The CIA's Counterterrorist Center has spent more than $15 million in the past three years funding studies, reports and conferences produced by former Democratic administration officials and other critics of the Bush administration.
The latest effort was a $300,000 grant by the CIA to the Atlantic Council for a study co-authored by Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism official who wrote a best seller accusing the Bush administration of failing in the war on terrorism by invading Iraq.
Bill Gertz and the Wash Times?
We didn't hear this kind of noise from CIA until Bush launched the Iraq war. Something about this war really set them off. They were happy with the Afghanistan war for example (indeed the CIA was heavily relied upon if my layperson's memory is correct).
The article seems to chalk it all up to "displacing criticism". I'm not sure I'm convinced. Wouldn't they have started whining and undermining Bush soon after 9/11 then?
A more likely explanation is that, as with any institution, this is a turf war and CIA's primary interest is to defend their turf and budget. Let's view the Iraq war in that light: a radical shift, upsetting the apple cart of carefully honed international "inspections"/"sanctions"/etc. The Iraq war was a jolt to the status quo; instead of using the CIA to fight the ongoing war against Hussein secretly, and indefinitely, Bush decided to finish it. This is unacceptable to CIA, which presumably relies on situations like Iraq Containment '91-'03 (and the shady black-market opportunities which result) for a good deal of its budget.
I'm guessing a true explanation would go something like this: We'll keep our common-sense assumption that at heart the CIA is a deeply conservative (in generic sense of that term) institution. They rely on the status quo and do not like to see it upset. And it just so happens that in this case, CIA has determined that the Democrats are the party of the status quo (will not upset the international order, will not engage in radical, bold foreign policy directions) while Bush, by contrast, instituted a messy and indeed radical foreign policy shift.
Hence, CIA must spike Bush for its survival.
Perhaps it's not so difficult to understand after all.
Dammit!!! Who the Hell is in charge here?!! This has got to stop!!
These people weasel their way into positions so that they can hammer away at a Republican administration without having to get out front and identify themselves as political operatives.
How very interesting. Bill Gertz is the only reporter I respect these days. He's simply the best.
Surprise, Surprise!
This official said the academic outreach is the Counterterrorist Center's way of "buying off" criticism of the CIA and the intelligence community by providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts and conferences.
Spokesmen for the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, American Foreign Policy Council and Hoover Institution said their organizations never have been asked by the CTC to co-host or co-produce any counterterrorism programs.
BUMP
And another disgusted bump.
Oh, and I better bookmark this, too.
Richard Clarke bump
Americans out-think the CIA apparently.
Multiple foreign corporations that have bypassed or attempted to bypass United States and European Union sanctions against Iran are funding the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank chaired by defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel.
One council sponsor, Italian oil company Eni, has vehemently defended its trade with Iran, saying it was “proud” of its cooperation with the regime.
“Given the existence of foreign pressures, implementation of most projects in Iran is challenging and complicated,” Eni’s Executive Vice President Guido Michelotti told reporters during a 2011 visit to Iran. “Yet, we have always been interested in cooperation with the Iranian side since we feel proud of cooperation with Iran.”
Eni recently obtained a limited sanctions exemption to recover compensation from Iran for prior work.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...————The Atlantic Council’s Sanctions-Busting Backers... Corporations that have evaded Iran sanctions, Free Beacon ^ | 2/13/13 | Alana Goodman Posted on 02/12/2013 10:14:15 AM PST by Nachum
More on Chuck Hagel’s Atlantic Council