Talk:Bill Cowan

Accuracy dispute

1. Cowan graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1966...(Yes, he did)
2. He would later join the elite Delta Force and assist in the rescue of some American citizens who were taken as hostages by Iran in 1979. (No, he didn't and he has NEVER so claimed. Whoever wrote that is wrong.)
3. He is also the founding member of an organization that, according to a Discovery Channel documentary, is so secretive that not even the United States government knows its mailing address, and that operates like a real-life Mission Impossible organization. (Some peripheral truth to this.)

References? Source? =)

—John | Talk 02:46, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

==

1. Attendance at the US Naval Academy can be verified by calling the registrar's office at (410) 293-6383. See [1]. Ydorb 22:54, Nov 3, 2004 (UTC)

Was Bill Cowan ever in Guwahati, Assam, India, involved in the evacuatin of Bangladeshi refugees after the war of Bangladesh?--203.197.115.68 17:47, 24 July 2006 (UTC)Manu Kashyap

Bill served in Marine Recon Battalions during the Vietman War.

The Book "Bravo 6" by a Rifle Company commander has a "Bill Cowan" as aplatoon leader for awhile. Is this the same guy?--Purpleslog 22:47, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

---

Is this the same guy:

http://www.specwarnet.net/americas/isa.htm -->

"In 1983, a five-man ISA unit led by Lt. Col. William Cowan was dispatched to Beirut, Lebanon to deal with the increasing threat to American interests in the area. Cowan and another ISA agent managed to drive through every sector of Beirut, even the Shiite suburb, a dangerous practice at the time. They acquainted themselves with the layout and landmarks of the city for future reference. ISA members conducted extensive interviews with Special Forces members in the country, Lebanese Army and CIA and embassy officials. They discovered there was no co-ordination between them, and vital information regarding terrorist attacks was not being shared. The team put together a detailed critique and proposed changes to the organization of the forces, but the document was ignored by the higher officials insisting that security was adequate. On October 23, 1983, a truck bomb slammed into the US Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans, and injuring scores more. Almost simultaneously, another truck bomb exploded in the French barracks, killing 56. The decision was made to deploy another ISA unit.

Cowan put together another five-man team, but their deployment was stalled for three weeks. This time around, travel through the city was a very dangerous endeavour, with roadblocks everywhere. Along with reviewing the security and organization again, ISA was also tasked with formulating plans for reprisals against the Syrians who had shot down two US fighters. The agents prepared contingency plans for a commando force to enter Beirut clandestinely, and to strike at Hizbollah and Syrian targets. Cowan traveled the Lebanese countryside pinpointing the locations of Syrian anti-aircraft emplacements. While driving through northern Lebanon, Cowan and his mates suffered several close calls with Syrian roadblocks and patrols. Landing zones were established, Lebanese militias contacted for help, and plans formulated for a commando force. ISA agents even managed to obtain Lebanese license plates, which would allow Delta to be parachuted in with their own cars, then "legitimized" with the plates. The ISA team left Beirut in January 1984. Sadly, the team's evaluation did not serve to upgrade American security standards, and a truck bomb exploded from within 40 feet of the embassy entrance later that year."

If so the Secret Group was the Intelligence Support Activity. It (under whatever cover name it goes by now) is part of Special Operations Command.

--Purpleslog 22:04, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

A recent book about the ISA is Killer Elite, by reporter Michael Smith. It confirms the main facts quoted by Steven Emerson (and repeated by the specwarnet.net page). There are some errors often quoted after Emerson and Jeffrey Richelson's writtings about the ISA : Cowan was NOT the leader of the teams send to Lebanon, only a member (the leader for both teams was Calvin "Cal" Sasai, the then deputy commander of the ISA), and Cowan is not the only Marine to have joined the ISA because there was a previous USMC representative in the ISA. He was not a "ISA member" when he joined the first team, he would only accept to join the ISA after having seen the high-level of operators in the first mission in Lebanon. He would later pass ISA selection and training courses, take part to the second team send in Lebanon and in ISA's efforts to save US hostages in Lebanon.

Killer Elite doesn't quote Cowan's full name, but it states that "the" Bill Cowan of the ISA enlisted in the Navy at age of 17, was appointed at the Naval Academy, he became USMC officer in 1966. Two stints in Vietnam, during about 3 years and a half, including five months with the vietnamese "Kit Carsons". Recon Btn. are not quoted in the book, but obviously Cowan operated in little units for special operations ; because Cowan's unit is not depicted, it might be a Recon Btn. His background in intelligence and special ops in Vietnam was one reason he was chosen by the ISA as a potantial recruit. Rob1bureau 13:03, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

BLP

@Donner60, Samuel.farrell31, and Oshwah: Please review with this in mind.

Oswah, I am trying to change information about me on my wikipedia page. I'm simply deleting. I'm not adding content. There is more about me than I am comfortable with. I'm a private person!
Thanks.
— User:64.138.214.82 02:36, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

The article doesn't look to be well sourced. — JJMC89 (T·C) 03:03, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

JJMC89, Samuel.farrell31, Donner60: Take a look at my changes and let me know if there are any concerns. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 03:08, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

@JJMC89, Samuel.farrell31, and Oshwah: Several things should be considered. If reliable, verifiable sources are available for information, they should be cited. If they are cited, material that can be verified from them cannot be removed on an assertion of privacy. Specifically, I am thinking about any information that is on the Fox News biography site and in the Frontline interview (bearing in mind that it is from 2001). If the information is from these readily available, public sites, there should be no reason to object to its inclusion here. The Frontline interview with LTC Cowan is about the Beirut mission so its usefulness would seem to be limited but there would seem to be no reason to exclude anything that Cowan himself has verified. The Fox News biography site has been changed to: http://www.foxnews.com/person/c/bill-cowan.html. Presumably Fox News would not be writing anything about a contributor that was inaccurate or even objectionable to the contributor. I am not necessarily suggesting that you should restore any content that has been deleted that could have been sourced from these two sites. On the other hand, I do not see how any valid objection could be raised to doing so if it was accurate and a citation or citations were given.

Otherwise, I suppose the material could be viewed as contentious and therefore subject to deletion under the biography of living persons policy. Under that policy, your edit appears valid. I don't think you are under any obligation to research any available material to expand the article. As I noted, however, anyone who used those sources (and any others of the same nature that might exist - I could not read the third web site but it seems to have had something to do with the Vietnam War) could restore properly cited information from them.

In addition to the application of the BLP policy, it is not clear where the removed material, which is not sourced, originated. Since it is not verifiable, removal under the Wikipedia:Verifiability standard also seems to have applicability here. If a source were to be stated with restoration of some of the content, some judgment would need to be exercised about its reliability. The Fox News and Frontline sources must be considered reliable, as I see it, for the restoration of any material that was deleted.

If editors cannot agree on the handling of this, consideration should be given to handling it in one of the ways expressed in Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Help. Donner60 (talk) 04:17, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

JJMC89, Samuel.farrell31, Donner60 - I just removed content that was a copyright violation. Is this article subject notable? These are the sources I could find that cover this person primarily and in-depth and appear to be reliable: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Does this constitute significant coverage? I'm leaning no, but input would be helpful :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 00:00, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Yes, I am convinced he is notable. He has a distinguished military record and has had coverage of it in publications, and at least to some extent in the press. The Beirut mission, although secret at the time, has been covered several times over the years and he was interviewed about it on a PBS show. In more recent years, he has been a news analyst on military or defense issues or events on the Fox News Channel. There are enough sources for all those subjects and perhaps a few others. That is more than enough to show he is notable in my opinion. Of course, any text that would constitute a copyright violation or is not from a reliable, verifiable source should not be included or at least may be questioned and in turn excluded. I don't think it affects notability for some material to be excluded under somewhat stricter BLP standards or due to copyright issues unless there is not enough that can be written to show notability. That would likely be a rare case or a person whose notability is based on a single event or situation. Copyright does not necessarily exclude all mention from a copyrighted publication; the manner of presentation (and especially outright plagiarism) is an important consideration. In any event, such a severe reduction in what can be said about him so that even notability is in question does not seem to the case here. Donner60 (talk) 02:28, 22 August 2016 (UTC)