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DEMOCRATS ARE PLAYING POLITICS AGAIN WITH THE CIA

Posted by EWRoss on Monday, July 13, 2009 7:00:00 AM

According to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, Director Leon Panetta, in a classified briefing, told them he had terminated an eight-year-old program not previously briefed to them because former Vice President Cheney directed the CIA not to. They immediately demanded an investigation into the program and Cheney's role, making accusations they could not back up with out revealing classified information.

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden reacted angrily. He said that he personally kept "top members" of Congress well-informed during his tenure. House Republicans charged that all House Democrats were doing was trying to give Speaker Nancy Pelosi political cover for her accusations that the CIA routinely lied to Congress after she denied receiving a CIA briefing on waterboarding.

Also we learned that Attorney General Eric Holder is considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's CIA interrogation practices, in contradiction to President Obama's stated desires.

Because we don't know the details of the program Panetta briefed to Congress and we don't know if CIA interrogators broke any laws, it's appropriate for a bi-partisan group of investigators reporting to the House and Senate Intelligence committees to conduct a classified look into these matters. According to Senator Diane Feinstein on Fox News Sunday, they are. If they discover any wrongdoing they can refer it to the Justice Department.

Democrats are taking big risks at the CIA's and the nation's expense if they continue to make this a public political issue and if Holder appoints a special prosecutor. Americans want their CIA to protect them from terrorist attacks, not constantly deterred from doing their job for fear of recrimination. They also expect the CIA to conduct its activities within the law, but they don't want to see it handcuffed and fog-marched in public before it's convicted.

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LEADING THE CIA

Posted by EWRoss on Monday, January 12, 2009 8:00:00 AM
The controversy over Leon Panetta’s lack of intelligence experience as President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to replace Michael Hayden as Director of the CIA misses the point. You don’t have to be a hard-core intelligence professional to run the agency. Some intelligence experience other than having been a consumer of the CIA’s products as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff would help, but it’s not absolutely necessary. What's necessary is an understanding and appreciation of the CIA's multiple missions and culture and the leadership ability to make it function effectively.

Looking back over my 40-year relationship with CIA, I've often been among its critics. As a US Army clandestine case officer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I routinely interacted with my CIA counterparts. The relationship was often more competitive than cooperative, especially in Vietnam when we went after the same covert sources. I once found myself moving an agent from safe house to safe house to keep him out of the agency’s clutches. “Big Brother,” as we referred to them, had all the resources and clout. They almost always got what they wanted, unless we were able to keep them totally in the dark, which we did on rare occasions.
 
 
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