasant facts about the military. It was no secret about anti-gay prejudice, but I wonder how many people realize what kind of racism and drunkenness and lack of discipline are to be found in the armed forces. Will the upper brass finally do something about the loose cannons in their ranks?

Washingtonpost.com: For those who aren't familiar with the case a private at Ft. Campbell army base in Kentucky is accused of beating a fellow soldier (who was perceived as a homosexual) to death with a baseball bat.

Dana Priest: Well — discipline, drunkenness, acts of racism and gay bashing are not new to the military. Efforts to focus attention on these various problems seem to wax and wane when high-profile cases. Many people in uniform believe leadership is the key here and if leaders allow or encourage these types of activities, they will flourish. It will be interesting to watch the reintegration of the Tailhook Association into the fold. The Navy, burned by its own mishandling of Tailhook, took up a significant campaign to change its culture. Some people argued it went to far, others not far enough. Having the Navy leadership embrace, even tentatively, the Tailhook Association may be the beginning of putting the issue to rest.

McLean Virginia: How much creedence is there in a recent report that todays co-ed military isn't working out?

Dana Priest: Lots of heated debate for sure, and lots of contradictory reports out there. Most reports from the services, however, say that co-ed training does work. I've done a fair amount of field work on the issue — including a series on efforts to integrate women in the Army in a more meaningful way — and I think, again, that leadership is the key. The tone in the hierarchical military is set at the top. Also, not many folks believe that an all-male force is either socially acceptable or feasible, given shortfalls in recruitment. So it seems that getting people to work effectively together is an issue that won't disappear and that most services are trying to find better ways to make it work.

Wash., DC:
Do you think that Asian Americans are now discriminated against and under more scutiny due to the "leaks" by Asian scientists in the Energy dept.?

Dana Priest: I don't have any particular evidence to support that.

lansing, mi: What are the odds the Anthrax vaccine will become voluntary or discontinued, and is William Crowe really a 51% shareholder in Bioport?

Dana Priest: Odds are it will not become voluntary. Crowe is one of the directors of the sole-source company, Bioport Corp., that sells the vaccine to the Pentagon. Interestingly, the Pentagon has just doubled the amount of money it is paying the company to produce millions of doses of the vaccine over the next six years. It has also advanced the company nearly $19 million to cover its debts.

Washingtonpost.com: We're about half-way through our live discussion with the Post's Dana Priest. Please continue to submit questions by clicking on the hyperlink below.

Raleigh-Durham, NC: Last week the Post had a very wire service article describing the Pentagon's decision to increase the price paid by 2-1-2 times to Bioport, Inc for anthrax vaccine. The briefing for decision was held at the Pentagon, was anonymous, and filled with factually incorrect statements by military officials. Why hasn't the Post aggressively investigated DOD's decision to bailout a poorly managed company that happens to be partly-owned — 22% — by a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM William Crowe — who happens to be the only senior military officer to support Pres Clinton in 1992?

Dana Priest: Good question. We've just been busy with other things but it's definitely something to look into.

Arlington, Virginia: Do you have any thoughts-opinion about the early transfer of General Clark?

Dana Priest: Rather than opinion, I'll offer this observation: The decision to have him retire early, as far as I can tell, set off bad feelings and accusations all around and probably backfired on Secretary Cohen. We reported that Cohen aides handled it in the way they did — outing the decision moments after Gen. Clark was informed of it — in order to prevent the general from undoing the decision behind their backs. I think the likelihood he would have tried or succeeded in that is not high, given how those nominations work. Anyway, most people I have spoken to about the matter — and many who have volunteered their opinions to me — thought it was a hell of a way to thank someone for "winning" the war in Kosovo.

Arlington, VA: What is the reaction from the other services of the new Marine Corps Commandant's efforts to make the Marines into the "Joint Force" test-bed?

Dana Priest: Alittle worried I'm sure. Neither the Army nor Air Force are very far ahead in this area. If nothing more, I'm sure the Marine initiative will push them into action.

Cathedral Heights, DC: I get the impression that the military enforces "don't tell" with great ruthlessness but pays almost no attention to "don't ask". Am I wrong? And why isn't anything done to correct this?

Dana Priest: My impression is that it varies greatly from command to command, or even from company to company. I have been on posts where Army soldiers openly displace pro-gay posters in their quarters and have gay symbols as bumper stickers and no one seems to care much. The Pentagon annually puts out its policy on the matter to reinforce the message with commanders but generally I don't think it's an issue that gets a lot of attention until some big case breaks in the news. It's just not a high priority.

Rockville, MD: Is the officer corps becoming too identified with the Republican Party. I heard a report recently that more than 70% of the officers are Republicans and that this is a big shift in the military cultural. In the past, supposedly, officers stayed out of civilian party politics.

Dana Priest: I hadn't heard that. In general, the military has always been more conservative — hence more Republican if you will, even officers. As you know, there are limitations on the types of political activities active duty members can take part in. I have to say that President Clinton's escapades did nothing to endear the Democratic Party to military members, many of whom complained throughout the Lewinsky matter that their commander-in-chief was getting off easy.

arlington, VA: I may be offered a job by the
UN soon in Pristina. Did you
consider it unsafe and if so,
would you warn people away?

Dana Priest: Depends on your definition of safe. To me, it sounds like a great opportunity to be a part of an incredibly dynamic problem. So far, the big weakness of military intervention in civil wars--Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo--has been the failure of those countries to develop democratic institutions. Pristina isn't safe, by most US standards but lots of people work there safely.

Dana Priest: Gotta run. It's been nice "chatting" with all of you. I'll be back next month. Wonder where Kosovo will be headed by then....stay tuned.

Washingtonpost.com: Unfortunately, we're out of time and must bring our discussion to a close. Thanks to all who participated. Stay tuned for our live discussion with the Post's national security reporter, Vernon Loeb at 1 p.m. EDT.