When the CIA was founded in 1947, a large portion of the initial personnel were recruited from the World War Two-era Office of Strategic Services (OSS). An unfortunate fact of life about the OSS is that it was heavily staffed with communists and fellow travellers. The reason for this? Simple – we were fighting on the side of communist Russia in WWII, and a communist OSS operative would (a) likely never voluntarily surrender to the Nazis and (b) would never turn traitor for the Nazis. Of course, these communists were not at all adverse to working for communist Russia once the United States and Russia came into a post-WWII collision course.
Essentially, CIA was founded with a built in series of moles who were highly placed – and not only able to provide secrets to the communists and deceive American policy-makers, but they were also able to continually recruit and advance like-minded individuals in the CIA over the years. It should be kept in mind that when CIA was founded and the FBI suggested background checks on employees of the new agency, CIA said they would take care of it themselves. As far as I know, there has never been an indepedent audit of CIA personnel – and given the number of moles which have emerged in the CIA over the past 60 years, it seems very likely that a certain percentage of CIA employees continue to give their loyalty to persons, nations and movements other than the United States of America.
Robert Novak notes a growing dismay – partially bi-partisan – over the way the CIA is behaving as a policy-making rather than advisory-and-executive organization on matters of intelligence. The recent NIE on Iraq – while a multi-agency product – is heavily CIA in content and was clearly designed to influence policy rather than offer dispassionate advice. I believe this and other outrages and failures of the CIA is attributable to a continuing fifth collumn (as it were) in the CIA – and it is good to understand that once a spy, always a spy; once a foreign entity recruits you, you can’t un-recruit yourself save by turning yourself in to the authorities, with all its risk of long-term incarceration. It doesn’t matter that the USSR which originally penetrated the CIA is no more – the Republic of Russia retains its spies, who are traitors whether they are working for the USSR or the Republic of Russia. Russian policy vis a vis Iran is to thwart US action against Iran’s nuclear program – and its just too neat a coincidence that just as crunch time is coming on Iran’s nukes, a NIE comes out saying, in effect, “no worries”.
Of course, I could be wrong – the recent NIE could be the absolute truth of the matter. But I don’t know – and I don’t know because there is no reason for anyone to place any reliance on information which comes from – or is influenced by – the CIA. Too many traitors have been proven to be there for us to have anything other but very strong doubts. The only way to break this particular logjam is to just abolish the organization.
It is certain that most of the employees of the CIA are dedicated Americans who want what is best for the nation – and we can re-hire them at a successor agency, but only after an exhaustive background check not just on themselves, but on who hired them and promoted them over the years. America needs a central intelligence agency, but we can’t afford to retain the CIA – better to amalgamate the Defense Intelligence Agency with people from State (for foreign political intelligence) and Treasury (for foreign economic intelligence) into a new intelligence group, with the pick of the litter from the defunt CIA to fill out the organization.
The need for good intelligence for both the Executive and Legislative branch is too important for us to have any doubts – we must be certain that our lawmakers and Administration are working on the best data available, presented without any agenda, and without any leaking to the MSM (no intel agency should ever release any info to the press – such releases of info should only come via the Executive or the relevant intel committees in the House and Senate). Abolish the CIA – start over from scratch; and start to build America the sort of intelligence agency its needed, but sadly lacked, for the past 6 decades.
Blogs For Victory 
i will remind you neocon – the only country to ever drop an atomic weapon anybody was the USA. The country with the most nuclear weapons in the world is the USA. The country that currently has attacked the most countries in so called preventative wars is the USA. So if trends are anything…
Why would anybody listen to Kissinger?
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0611-03.htm
phnx:
Sounds like you are describing Bush’s point of view when it comes to “the end times”.
Thank goodness for the rest of the planet that we don’t share in this eschatological fantasy.
Iran is not a threat to the United States. GWB and Cheney are much more dangerous to our way of life. As is any religious fanatic. Cheney excluded. He is merely crazy.
Thanks LiberalT for making the point because many of those here would like to wish history away. Phnx, by all accounts the Supreme Leader (I miss labeled him as Shah earlier) not the Mullah’s, is in control of Iran. The Supreme Leader (while a strict Islamist) and a large portion of the population are also moderates. Here are a couple of quotes/actions by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khamenei and since I know Phnx will cackle at the use of wikipedia all of the sources are listed.
My point being that “legend” aside, these are not the actions of a mad man bent on destroying the U.S. Sure you can say talk is cheap and that what they really intend to do is… blah, blah, blah. The fact is that talk is cheap and that you really can’t believe one man’s gut feelings over anothers interpretaion of their religion. And it’s perposterous to hold the American people hostage with fear in an attempt to convince us that we have to bomb this evil country bent on nuclear domination. I choose not to live in fear and will judge everything said with a grain of salt.
If history teaches us anything, it teaches–simple-minded appeasement and wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly–it means that betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.
Anyone who would put the State in a position of authority is not to be trusted. Thus, when Ahmadinejad calls us the “Great Satan”, it’s nothing to be taken lightly, but with firm and swift action.
So, a Nuclear Freeze is in order.
All in favor, Yay.
All opposed, Nay.
~ Jeremiah
Jeremiah,
How has Ahmadinejad been appeased?
Casper,
Ah, don’t you remember?
Not only was he invited to come here, but got a big round of applause from Columbia University.
Three months later, they’re still roiling mad at the head of the University for his Truthful remarks about Ahmadinejad.
~ Jeremiah
At first I thought I’d gone to the wrong site or was reading a Ron Paul guest post!
Abolishing the CIA would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Perhaps an overhaul and a review of personnel is long overdue, but this is too dangerous a time to scrap the CIA without having its replacement up and running first.
It seems to me that the right answer is to fix it rather than throwing it away.
Jeremiah,
Iran will get its nuclear technology and eventually weapons. Every country has the right to pursue any technologies it deems appropriate. If you disagree, explain why, don’t bring in religion into the argument, thats just lame.
As far as the CIA goes, when Tenet said “slam dunk”, the right wing neocons praised him. Now that the CIA does not agree with the administration, you say ban it. hahahahahhahahaha…so much hypocracy i have not seen.
Bottom line, the CIA is doing the best it can, and Iran will get its nuclear weapons and reactors for electricity. deal with it.
sam,
The consequences of a mad-man such as Ahmadinejad obtaining Nuclear power would be devastating. To allow such an injustice to occur an irreversable mistake for the good people of America.
It’s just a matter of common sense to see where such a decision would lead.
You’re right however, that religion plays little part. It plays every part.
Their religion teaches violence, enough of this “religion of peace” rhetoric.
However, there was given to man a better way, The Way, that teaches generosity and kindness to our fellow man, watching over those that are less fortunate, by defying those who would hold us in contempt for our God-Given abilities and resources.
When a Nation loses sight of this, then is when they’ve lost all hope.
It’s no skin off my nose. Yes, Iran will get nuclear weapons, but only after the United States has lost all sense of responsibility to their fellow man, and cowar to the evil desires of those who despise us.
~ Jeremiah
sam,
Indeed, any coutry has such a right – but in America, we hold that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed…any government out there which doesn’t derive their powers thusly is illegitimate, and doesn’t have the right to issue a parking ticket, let alone build nuclear weapons. As soon as the mullahs step down and allow genuinely free and fair elections, then Iran can build all the nukes it wants…of course, if it does that, there won’t be any Iranian nukes, because Iran doesn’t need any.
ummmm…MARK, last I checked, the Iranian revolution was brought on by the PEOPLE!!!!! The people of Iran got rid of the Shah and welcomed Khomeini. How can you sit there and say that iran’s government is not derived by the people??
They have a parliament, judiciary, and a whole slew of other government institutions like we have in the US.
Off course, you mean, because Iran’s government is not a surrogate state to the US like Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, that it should not do what it wants because its not decided by the people……..but then again, the counries mentioned are supported by the people???
For a man who claims he knows history, you sure sound ignorant, or you just conveniently ignore parts of history hoping people don’t catch you on it.
Uncommon,
Since you are so confident of the peaceful intentions of the Supreme Leader, and his promise not to stockpile nukes, can you explain to me the purpose of the Iranian development of ICBMs?
Magnum Serpentine – of course you do realize that you’re arguing that Bush’s strategy worked and that he disarmed North Korea, Iran, and Libya?
You do realize that, right?
Kahn,
You must be the total and complete retard. ALL you say is that the Bush administration disarmed those countries………ummm..WHO CARES.
Libya and N. Korea have the bite of an ANT. don’t you realize that the greatest foreign policy blunder of the 20th and 21st century was going into iraq. This president has done NOTHING for the Israeli-arab peace process. it has done NOTHING for global warming, it has done NOTHING for middle income families, it has done NOTHING for the world and you sit here and list those three countries and claim success.
First off, Iran is not disarmed, it didn’t have the weapons to begin with. It doesn’t want nuclear weapons, just the reactors. If it WANTS them at a later date, it can get them because they have the know how.
So please spare us the BS about what this administration has done. Lets talk about what it HASN’T done.
It’s a point of view. You reads your own histories and you makes up your own mind about it. Personally I think you’re considerably exaggerating the degree of actual infiltration (by moles, &tc.), but infiltration there clearly has been, since the very founding of the Agency. If you shift your definitions a little bit, to ideological infiltration, I suspect you’ll get a little closer to the mark (Infiltration might be the wrong word to use here, since it implies a degree of direction and control that may not in fact be present).
Abolishing the nation’s premier intelligence collection and analysis agency on the basis of a single NIE with which one disagrees is not a direction I would be in any hurry to take the United States. There’s an adage about babies and bathwater to bear in mind.
I’ve quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2007/12/re-abolish-cia.html
“It doesn’t want nuclear weapons, just the reactors.” Sam
I pose the same question to you that Uncommon chose to ignore. Since as you (and he) say they don’t want a nuclear weapon can you explain to me the purpose of the Iranian development of ICBMs?
phnx,
Maybe because they want to launch a satellite into space.
http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Iran/IranianSat.html
Spook, the rantings of the Usual Suspects shows us why it is nearly impossible to accomplish anything in this country. Forget about bureaucracy being the speed bump in the road to progress—-it’s partisan lunacy that will take us down.
Note how none of the Loony Lefties here have bothered to address the ISSUE, which is whether or not the CIA is really just an objective intelligence-gathering agency (which it should be) or is in fact a means to an end for a partisan agenda.
I propose that the “arguments” put forth by the radical Lefties who posted here be kept as a perfect indication of the absolute inability of the Lemming Left to see ANYTHING for what it is, and their total dependence on veiwing everything through the filter of political partisanship. It really is insane.
Whatever you do, DON’T just look at the CIA objectively, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, evaluate its successes and failures, try to isolate its defects to see if they can be corrected, and then proceed based on fact and reason.
Not when you can go on and on and on and on, ad nauseum, about George H.W. Bush having been a director, or can whine and whimper about someone wanting to get rid of it because it does not ‘agree’ with him, or any of their other abject silliness.
The same lemmings who excoriated the CIA for its intelligence gathering about Iraq and WMD are now simpering “…the CIA is doing the best it can…”
Hey, if this is the best it can do, get rid of it. It’s one thing to pass illiterate students from one grade to another because they “…are doing the best they can…” but when our national security depends on the abilities of an agency, merely limping along “… doing the best it can…” is not good enough.
But to have one of our resident trolls actually make the claim is enough to illustrate the lunacy and separation from reality illustrated daily, in thread after thread, as the Lemming Left struts its stuff.
The TFHB was out in force on this one……
Casper, and maybe they are just planning a giant fireworks dispaly for the next “Death to America” celebration, which commemorates the taking of the American Embassy in Tehran.
BTW if they just wanted to launch a satelite, they could easily contract the services of the French, Russians, or Chinese at a fraction of the cost of their own ICBM development program.
it’s partisan lunacy that will take us down.
Said the partisan loon.
Consul, I don’t believe there was anything which could possibly be interpreted to mean that anyone would want to “Abolish(ing) the nation’s premier intelligence collection and analysis agency on the basis of a single NIE with which one disagrees ….”
I found the article to be informative about just who made up the bulk of the original CIA, their politics and philosophies, and how that may not be effective or desirable in today’s worldwide political climate.
It might be possible to just clean out the CIA, but that is dicey, involving a lot of picking and choosing which could center too much on political affiliation.
But it has been made very clear in the past six or seven years that national security has too often played second fiddle to political agendas within the Agency, as highly sensitive material has been given to newspapers in obvious efforts to injure, undermine, or embarrass the current Adminstration.
For an agency charged with the protection of national security, this is simply unacceptable.
Sometimes it is just easier to start over. A few years ago I tore half a house down to the foundation and completely rebuilt it, after extensive water damage, because my evaluation of the circumstances told me that efforts to fix a little here and replace a little there would eventually cost more than a clean start, and give me an inferior end result. The temptation is to “fix” but sometimes it really is better to start over.
We do need a CIA—just not this CIA. I’d like to see a serious plan to incorporate some of the agencies into each other, and to establish a checks and balances system in which agencies would share information but also act as watchdogs to keep each other in line. I didn’t phrase that well, but it is late—I just mean to not give all the power and authority to any one agency, but at the same time to streamline the ponderous and ineffective system we have now.
But no, such a decision would hardly be based on disagreement with one single report. Go back and look at the recent “leaks” if you really think the NIE report is all that is being taken into consideration here.