After two years of investigations, Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and his deputy, Ginger Cruz, have been cleared of fraud and abuse charges that were lodged by former employees of the watchdog organization.

Ginger Cruz

“On July 3, federal prosecutors alerted the office of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen that a grand jury declined to indict him or deputy Ginger Cruz. Last week, on July 9, the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency similarly cleared him and Cruz of any administrative charges stemming from the accusations. The executive branch council was created to investigate allegations of misconduct by inspectors general at federal agencies … “I always had faith that we’d be cleared of the allegations,” Cruz said in an interview Wednesday. “We knew there was no basis to them.” Cruz described the investigations dating back to 2006 as “very thorough.” She said it combed through all of her e-mail, and multiple people were interviewed for it.”

This story first came to my attention in December of last year, after accusations against Cruz claimed that she was a Wiccan who sexually harassed her co-workers, and threatened to cast spells on those who crossed her.

“Cruz reportedly told employees that she was a Wiccan who could cast spells on people, and said she preferred hiring young “hunks” to work in the office. She is also accused of propositioning junior employees in a crude fashion, once even proposing a threesome.”

Cruz has all along denied any wrongdoing, and that the accusations of witchcraft were “ludicrous”. I felt that the emphasis on witchcraft and sexual improprieties seemed suspicious. Almost stereotypical.

“…it seems strange to me that “hexes” and her Wiccan religion were mentioned at all. Could it be that Cruz was simply too open with her religious preferences in an all-too-Christian military environment? Leaving aside the charges of cooking the books, doesn’t it seem a bit too convenient (almost stereotypical in a male-fantasy sort of way) that the the young female Witch would go around propositioning three-ways with men and claiming to put hexes on people (no doubt on men who would refuse her sexual wiles)?”

Whether Cruz was indeed a Wiccan, or simply a woman branded “witch” in an often sexist and overtly Christian military will most likely never be known. Whatever the truth, this represents not only a vindication for Cruz, who can now put this painful time behind her, but a victory for religious minorities and Pagans working for the government. Perhaps more Pagans working in the military and in governmental positions can come out of the “broom closet” knowing that slanders of malicious spellwork, or lascivious behavior, will not stand up to scrutiny.

Tags: Ginger Cruz, Iraq, Military, Paganism, persecutions, SIGIR, Stuart Bowen, Wicca, Witchcraft