Bump.
Thanks for the repost.
It is spot on.
"...About that next CIA director
There was joy on both Left and Right when the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet was announced June 3rd. Leftists were pleased that a supporter of the war in Iraq had bitten the dust. Many on the Right were delighted that a Clinton administration holdover had finally gone over the side.
As is customary with that job and the catty nature of Washington, there was much speculation that Tenet's resignation was not for the reason he gave: that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
The timing of the resignation was convenient in one sense. The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected soon to release a lengthy report that will be savagely critical of the CIA. The 9/11 Commission is expected to take shots at the Agency, too. With Tenet's resignation already announced, those criticisms will lose some of their sting.
George Tenet is the second longest serving CIA director, after Allen Dulles. He presided over the Agency during its most prominent intelligence failure since the Bay of Pigs (which cost Dulles his job). But while it's clear there is a lot that's wrong with the CIA, the Agency's flaws predated Tenet's arrival, and he may have done much to ameliorate them.
The difficulty outsiders have in judging an intelligence agency is that it's successes are kept secret, while its failures sprawl across the front pages. We are only beginning to learn the bare outlines of the clever and daring things the CIA did to defeat the Soviet Union.
Much of the CIA's problem today is that it was geared to defeating the Soviet Union, and was sluggish in changing gears. Shifting gears was made all the more difficult because Congress drastically reduced intelligence budgets at the end of the Cold War (though not —thank G-d! —by as much as John Kerry sought). Intelligence networks in Moscow aren't of much use in finding out what's going on in Tehran or Damascus. And we can't replace Russian linguists with Arabic and Farsi linguists unless there is money to recruit and train them.
These problems were compounded by political correctness. John Deutch, Clinton's second CIA director, forbade field operatives from recruiting as informants anyone who had committed a criminal offense. This directive made it all but impossible to penetrate Islamic terror networks..."
...snip...
The more I learn about details on Tenet's time in the CIA, the more I come to admire his gumption for staying the course. As I have said before, say again and will hold true to in the future, Tenet stood tall even when his enemies sought to destroy our CIA (as they smiled platitudes swearing to the opposite when facing the news cameras...).
Mr. Tenet, I sincerely hope that some NSA software picks up your name in this posting, so that you may read the following:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY! THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING THAT A GOOD CAPTAIN IS NOT HE WHO BLITHELY KEEPS HIS SHIP OUT OF HARMS WAY, BUT HE WHO TAKES THE HELM DURING THE SEVEREST OF STORMS EVEN WHEN OTHER CREW WANT TO ABANDON SHIP!!!
God Bless you, Sir.
CGVet58