Anti-Semitism Could Have Derailed U.S. Armor Program

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- A U.S. Army armor protection program that could have
saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq was
torpedoed when a key engineer was improperly accused of spying for Israel.
The Project On Government Oversight asserted that a seven-year effort by
the army and FBI to prosecute an Orthodox Jewish engineer on charges of
spying for Israel ruined a vital project to enhance protection of combat
vehicles. POGO said the project became the leading casualty in the year-long
investigation of David Tenenbaum, found by the Defense Department inspector
general to have been discriminated against because of his religion.
"Did anti-Semitism in an army engineering office prevent the development
of armor that could have protected the U.S. military in the field?" POGO
asked.
Tenenbaum, a civilian mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army Tank
Automotive and Armaments Command, designed a program to upgrade the armor on
the army's light armor vehicles, including Humvees. A Hebrew speaker,
Tenenbaum was assigned to be a liasion with Israel -- deemed a leader in
armor protection development -- to conduct joint research to improve U.S.
armored systems.