Entering The Gates
The Foreign Policy Research Institute has an interesting article by Garrett Jones entitled Welcome to the CIA, written as an open letter to its new director, General Hayden. Jones is a retired Case Officer. The underlying messages are mostly implied. Strongly implied is that Porter Goss was an unwelcome failure. Not far behind in emphasis is the innuendo that while the CIA is "filled with bright, hardworking people" some real improvements are badly needed. Here are some verbatim extracts from the article.
ON GOSS AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Yes, you have an entourage. Goss let his entourage alienate the entire building before he had settled in. Better to make enemies on your own. You probably brought some military aides with you, so you'll want to remind them that half the Agency does not know the difference between a full colonel and a milkshake; those who do know don't care. There are GS-13 case officers and analysts working for you who have daily, one-on-one relationships with general officers and politically powerful ambassadors. Colonels and lieutenant colonels are not going to impress the natives just by virtue of their shiny uniform. Your aides have to appreciate that they are not in the chain of command.
OPERATIONS
The current model of putting brand-new officers in the field under intricate cover arrangements and then expecting them to go up against some of the hardest targets the Agency faces is not working. The new officers are being overwhelmed by cover arrangements, living in difficult places and attempting to be effective against very difficult and elusive targets, all at the same time. ... In the short run, there will be many problems and few effective operations following the current model. ... Frankly, the DO is playing catch-up at the moment with several targets, and some shortcuts will need to be considered.
INTELLIGENCE
This place is a mess. ... get the analysts out of operations ... If the report is so heavily hedged that it is correct no matter what happens, why is it being sent to a policymaker? It is not going to help them make a decision.
SUPPORT
You have some ticking bombs waiting for you here ... In truth, there is probably more a problem of the appearance of incompetence than any real wrongdoing, but the procedures are not defensible. ... A potentially more serious and difficult problem is associated with the contracting for software and electronic components in recent years, done in the name of "efficiency" and "outsourcing." This has led to some potentially disastrous counterintelligence lapses.
As they say, read the whole thing.
posted by wretchardthecat at 6/16/2006 01:50:00 AM
6 Comments:
Sounds like, "Welcome aboard, General! Sit down and fasten your seat belt! It's going to be quite a ride!"
Good catch, W.
And how much does this cost us?
Holy mackerel Batman!
I am confused.
I thought the CIA was a covert intelligence agency with it's employee's sworn to secrecy.
Why am I reading a finger-waging complaint about operations within the CIA by some disgruntled ex-CIA employee?
To the Average Joe on the street this diatribe would seem to be a veiled partisan leak. Sure this was posted in the Foreign Policy Research Institute as an open letter - not in the NYT - but a form of a leak none the less.
I thought the leaks were supposed to be plugged? How can a "covert agency" operate when there is public discussion of some of the most sensitive positions in the agency?
Does every ex-CIA operator in the Agency get to write a book on his personal compliants? What are the policies on this? What are the laws on this?
Trish said: The CIA cleared the letter.
Well, Trish would you expound upon that aspect. Who exactly "cleared the letter."
This is exactly the problem the CIA faces.
Trish,
But they approved that book a few years back, that seemed like a very ill-conceived plan, made one wonder WHO said publishing it was OK.
Can't even remember name or author.
Spark any memories?
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