Melanie Phillips: Spook Wars (CIA lefties vs Dubya & co)

Melanie Phillips Diary ^ | May 23, 2005 | Melanie Phillips

[quidnunc]

One of the many untold stories about the defence of the west, it seems to me, is the war within the west that has been waged by the CIA. Over and over again I hear accounts of the campaign of disinformation, lies and political point-scoring emanating from disaffected CIA operatives that has fuelled the anti-war movement. Indeed, the evidence has been all around us ever since the Iraq war started, as a steady stream of books and articles has gushed from an apparently endless line of former spooks, all placing the Bush administration in the worst possible light.

There was once a time when, if such a procession of CIA operatives had produced such an obvious politically motivated campaign, the media would have been crawling over every word of these utterances in excitement and outrage at such a blatant attempt to subvert a democratic government by a covert agenda that was so clearly running within the secret world. That was when journalists regarded the intelligence world as suspect by definition, since the game it played was deception, and the CIA was regarded as the antichrist. Yet now the CIA's anti-Bush propaganda has been swallowed by the media without so much as a murmur, let alone a checked fact or two, let alone any adverse comment or questions being asked about what the hell was going on here. Everything produced by these superannuated spooks has been viewed as holy writ, sanctified and guaranteed by the very aura of clandestine ops that would once have rung every alarm bell going. And that, of course, is because these ex-spooks (can a spook ever really be ex?) are delivering exactly what the hacks want to hear: apparently authoritative 'evidence' that the war was a catastrophe, Bush is a calamity and everything being done by his administration continues to be stupid, evil or both.

In the light of all this, it is fascinating to read a claim by Dr Jack Wheeler, who is described on his website as a 'professional adventurer' and 'geopolitical strategist' with links to the intelligence world. Despite this somewhat dodgy-sounding CV, his speculation about the Newsweek toilet debacle fits with what's been going on when he claims that Newsweek's Michael Isikoff was suckered by his source:

-snip-

[Montfort]

"There was once a time when, if such a procession of CIA operatives had produced such an obvious politically motivated campaign, the media would have been crawling over every word of these utterances in excitement and outrage at such a blatant attempt to subvert a democratic government by a covert agenda that was so clearly running within the secret world."

No. Only if it were hawkish CIA Republicans out to get a Democrat President. The media never minds leaks that are intended to hurt a conservative Republican President.

[rabidralph]

Didn't she used to sing with the Mamas and the Papas?

[afraidfortherepublic]

That was Michelle Phillips.

[Brilliant]

After 8 years of Clintonism, even the civil service positions have been stacked with leftwing nutcases. It may take decades to undo the damage.

[Southack]

"American foreign policy successes have come IN SPITE OF, certainly not because of, American intelligence and intel operations" - Angelo Codevilla

From Publishers Weekly
The fruit of many years' experience of intelligence service, this is a masterful exploration of the field, its critical role in statecraft and the principles underlying its use and misuse. Codevilla, senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, argues that the American apparatus for collecting information, countering hostile intelligence, analyzing information and conducting covert operations developed in a random fashion without reference to underlying precepts. He contends that with notable exceptions U.S. intelligence has "usually failed," and he expresses astonishment at how unreflective those in charge of policy have been. In this closely reasoned, authoritative study, Codevilla conveys skepticism about the usefulness of spies, the efficacy of the CIA and the value of secret operations: "American covert action has made little difference in the world."

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Informing Statecraft: Intelligence for a New Century
by Angelo Codevilla "Intelligence is an instrument of conflict..." (more)
SIPs: technical collectors, technical collection systems, hostile services, hostile intelligence services, human collection (more)