Larry Johnson: "I Am Worried About What Happens To The CIA Officers Still On The Job"

[kpete]

What the Hell is Going on with the CIA IG?
By Larry Johnson on October 13, 2007 at 10:17 PM in Current Affairs

IG means Inspector General. Normally, the IG operates outside the boundaries of political influence and cronyism. This week we learned that CIA Director Michael Hayden has launched an investigation of the IG. This comes in the wake of the IG–a man named John Helgerson–investigating torture and other abuses by CIA officers. Sure looks like an effort to shut down Mr. Helgerson. So what the hell is going on?

..................

Something important is going on inside the CIA. There are people of all political stripes on the inside. But there usually is a consensus that honor and professionalism should be the hallmark of intelligence work. You don’t recruit sources with torture. You recruit good sources by building relationships. The leak that Hayden is going after Helgerson is an alarm bell.

I know from Gary Berntsen, author of Jawbreaker, who cornered Bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001, that he did not wrest info from Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists by employing torture. Another friend of mine, who is still undercover, told me a similar story of his time on the ground in Afghanistan. Both men realized that the mission of getting good, reliable info from terrorists was not achieved by using torture. Building rapport and trust was the name of the game.

It does appear that the current Director of the CIA, Michael Hayden, is trying to tell John Helgerson to shut up and sit down. What truly puzzles me is that there is no specific charge of misconduct by Helgerson in the current leaks. In fact, Helgerson has sat on explosive information in the past without leaking info to the press. It appears that Helgerson has made the mistake of reporting that the king is naked. John’s future, economically and professionally, is secure regardless of what Hayden does. I am not worried about Helgerson. John earned his retirement. I am worried about what happens to the CIA officers still on the job. What is at risk is the independence and competence of the CIA. Most of the officers I know are men and women of exceptional character and integrity. They understand that torture and violation of international conventions to achieve a temporary tactical advantage can, in the long run, weaken and even destroy the effectiveness of the CIA. If Hayden succeeds in bullying and shutting down Helgerson (I am assuming that Helgerson is guilty only of embarrassing the CIA) then Hayden is putting our nation at risk.

It is time for the Congress–the House and Senate Intelligence Committees–to get off of their collective asses and figure out what the hell is going on.

lots more info at:
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/10/13/what-the-hell-is-going-on-with-the-cia-ig/

NYT Story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/washington/12intel.html?ei=5065&en=4b39d37c547ea9c2&ex=1192852800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

[midnight]

1. For some reason this post reminds me of an old Girl Scout song.

Goes something like this: Late one night when we were all in bed, Old Mother Leary left the latern in the shed and when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said, there will be a hot time in the old town tonight. Talk about your alarm bell......

[seemslikeadream]

2. figure out what the hell is going on

It is time for the Congress–the House and Senate Intelligence Committees–to get off of their collective asses and figure out what the hell is going on.

[DemReadingDU]

3. evening kick