Posted on 02/12/2006 5:40:43 PM PST by prairiebreeze
The CIA's top counterterrorism officer was relieved of his position yesterday after months of turmoil atop the agency's clandestine service, according to three knowledgeable officials.
Robert Grenier, who spent most of his career undercover overseas, took charge of the Counterterrorism Center about a year ago after a series of senior jobs at the center of the Bush administration's national security agenda.
When al Qaeda struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Grenier was station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan. Among the agency's most experienced officers in southwest Asia, Grenier helped plan the covert campaign that preceded the U.S. military ouster of al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from Afghanistan.
By the summer of 2002, with President Bush heading toward war in Iraq, then-Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet recalled Grenier to headquarters and promoted him to chief of a newly created Iraq Issues Group. His staff ballooned as the administration planned and launched the invasion in March 2003.
Grenier's predecessor at the Counterterrorism Center, who remains undercover, moved on to become chief of the National Clandestine Service, the successor to the CIA's directorate of operations. Sources said the two men differ sharply in style.
Grenier, 51, is said by associates to be a polished and smooth-talking man with museum-quality mementos of his service overseas. His boss at the clandestine service, the nation's senior human intelligence officer, was said to regard him as insufficiently forceful in the battle with al Qaeda.
"The word on Bob was that he was a good officer, but not the one for the job and not quite as aggressive as he might have been," one official said.
Colleagues in the clandestine service, sources said, had been aware of the poor working relationship between the two men for some time...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The agency needs to completely revamp its internals to rebuild what Carter destroyed so long ago.
Reminds me of my father's experience long ago, with a certain bowling ball Company based in Mclean, VA. Back then, at parties given for bowling ball sales agents in various countries we lived in, my father's friends would boast to me how their language skills rivaled my fathers. I would snicker to myself, as these guys really thought that they could challenge a native bowling ball maker at his own naturally absorbed craft - spending a couple of years at an intensive bowling ball school in Monterey just don't compare.
But the point is - at least they were trying. They understood that the key to understanding the market was to absorb the culture - and try to swim unnoticed in its waters. But then, that disgusting POS Carter went and said that it was not nice to look at other people's bowling balls - and the whole sales department was fired or resigned enmasse.
Now, whadda we got? Unmitigated careerist PC crap. We have an organization that will put an African-American in a lily-white Eastern European nation, who doesn't speak the language, all because he threatens to sue the Company for limiting his career-advancing postings. Similarly, we have females demanding postings in countries where women don't get close to the power centers of anything. Screw that - they want their careers, they're willing to sue - so oh what the hay...post'em.
Not to pick on the "more equal" members of our deranged PC society, since sales agents from the less pampered segments of our nation were also were picked on a completely useless basis of sterling resumes at the nation's top schools, and who could hardly muster the language skills necessary to hail a cab from the local Hilton to the airport when the shittaki begins flying.
The damage that's done is never immediately apparent - it's just aggregated over something as nebulous as reduced visibility into the inner workings of nations everywhere. Meanwhile, these careerist clowns advance into more senior positions, and haul up their fellow useless colleagues along with them.
So, this fellow has museum-quality pieces from all the countries he was stationed in? Great. Maybe if he'd concentrated on the word on the street, while ducking in and out of antique shops, we could have a better idea of what the heck is going on with the Pakistanis. Are they with us or not? Nobody knows. Good job.
I don't know what it will take. A full house-cleaning, involving mass firings? But...how much is possible with the prevailing PC insanity in the culture at large? Just a case in point. At a certain army base training facility I did some work at - (it wasn't Charlie Force, nor Echo Force), there were some very serious men - who were quite clear about how they handled business in the field. You didn't hear about "rights" and "due process" for the people they faced off against, but strolling some of the buildings, I was struck by the bulletin boards announcing mandatory "Sensitivity" briefings, commitments to Affirmative Action, and warnings about Sexual Harassment for these highly effective Warriors. Only in the fairy-tale land of a government bureaucrat can killing machines like these guys prance through the daffodils singing "We are the World", while taking up firing positions on an Al Qaeda bunker.
Until we figure that out - we're not going to be all that effective anywhere in this global jihad to come.
No problem....I found you....this time my "sleuthness" paid off...LOL...
Dev Six knew what I was talking about and let me know..thanks.
Yes.
So they are disclosing information about a agent who was covert in the last 5 years?
Yea, their losing all their moles.
interesting quote there ... smells of a possible leaker
good thought.
A dapper dresser? Bankers hours?
Sounds like a slacker that we don't need in positions of authority.
Frankly, sounds like a liberal.
Thanks for the crosslink. I searched only this title.
So when does Jack Bauer start work?
Please see post 60. Sounds like Grenier was in favor of a "kinder, gentler" means of dealing with terrorists.
Thanks for the contributions to the thread JaneAustin.
Good post.
I think we just found out why Mr. Grenier is kaputski.
Also, regarding leakers, please see post #50.
Apparently, there's been some aggressive lie-detector testing going on recently. I am not big on coincidence.
I don't recall the bowling ball story...sounds just like something that weasle would do though.
I agree with your other points.
Well....I would assume that helping to plan a covert operation meant that the planner was covert too.
Unless that's incorrect, yes it seems the Post outed a covert agent.
Jane - thanks for finding that and putting it here. You and prairie always find the best stuff.
ROFL! Well, that pretty much tells us everything we need to know about the guy. And I see I wasn't far wrong thinking that someone that interested in office decorating wasn't quite up to the task of terrorist hunter.
Let's break this down....
a polished and smooth-talking man
This is the Washington Post letting its readers know: He is one of us! A metrosexual! A Nuancy Boy! Not one of those beastly coarse Bush people.
museum-quality mementos of his service overseas
There are really only two things a CIA officer can do in Islamabad. Run agents, or collect Oriental carpets. I bet Post reporters will be treading those carpets for a cup of tea with the great man, forthwith.
Reached at home late last night, Grenier declined to comment.
What'd I tell you! Unfortunately the Post does not report whether teh carpets were Shiraz or Bokhara.
Grenier's departure comes at a time when the agency is bleeding top talent, robbing the CIA of institutional memory and damaging morale among case officers and analysts.
Translation: "Oh, drat. There goes another confidential source!" (Although to be fair to Grenier, I note that he has been or is being offered another job in CIA. If he were a security violator, that job would be ... reading the Washington Post in a cubicle in a non-secure area with the other "unclean," waiting for security to decide what to do with him).
I wonder how he was regarded as a chief of station. I bet I will hear the word "politician"...
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Your post illustrates a point I have tried to make often. The trial lawyers, who are the left's handmaidens, do as much or more than anyone to limit our rights and choices and to harm this country.
The ability to change foreign policy execution by threatening PC suits shows how effectively we have allowed ourselves to be cuffed.
Great point!!!
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