Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has assured the president that the intel agencies will provide the info to Attorney General Bill Barr that he needs to properly conduct an investigation into spying directed against the Trump campaign in 2016.
As well he should because a great degree of that surveillance and likely attempted entrapment came from the agencies Mr. Coats himself oversees or works with. That definitely includes offices in the FBI and may include others including the Langley, Virginia-based CIA.
I’ve had indirect dealings with Langley for a while, including my own time in U.S. Army Intel. After I left the service I applied and almost joined up with them, though financial incentives kept me in the private sector. Since then I have known several people who have worked there. I found them to be all sharp and reliable on various matters.
What various sources paint is an organization saddened and mortified by the doings of political appointees advanced to the top slot. John Brennan is an example of that political emphasis over good practice. Traditionally the best directors at the CIA came from within its own ranks. Career service types such as current, no nonsense, and low- profile Director Gina Haspel, who is widely respected in and outside the intelligence agency, make the best leaders there because they are not show ponies out to do the bidding of their political masters at the cost of the viability of America’s national security and the credibility of their own organizations.
That credibility is further affected by the political notions of younger recruits (indoctrinated in PC at university) who care more about identity politics than they do intel and the tendency of civilian analysts to put happy faces on subjects where military analysts would take a less joyful view. Some also come to the agency from, shall we say, non-traditional spawning grounds.
I saw the same thing in Army Intel. We’d get cherry lieutenants right out of college and commissioned into military intelligence who knew nothing of the job but had rank over experienced enlisted analysts. One once told me in 1982 that Poland was not in the Warsaw Pact because, “that Mr. Walesa fella is our ally.” As she was a comely and charming southern girl we calmly explained to her, as you would expound to a valued golden retriever, that such was not the case. She later went on to become a hell of a good analyst. However, as she didn’t start off from intel or associated disciplines such as history, she took a while to ramp up to speed.
There are those like Brennan who, as opposed to the vast majority of patriotic and dedicated people at Langley, never do get with the program. Though how he, who admitted to once voting for the Communist Party nominee for president of the United States, even got a clearance is a question still up for grabs.
So when sifting through all the info you get from the media, parts of it mistakenly harsh on the rank and file at CIA, cut those civilian pukes a small bit of slack. Granted, they are not the all-seeing and omniscient titans of Army Intel. Nor do they wear the Eye of God/Colonial Viper Pilot insignia on their collars.
But when their commie-voting directors are not conspiring to overthrow legitimate U.S. election results, I’m fine with having at it regarding foreign election results, they’ll better than do in a pinch.
