http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090429_chilling_effect_u_s_counterterrorism
“A Chilling Effect on U.S. Counterterrorism”
April 29, 2009 | 1815 GMT
By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
SNIPPET: “Politics and moral arguments aside, the end effect of the memos’ release is that people who have put their lives on the line in U.S. counterterrorism efforts are now uncertain of whether they should be making that sacrifice. Many of these people are now questioning whether the administration that happens to be in power at any given time will recognize the fact that they were carrying out lawful orders under a previous administration. It is hard to retain officers and attract quality recruits in this kind of environment. It has become safer to work in programs other than counterterrorism.”
SNIPPET: “As we’ve previously noted, it was a lack of intelligence that helped fuel the fear that led the Bush administration to authorize enhanced interrogation techniques. Ironically, the current investigation into those techniques and other practices (such as renditions) may very well lead to significant gaps in terrorism-related intelligence from both internal and liaison sources — again, not primarily because of the prohibition of torture, but because of larger implications.
When these implications are combined with the long-standing institutional aversion of U.S. government agencies toward counterterrorism, and with the difficulty of finding and retaining good people willing to serve in counterterrorism roles, the U.S. counterterrorism community may soon be facing challenges even more daunting than those posed by its already difficult mission.”
http://video1.washingtontimes.com/video/CIAletter.pdf
#
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/01/house-intelligence-chief-enters-controversy/
“Congress to oversee CIA more closely
Reyes enters CIA fracas”
By Eli Lake and Bill Gertz, THE WASHINGTON TIMES | Friday, May 1, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: