The Pelosi-CIA Battle Royale Disturbing, But Not for the Reason You Think

There was a time in this country (like up through the beginning of WWII) where the United States didn't think spying was very cricket. No, I'm not kidding. So we basically had no intelligence capability until the creation of the OSS (later called the CIA). That is one reason why, for example, that when West Germany was born, a former Nazi was put in charge of its intelligence agency since the Nazis had all kinds of information about the Soviet Union and we had just about bupkus.

Anyway, one of the most effective tools a spy network uses is called "disinformation," which is the dissemination of false but plausible (which makes it believable) tales in order to attain some strategic goal, whether it's as large as destabilizing an entire nation or more localized such as luring a suspected double agent into a trap.

The CIA's farcical attempt to set up Nancy Pelosi as regards the torture issue, though, should set off alarm bells to anyone concerned with U.S. national security. Not because what they did to Pelosi was necessarily going to undermine our government per se, but because this bit of disinformation was done on such an amateur hour level that other intelligence agencies abroad, especially our enemies, are now laughing their asses off. Or using this incident to enhance their own disinformation (also known as propaganda) they spread to willing media stooges, who then relay it for public consumption, half of that public being comprised of under 100 IQs (think your average Glenn Beck viewer or teabagging attendee). That puts the U.S. image in the world in a much tougher position.

Look at it this way: you have a baseball team that is all slow footed sluggers and no speed. An entire team composed of David Ortiz'. Sure, they will hammer some teams into mince meat, but not having fleet feet also means you can forget scoring them from first base on a double and perhaps holding runners up at third that faster runners from second would have scored on with a single. That is what not having a viable disinformation game is for an intelligence agency.

Because intelligence, first and foremost, is predicated on the acquisition, interpretation and manipulation of information. Obviously, the Pelosi contretempts was like something out of a fifth grade play. It is hard to believe that the CIA would have deliberately tanked this to make themselves look like boobs. Bureaucracies, which tend to foster a bunker mentality among its members, of any stripe just don't do that.

That means that the agency's disinformation capability has been badly eroded. Who or what is responsible for that I haven't a clue, but it is true that Dick Cheney tried mightily to morph the CIA into another extension of the RNC like Karl Rove did with the Justice Department. So who you had as CIA Director were the likes of Porter Goss, a Levrentiy Beria wannabe (too much of a jackass to pull that off, fortunately) and George Tenet, a colossal dope who I wouldn't allow to walk my dogs.

And Leon Panetta? Still arranging the furniture in his office. I can't believe that he would willingly have anything to do with the orchestration of the Pelosi debacle. He is, by reputation, more savvy than that. If he did initiate all this, he should be fired and quick for being both disloyal to the Constitution and for just being an incompetent twat.

Therefore, what Bush has left us is a degraded CIA and that does indeed threaten our national security. A top to bottom investigation of the agency is thus in order to put things right and prevent embarrassments like this Pelosi matter from reocurring.