Down in Rusted Sky: Uh, wait a sec... I posted some thoughts on the CIA and the new NIE.
Basically, I think they've ignored the external enemy, and are trying hard to eliminate what they see as an internal threat, namely Bush. About half a year previously, Iran was seen by them as a threat. Now - they're not only not a threat, they haven't been one for years... or so the media is reporting what the NIE says.
What happened in the last 6 months... aside from the Presidential campaigns shifting into high gear, and our getting a GOOD look at the Democratic candidates? (And finding they pretty much stink on ice, but that's another topic for later.) Is what they're doing essentially hand-waving, misdirection while something ELSE is going on they don't want us to notice? A suicidal fixation on Bush? Or is Iran really not a threat, despite what the Israelies and the Brits might say?
Iran 'hoodwinked' CIA over nuclear plans - TelegraphWell, there's a slight difference between being hoodwinked and deliberately ignoring evidence in order to manufacture a damning document.British spy chiefs have grave doubts that Iran has mothballed its nuclear weapons programme, as a US intelligence report claimed last week, and believe the CIA has been hoodwinked by Teheran.
Do I think the CIA would commit an ethical blunder of such a magnitude? You betcha, skippy. Bush is seen as a threat to the status quo - he's shaken up the Gentlemen's Club over at the State Department, and made it clear that business as usual won't cut it. That's not tolerable. Bush must go - or be so hamstrung that he can't do any more damage than he already has.
AJacksonian commented -
Well, coming from one of the Intel Community agencies that is not CIA, I an say that the thing is broken and has been for some time. My thoughts on the NIE run differently than most, and possibly worse than most... especially the part most people are ignoring, which seems pretty damning to me.How you can pare government back, though, is an interesting question. I don't see it happening.INTEL works well when it has a highly accountable chain of command and dedicated personnel. Civilian agencies have a hard time developing that and sustaining it... just look at the State Dept. for the CIA equivalent in a different area. It can be forced to work, but we have not had a President willing to exercise the Executive powers inside government for at least 35 years and properly going on 60 years. Part of that is an outgrowth of Congress wanting more power, more money and more control... part of that are Presidents that are unwilling to uproot the problem and start shaking it. This is no longer a 'point source' problem just in the CIA: it is government-wide and systemic outside of the armed forces. This form of government was never meant to have so much to do... and it shows.
J.
Comments (3)
You know...when they started on the Homeland Security thing, I thought it was a brilliant move - they "eliminated" certain departments and established others. That meant that they could eliminate certain jobs which is about the only way to get rid of civil service employees. So...if you want to fire a bunch of people wholesale, about the only way to do it is to eliminate a particular program or department. You then start a _new_ program/department, but only hire back the people you want. Unfortunately, that's _not_ what they did with Homeland Security. And I doubt that's what they'll do with the CIA or FBI - but that's exactly what they _should_ do. These departments are supposed to support the president - when they don't do that, they should go. I agree with whoever said that the CIA and State Department have achieved a bloodless coup d'etat. Bush will achieve most of what he set out to do in spite of them, but with their _backing_ he could have done so much more...!
Posted by suek | December 12, 2007 12:38 PM
Posted on December 12, 2007 12:38
Found this today...
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=0ADC3041-E624-45A4-B608-E5C9DEB99079
Posted by suek | December 13, 2007 12:57 PM
Posted on December 13, 2007 12:57
As part of a much, much, much larger post before the NIE came out I list the 11 non-war related Agencies the Federal Government has actually done away with since the founding, and it is a startling list in its brevity:
Agriculture Adjustment Administration - Ruled unconstitutional in 1935.
Board of Economic Warfare - Abolished by the President, 1943.
Board of Tea Appeals - Abolished in 1996 by Congress.
Committee on Public Information - Abolished by the President, 1919.
Foreign Economic Administration - Abolished by departmental order, 1943.
Federal Theater Project - Canceled by Congress in the budget, 1939.
Office of War Information - Ended 1945 by Congress and the President.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation - Ended by Congress 1948.
United States Information Agency - Ended new production 1999, continues broadcasting.
War Production Board - Abolished by the President, 1945.
Works Progress Administration - Ended by Congress in 1943
And, no, the post entire does not address this problem, but shows exactly *when* we can see the era of 'activist government' begin. As to 'what to do', the problem of increased oversight bringing less accountability means that adding more *into* such a system is now counter-productive. 'Connecting dots' is now, if anything, *harder* than it was pre-9/11.
There are a very few things that Presidents can do: like asking an Agency to start a plan to dissolve itself and pass whatever few necessary functions that may be needed over to other agencies... Dept of Education, Energy and Agriculture should top that list. Congress would *fight* that by funding at increasing levels and the President can counter by putting SES individuals into the primary positions to start readying the necessary justification documents to dissolve the agency involved.
DHS has proven unable to secure the borders and that is a prime need of the Nation to protect itself. Policing hasn't worked too well and those that are part of groups having declared private war on us should be stopped at the border. That has not happened. Nor has a container and ship tracking system been put in place either for ocean vessels or aircraft. Mind you that last has been on the drawing board since before 9/11....
When a Nation stops being serious about being a Nation - protecting itself, enforcing its borders, ensuring that its citizens are not threatened from other Nations - one soon stops having a Nation. The greatest military machine in the world will not save you if you dissolve out from under it. We lie to ourselves saying that we are different from other democracies that have failed... our course to success is not inevitable and the slightest change for the good or the worse can ripple out and deeply affect our future, if not our present. The 'progressive' era offered many changes to try and blunt socialism... but actually set in motion a regression from our founding ideals. Those relatively 'minor' fixes of that era now haunt us with the huge federal government we have now, nosing its way into everything and trying to do a lot very, very poorly. Each and everything you give government to do removes responsibilities and rights from each of us as individuals and the People as a whole.
I am reminded of the apocryphal story of a Roman town in the dying days of the Empire, where authority was ragged, wealth was deteriorating and society was spiraling downwards. Hearing of a barbarian group headed their way they put out a feast to hold a party with the barbarians... they were despondant when the barbarians took a different course. When asked why it was simple: 'They were an answer, of sorts.'
I am very afraid that we are heading into that sort of era... looking for an answer... of sorts.
Posted by ajacksonian | December 15, 2007 11:46 AM
Posted on December 15, 2007 11:46