-- leaks like sieve to suite its own bureaucratic purposes (NOW, the SECRET PRISONS!)
-- has been compromised again and again by double agents (REMEMBER AMES)
-- directly takes on an elected administration with leaks that make a bad matter, worse (PLAMEGATE)
-- is basically replaceable by Google and an internet browser (hello information age)
-- is prohibited by law from engaging in many of the activities upon which it was founded
Shouldn’t we at least consider downsizing it? Or otherwise make it justify itself.
We have the DIA and its foreign correspondents for direct security threats against the US and running spies in hostile environments
We have State/USAID for telling the good side of our story, supporting our friends, providing linguistic expertise and providing field intelligence in non-hostile situations
We have the NSA for cracking codes and protecting our IT/Communications infrastructure
We have the FBI for domestic counter-terrorism
We have Seals, Delta, etc. for clandestine operations
We have Treasury for monitoring financial shenanigans
We have Commerce for commercial espionage
And, of course, we have homeland security and some new master spymaster.
What was the CIA’s mandate again? With the end of the cold war and the rise of the internet, what use is it? Perhaps, a Hollywood backlot ?
If the CIA is just there to be compromised -- a huge house of mirrors to our adversaries -- then perhaps someone ought to tell them that and budget it accordingly.
This was the epiphany I had from Plamegate.