Friday, May 01, 2009

Demoralizing the CIA

Matthew Cole. Remember that name. He is the freelance reporter hired by ABC news for a story about the CIA interrogations at Gitmo. In this story, Cole names two top advisors and pastes their photos, full name, and business location for all to see. I will not mention those names nor provide a link to Cole’s story because I think his actions have placed these two men and their families in grave danger. But I will mention that Cole has a book soon to be released about the CIA – no doubt providing motivation to drum up as much controversy as he can, to hell with the consequences. This was not a report, it was a hit-piece.

Cole is also known for a freelance story written shortly after 9/11 on the difficult treatment Muslims had to endure in the US after the attacks. I can’t find any story he wrote on the suffering of the victims of those attacks.

I will also link to this story by ABC news in July 2008 detailing the so-called impeachable offenses of the Bush administration, including the supposed “outing” of non-covert CIA worker Valerie Plame. This is just to add a little context to the hit-piece. After all, Plame was just a pencil pusher behind a desk, the two guys Cole just outed were involved in classified actions. Cole just passed some vital information to our al qaeda enemies, all in the name of trumpeting his book, furthering his pathetic career, and slandering the Bush administration. These two men played an integral role in keeping us safe post-9/11. Today, they are in danger because of the actions of a reckless reporter and a reckless news agency. And we are all in danger because of the actions of the Dem majority who seem intent on dismantling and demoralizing the CIA.
Rest assured, we will hear much more on this story. Matthew Cole has no doubt committed journalistic malpractice. I am disgusted by people like him who have infected the US media. They can’t muster an actual thought-provoking question for the President, yet they don’t hesitate to imperil two CIA advisors who were involved in dangerous activity. They curse these men while weeping for Kalid Shiekh Muhammed and the “torture” he had to endure. Cole needs to spend some face time with families who lost loved-ones in the World Trade Center. Or maybe he should hang out with the special forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan who place their lives on the line every day to keep reckless journalists free. Or maybe he should watch the beheading videos that al qaeda loves to publicize, or talk to Daniel Pearle’s family about the “inhumane treatment” of Gitmo detainees. I am sickened by people like him. Sickened.

On the heels of the CIA memo release, the Dems have begun to dismantle the very framework that kept us safe. Make no mistake, the CIA is currently demoralized, with many of our frontline agents looking over their shoulder wondering if Congress is going to drag them into a hearing. They feel betrayed. So much so that Chairman of Intelligence Committee, Silvestre Reyes, felt compelled to write this letter to the CIA to try to smooth things over. To echo the words of Jed Babbin, note the subtle hint that he won’t prosecute any CIA agent for “authorized” actions. Or that he wants to move the CIA/Congress interactions from “mere notification to real discussion”. In other words, none of this is Congress’s fault because they were only notified without any real discussion of the matter, so you can’t blame Pelosi for not stopping it when she was told. And nothing can further demoralize the CIA than the prospect of more Congressional oversight interfering with their already dangerous jobs, except maybe a hit-piece outing two of their top advisors.

Scooter Libby was sent to jail for doing much less than what Cole did. ABC news and Matthew Cole must be held accountable. This is outrageous.

By the way, here is a list of some of ABC’s top advertisers – just in case you wanted to know: Target, SC Johnson, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Ethan Allen, ING. And don’t forget, ABC is owned by DISNEY.

13 comments:

Dan Trabue said...

I could be wrong but I don't believe it is illegal for a reporter to report this sort of news. It is illegal for a gov't representative to release this kind of info, though. Which is why Libby was convicted and not the reporter.

SNAKE HUNTERS said...

Whether or not the Outing of our CIA agents was "illegal or immoral", or merely the dispassionate behavior of traitors, completely misses the points of the post. reb
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Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dan Trabue said...

Holy cow. Does anonymous above really think anyone's going to read his/her apparently nutty manifesto?

Anonymous said...

Yeah seriously. What a bunch of Marxist crap. Kind of makes me laugh actually. Even I hope that gets deleted, and I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like deletion of anything. But that really had nothing to to with this topic. Commie-spam you might say.

In any case, re your topic, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for the CIA or any member of it. The job of the press is to tell the citizens what's going on in their country. If the CIA is doing something wrong, it needs to be called on it.

I value freedom over security. If dismantling the regulations of the last eight years makes us less safe from terrorism (something I doubt), it will at least make us more safe from our own government.

John Washburn said...

Anonymous leaves pages of diatribe and doesn't bother to leave a name. Pathetic. Laughable. I'll allow it this time but please don't clog this site with page after page of nonsense. Any further similar comments will be deleted. If you want to make a point you can do so with a few paragraphs.

Besides, what little I read looks like delusional communist rubbish.

Rob, I think there can be a balance between freedom and security. Without security, freedom would be vanquished by evil, so a balance must be struck. That's just the world we live in.

Dan, I never said what Cole did was illegal. He has every right to print such a story. But with rights come responsibilities. You can't just wield you rights without some form of self-control. Rights that are abused could one day be lost. His hit-piece added NOTHING to the discussion and told us NOTHING that we already didn't know...except for names, faces and addresses of those involved. It may have been within his right, but it was incredibly irresponsible. This type of stuff must stop.

John Washburn said...

Also - Mr Anonymous - as a physician I must say that you are displaying signs of pathologic paranoia and delusional thought processes. This may be a symptom of severe psychiatric disease. Things like that only snowball until something horrible happens. Please get help. Talk to someone, preferably a physician. There are ways to help you feel better.

Wry Mouth said...

re: anonymous rant: delete it. or check it for trackback links, etc.

As to the post? On the bright side, maybe Langley will now take up a position contrary to the Obama administration! ;o/

Alexander said...

Off topic, but you should now...

Chad Farnan Wins!

OC student wins case against Christian-bashing teacher

http://www.examiner.com/x-7814-LA-Church--State-Examiner~y2009m5d1-OC-Student-Wins-Case-Against-ChristianBashing-Teacher

SNAKE HUNTERS said...

Wow is Right! It's a shame the author of this long-winded item lacks the courage to tell us something of his background!

Some valid points, but I'd delete
it on principle. reb
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www.lazyonebenn.blogspot.com

DoYourHomework said...

Journalistic malpractice?

That's rich. We as Americans have a right to know what our government is doing in our name. The First Amendment guarantees that.

It may help if you actually read up on the guy you're criticizing.

"Or maybe he should hang out with the special forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan who place their lives on the line every day to keep reckless journalists free."

Read his reports from Nuristan with the CIA and 10th Mountain Division. Or his interview with a disillusioned Taliban commander about how ISI is double-dealing with the US and our enemies.


Or even better, check out a piece called "Blowback" for GQ about a CIA officer thrown under the bus by the Bush administration.

The ABC report is a painful truth. Those shrinks not only broke federal law, but you and I paid for it.

John Washburn said...

Have a right to know??? Are you insane?

We don't have a right to know the names, addresses and photos of CIA operatives. These people likely are privy to some very sensitive and very critical information. Publishing their names and addresses potentially compromises that information.

DoYourHomework said...

No, I'm not insane. And, yes, we do have a right to know.

Our right is based upon the established principle of the public interest. To remind you, we--the public--write the paychecks for the federal government.

The public has an interest in knowing 1) whether our government is violating federal law 2) whether our government is paying private citizens to aid in violating federal law.

These men were private contractors, paid by our government, to create an interrogation program. They had no expertise to do so. They misrepresented themselves.

Also, these men are currently licensed in their respective states to practice psychology. The public--including potential patients--has a right to know whether a mental health care professional has committed fraud and malpractice.

Do we have the right to know the names of CIA operatives? If they violate the law, yes we do. If they act in a manner becoming American intelligence professionals, I expect we'd never hear their names.

I don't think anything here is controversial.