Sources and Methods/Media Wars

Credibility is really all a researcher/writer has in the end.  Elizabeth O'Bagy, formerly of the Institute for the Study of War has been fired from the think tank as well as the Wall Street Journal for apparently lying about having a Ph.D. from Georgetown University (she did reportedly earn a B.A. and did study Arabic in the Middle East)  a lot more troubling is her previously unacknowledged affiliation with a group called the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a pro-rebel group. She has appeared on Fox news as a Syria expert and her work with ISW was cited publicly by Secretary Kerry.  Her analysis that the rebel groups are distinct, geographically separated and not compromised by the jihadist elements might all be correct, but she has put her credibility in jeopardy by misrepresenting herself.