Building upon Baltar's excellent post below (yes, that means you should scroll down and read that) we have this from Newsday:
"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."
Don't you just love it when a leader starts purging those he considers disloyal? Me neither. In fact, it reminds me of Stalin and all the highly qualified people he had tortured and/or shot because he didn't trust them. Fortunately for them, those who are purged from the CIA aren't likely to be executed or shipped off to Siberia. Unfortunately for us, this tactic threatens to turn an intelligence agency into an intelligence-that-matches-the-White-House-talking-points agency.
What's fundamentally disturbing here is that these people are being fired for their political views and reluctance to tow the White House line when they think that the White House is reading intelligence incorrectly. It's yet another example of the destructive lengths this White House goes to in its attempts to block dissent or even consider alternate possibilities and viewpoints - something that's normally essentialy for optimal decision making.
Posted by armand at November 14, 2004 03:35 PM | TrackBack | Posted to PoliticsIt's also fun to see the CIA described as a "hotbed of liberals."
Posted by: binky at November 15, 2004 10:01 AM | PERMALINKThere is a statement about facts in this last paragraph, but the first two sections don't encourage me. First, since when have "facts alone" been what the intelligence service supplies? They are charged not only to provide context, but analysis as well. Second, as we have hammered away at here, the administration in its first term showed a remarkable inability to successfully interpret facts or analysis.
Porter J. Goss, the new intelligence chief, has told Central Intelligence Agency employees that their job is to "support the administration and its policies in our work,'' a copy of an internal memorandum shows.
"As agency employees we do not identify with, support or champion opposition to the administration or its policies," Mr. Goss said in the memorandum, which was circulated late on Monday. He said in the document that he was seeking "to clarify beyond doubt the rules of the road."
While his words could be construed as urging analysts to conform with administration policies, Mr. Goss also wrote, "We provide the intelligence as we see it - and let the facts alone speak to the policymaker.''Posted by: binky at November 17, 2004 09:30 AM | PERMALINK
JOSHUA RULEZ!!! .............
sorry kids. just wanted to see my name from top to bottom in the "recent comments" section.
happy t'day to everyone.
Posted by: joshua at November 24, 2004 12:52 PM | PERMALINKIsn't your names usually at the top of the recent comments section? ;)
At least when we're not being spammed to death (as we are this week)?
Posted by: Armand at November 24, 2004 03:46 PM | PERMALINK