Elizabeth O’Bagy is probably not known to most people, unless you have been following the debate surrounding Syria very closely. O’Bagy, 26 years old, until recently was a senior analyst at the Institute For The Study of War in Washington. This would normally not get her noticed, but after the recent attacks in Syria using chemical weapons, she is suddenly an expert that many people have become familiar with.

O’bagy has even spent a considerable amount of time with the rebels in Syria, being able to defend them in some cases. Everyone wants to know what she found out, becoming a hot commodity in recent weeks, states NPR. She immediately became a fixture on news programs, offering her take on the Syrian conflict including an interview on NPR’s morning edition on September 5. She also received some scrutiny for her close involvement with the Syrian rebels, but she responded on twitter telling her followers that she never intended to conceal her ties with rebel commanders and is not being paid to show her support for Syria.

I have spent much time in Syria conducting research which has led me to my conclusions on intervention. I am not paid to advocate this view.

— Elizabeth O'Bagy (@lizobagy) September 7, 2013

Finally have a moment and would like to clear things up. 1st I have never tried to hide my affiliate with the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

— Elizabeth O'Bagy (@lizobagy) September 7, 2013

O’Bagy was recently fired for lying about earning a PHD from Georgetown, when in fact she had not. She recently had an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Senator John McCain in congressional hearings about possibly intervening in Syria. After gaining the attention of a number of people and appearing on several of the major news networks, she has been let go as an analyst.

Part of the debate over whether to intervene deals with finding out how many of the rebel groups are extremist and how many of them are moderate. O’Bagy says that extremists and moderates exercise control over particular parts of the country and checkpoints are set up in order to define territory. There are also distinct areas of control where moderate rebels are able to keep weapons out of the hands of the extremists. Why then, is the crisis happening?

I'm not trying to trick America here. I'm just trying to show a different side to the conflict that few people have the chance to see.

— Elizabeth O'Bagy (@lizobagy) September 7, 2013

According to CNN, O’Bagy has appeared on several television networks including CNN, BBC, Fox and PBS. Last week, she was a guest on CNN Newsroom and Fox News to speak on Syria. She will no longer be appearing as an analyst for CNN networks after deceiving the American public.

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