Current And Former U.S. Intelligence Chiefs Fire Back At 'Biased, Inaccurate, And Destructive' CIA Enhanced Interrogation Report

Julian Hattem at thehill.com offers a piece on the reaction of current and former intelligence chiefs to the Senate's CIA enhanced interrogation report.

Current and former heads of U.S. spy agencies are criticizing a Senate report’s claim that the CIA tortured detainees and misled the public about its "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

In separate statements on Tuesday, multiple current and former intelligence agency officials defended the work of the agency during the George W. Bush administration and said that agents were doing their best while defending the nation.

George Tenet, who was CIA director through much of the Bush administration, said the report is "biased, inaccurate, and destructive" and said it "does damage to U.S. national security, to the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency, and most of all to the truth."  

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/226465-spies-push-back-on-senate-report

Note: The Senate report, written exclusively by partisan Democratic congressional staffers, without the benefit of interviews with current and former CIA officers involved in the program, is, in my view, dubious.    

Company Man: Thirty Years Of Controversy And Crisis In The CIA

Angelo M. Codevilla offers a review of John Rizzo's Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA for the Washington Times.  

This book by John Rizzo, the CIA’s longtime top lawyer, advertises itself as “the most authoritative inside account of the CIA ever written.” The blurb from The Washington Post's David Ignatius concurs: “Think Of Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer in ‘The Godfather,’ and you begin to get the flavor of what Rizzo had seen and heard if you’re interested in the inside life of the CIA, read this book.” The reader then reasonably expects an inside story on what U.S. intelligence does to collect information, how it analyzes it, what products it provides to help the president, State and Defense departments do their jobs, how it protects against foreign espionage and terrorism, etc. However, this book, just like the agency it describes, can stand as a definition of solecism. From beginning to end, it is about bureaucrats’ inward-looking concerns. Nothing more.

Although the book is not what the advertising promises, it really does provide an accurate picture of life inside CIA. Its exclusive focus on how bureaucrats jostle and feel about one another is entirely consistent with my eight years of experience dealing with CIA’s top levels on the U.S. Senate’s behalf.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/20/a-self-licking-ice-cream-cone/

NSA Intelligence-Gathering Programs Keep Us Safe

Former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin explains why we need the NSA in a piece in the  Washington Post.

It’s time we all came to our senses about the National Security Agency (NSA). If it is true, as many allege, that the United States went a little nuts in its all-out pursuit of al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it is equally true that we are going a little nuts again in our dogged pursuit of the post-Snowden NSA.

Those who advocate sharply limiting the agency’s activities ought to consider that its work is the very foundation of U.S. intelligence.    

I don’t mean to diminish the role of other intelligence agencies, and I say this as a 30-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who is “CIA” through and through. But in most cases, the NSA is the starting point for determining what holes need to be filled through other means of intelligence-collection. That’s because its information on foreign developments is so comprehensive and generally so reliable. It is the core of intelligence support to U.S. troops in battle. Any efforts to “rein in” the agency must allow for the possibility that change risks serious damage to U.S. security and the country’s ability to navigate in an increasingly uncertain world.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nsa-intelligence-gathering-programs-keep-us-safe/2014/01/02/0fd51b22-7173-11e3-8b3f-b1666705ca3b_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

U.S. Kills Osama Bin Laden In Intelligence-Driven Operation

By John D. Banusiewicz, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2011 - An intelligence-driven U.S. operation in Pakistan killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden yesterday, President Barack Obama announced in a nationally televised address from the White House late last night.

The president revealed that shortly after taking office in January 2009, he ordered CIA Director Leon E. Panetta to make bin Laden's death or capture the top priority of the U.S. war against the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

"Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground," he said. The president said he met repeatedly with his national security team as information developed indicating bin Laden was at a compound in Pakistan, and that last week he determined enough information was available and authorized the operation.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," Obama said. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.

"No Americans were harmed," he continued. "They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

Obama noted that bin Laden had been al-Qaida's leader and symbol for more than 20 years and continued to plot attacks against the United States and its allies.

"The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaida, yet his death does not mark the end of our effort," Obama said. "There is no doubt that al-Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must, and we will, remain vigilant at home and abroad."

The president emphasized that the war against al-Qaida is not a war against Islam.

"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader," he said. "He was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al-Qaida has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

Counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped in finding bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding, the president said.

"Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people. Tonight, I called [Pakistani] President [Asif Ali] Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations, and going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al-Qaida and its affiliates."

The president praised those who worked to find bin Laden and those who carried out the operation that killed him.

"Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome," he said. "The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

"We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation," he continued, "for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day."