It’s been a busy few days for CIA news. First, Michael Scheuer (the author, as “Anonymous”, of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror) resigned on Thursday.
On Friday, deputy director John McLaughlin resigned with a warning that “widespread resignations” were possible, inspired by agency management since the new CIA Director Porter Goss and team have started:
Several other senior clandestine service officers are threatening to leave, current and former agency officials said.
The disruption comes as the CIA is trying to stay abreast of a worldwide terrorist threat from al Qaeda, a growing insurgency in Iraq, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan and congressional proposals to reorganize the intelligence agencies. The agency also has been criticized for not preventing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and not accurately assessing Saddam Hussein’s ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.
“It’s the worst roiling I’ve ever heard of,” said one former senior official with knowledge of the events. “There’s confusion throughout the ranks and an extraordinary loss of morale and incentive.”
Current and retired senior managers have criticized Goss, former chairman of the House intelligence committee, for not interacting with senior managers and for giving Murray too much authority over day-to-day operations. Murray was Goss’s chief of staff on the intelligence committee.
At the same time, the Deputy Director of Operations Stephen Kappes delivered his resignation, though was convinced by Goss and the White House to hold a final decision off until Monday morning.
Newsday (via DailyKos) connects the dots today: this is an intentional move ordered by the White House to purge the CIA of voices who have been critical of administration policies:
“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.”
Politicizing intelligence in this manner can only enhance the echo chamber effect — that non-critical positive feedback loop that amounts to an institutional yes-man — which basically means it’s no longer adding value. That is not good — disturbing as the threats we face may be, we need now as much as (or more than) ever to perceive reality as clearly and accurately as possible, not to structurally guarantee that we only see pre-approved realities.
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