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-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Security Before Politics Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:18:19 -0000 From: Ray T. Mahorney <coffee-craver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Blind-chit-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: <blind-chit-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042403339.html <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042403339.html>
Security Before Politics By Porter J. Goss Saturday, April 25, 2009Since leaving my post as CIA director almost three years ago, I have remained largely silent on
the public stage. I am speaking out now because I feel ourgovernment has crossed the red line between properly protecting our national security and trying
to gain partisan political advantage. We can't have asecret intelligence service if we keep giving away all the secrets. Americans have to decide
now.A disturbing epidemic of amnesia seems to be plaguing my former colleagues on Capitol Hill.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, members of the committeescharged with overseeing our nation's intelligence services had no higher priority than stopping
al-Qaeda. In the fall of 2002, while I was chairman ofthe House intelligence committee, senior members of Congress were briefed on the CIA's "
High Value Terrorist Program," including the development of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and what those techniques
were. This was not a one-time briefing but an ongoing subject with lots of back and forth between those members and the briefers.Today, I am slack-jawed to read that members claim to have not understood that the techniques on
which they were briefed were to actually be employed; orthat specific techniques such as "waterboarding" were never mentioned. It must be hard for most
Americans of common sense to imagine how a member of Congresscan forget being told about the interrogations of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. In
that case, though, perhaps it is not amnesia but political expedience. Let me be clear. It is my recollection that:-- The chairs and the ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence committees,
known as the Gang of Four, were briefed that the CIA was holding and interrogating high-value terrorists. -- We understood what the CIA was doing. -- We gave the CIA our bipartisan support. -- We gave the CIA funding to carry out its activities.-- On a bipartisan basis, we asked if the CIA needed more support from Congress to carry out its
mission against al-Qaeda.I do not recall a single objection from my colleagues. They did not vote to stop authorizing CIA
funding. And for those who now reveal filed "memorandumsfor the record" suggesting concern, real concern should have been expressed immediately -- to
the committee chairs, the briefers, the House speaker orminority leader, the CIA director or the president's national security adviser -- and not
quietly filed away in case the day came when the political winds shifted. And shifted they have.Circuses are not new in Washington, and I can see preparations being made for tents from the
Capitol straight down Pennsylvania Avenue. The CIA has beenpulled into the center ring before. The result this time will be the same: a hollowed-out
service of diminished capabilities. After Sept. 11, the generaloutcry was, "Why don't we have better overseas capabilities?" I fear that in the years to come
this refrain will be heard again: once a threat -- or Godforbid, another successful attack -- captures our attention and sends the pendulum swinging
back. There is only one person who can shut down this dangerous show: President Obama.Unfortunately, much of the damage to our capabilities has already been done. It is certainly not
trust that is fostered when intelligence officers are toldone day "I have your back" only to learn a day later that a knife is being held to it. After the
events of this week, morale at the CIA has been shaken to its foundation.We must not forget: Our intelligence allies overseas view our inability to maintain secrecy as a
reason to question our worthiness as a partner. These allies have been vital in almost every capture of a terrorist.The suggestion that we are safer now because information about interrogation techniques is in
the public domain conjures up images of unicorns and fairydust. We have given our enemy invaluable information about the rules by which we operate. The
terrorists captured by the CIA perfected the act of beheadinginnocents using dull knives. Khalid Sheik Mohammed boasted of the tactic of placing explosives
high enough in a building to ensure that innocents trappedabove would die if they tried to escape through windows. There is simply no comparison between
our professionalism and their brutality.Our enemies do not subscribe to the rules of the Marquis of Queensbury. "Name, rank and serial
number" does not apply to non-state actors but is, regrettably,the only question this administration wants us to ask. Instead of taking risks, our intelligence
officers will soon resort to wordsmithing cables to headquarters while opportunities to neutralize brutal radicals are lost.The days of fortress America are gone. We are the world's superpower. We can sit on our hands or
we can become engaged to improve global human conditions.The bottom line is that we cannot succeed unless we have good intelligence. Trading security for
partisan political popularity will ensure that our secrets are not secret and that our intelligence is destined to fail us.The writer, a Republican, was director of the CIA from September 2004 to May 2006 and was
chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 1997 to 2004. Ray T. Mahorney WA4WGA __._,_.___Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/message/95484;_ylc=X3oDMTM1NmRrbmRxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEbXNnSWQDOTU0ODQEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjQwNzAxNTA5BHRwY0lkAzk1NDg0> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwZGI1dTkxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEbXNnSWQDOTU0ODQEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcnBseQRzdGltZQMxMjQwNzAxNTA5?act=reply&messageNum=95484> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJkNHBlYWZoBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDbnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjQwNzAxNTA5> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJkNmRja3NnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDbXNncwRzdGltZQMxMjQwNzAxNTA5> | Files <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJlb2xkM2M0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDZmlsZXMEc3RpbWUDMTI0MDcwMTUwOQ--> | Photos <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJkczhrdjd0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcGhvdARzdGltZQMxMjQwNzAxNTA5> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZGpwbWQ2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDbGlua3MEc3RpbWUDMTI0MDcwMTUwOQ--> | Database <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJiN24ycDRvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDZGIEc3RpbWUDMTI0MDcwMTUwOQ--> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcGNzZThwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcG9sbHMEc3RpbWUDMTI0MDcwMTUwOQ--> | Calendar <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJjdmdlNmE3BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDY2FsBHN0aW1lAzEyNDA3MDE1MDk-> Yahoo! Groups <http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJjcWQ1czRlBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDZ2ZwBHN0aW1lAzEyNDA3MDE1MDk-> Change settings via the Web <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJldmdnamdjBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDc3RuZ3MEc3RpbWUDMTI0MDcwMTUwOQ--> (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest <mailto:Blind-chit-chat-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=Email%20Delivery:%20Digest> | Switch format to Traditional <mailto:Blind-chit-chat-traditional@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=Change%20Delivery%20Format:%20Traditional> Visit Your Group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blind-chit-chat;_ylc=X3oDMTJjODVuZ2xzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMxMDU1NARncnBzcElkAzE3MDUxODkwNTIEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDaHBmBHN0aW1lAzEyNDA3MDE1MDk-> | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> | Unsubscribe <mailto:Blind-chit-chat-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=>
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