Seymour Hersh: Many in Joint Spec'l Ops Command ... Kinghts of Malta

[David Guyatt]

In an email to the military's Stars and Stripes publication, McChrystal's spokesman, David Bolger, panned Hersh's claim.
"The allegations recently made by Seymour Hersh relating to General McChrystal's involvement with an organization called The Knights of Malta are completely false and without basis in fact," he reportedly wrote. "General McChrystal is not and has never been a member of that organization."

Well, he would say that wouldn't he? :curtain:

That is a classic non-denial denial.

There are many variant names for SMOM, including the Shickshinny chapter, as David reminds us.

Some of these variants will be red herrings, perhaps deliberately planted.

McChrystal's spokesman has simply denied his boss' membership of "The Knights of Malta".

My reading of McChrystal's statement is that it is an attempt to deny his association by force of wordplay. What he is implying is that he is not associated with with SMOM Rome --- which I actually suspect is true. I feel sure McChrystal is SMOM America. They are not entirely the same organization and have a separate chain of command, staff etc. Roman SMOM publishes a roll of members that can be obtained by visiting the Vatican and paying a small fee. American SMOM avoids publishing membership lists at all costs, and always has done.

It is a very useful subterfuge and a classic intelligence ploy of having the same entity separated by two different jurisdictions and command structures.

Ergo: they are the same and not the same.

I once had a series of email correspondence with Guy Stair Sainty, one of the acknowledged experts of world Chivalric Orders (he is KstJ btw). Our exchanges focused on SMOM Rome, and SMOM America, and the various controversial names (like Gehlen) who were members. He went on endlessly seeking to try to deny various associations, but in the end conceded virtually everything stated in the Covert Action Quarterly feature article as being factual. But he wasn't a happy bunny having to do so.

He possessed a membership roll of American SMOM too, and was able to deny membership of of one individual I was then interested in, but confirmed that his brother was SMOM America.

I also understood from him that every DCI of the CIA is offered an honourary knighthood in SMOM.