According to this article in The Washington Post, this is the "anonymous" author that wrote the book "Imperial Hubris."

Article:
"Former Chief of CIA's Bin Laden Unit Leaves"
By Dana Priest
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Nov11.html

What is the gist of your analysis?

They're peeling them off ala John Dean.

Removes the "gravitas" - eliminates his connections.

Hope his life insurance is paid up to date.

Apparently this guy will be on CBS's "60 minutes" this Sunday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/...main13502.shtml

From Capitol Hill Blue

FUBAR
CIA Official Quits So He Can Tell Truth About Agency Problems
By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER
Nov 12, 2004, 05:08



A senior CIA officer who has become an outspoken critic of the fight on terrorism turned in his resignation this week, citing a desire to speak more freely about problems in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the debate over intelligence reform.

Current government officials are rarely as vocal as Mike Scheuer, who wrote "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror." But he called the decision to leave the agency after 22 years "entirely my own."

"I have concluded that there has not been adequate national debate over the nature of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden and the forces he leads and inspires, and the nature and dimensions of intelligence reform needed to address that threat," Scheuer said in a statement sent to reporters Thursday via electronic mail.

Scheuer's CIA assignments included running the bin Laden unit from January 1996 to June 1999. He hopes his experience and views will produce a more substantive debate.

This week, Scheuer ignored agency orders and began granting interviews about shortfalls in the hunt for bin Laden, the findings and recommendations of the Sept. 11 and the intelligence community overall.

During a wide-ranging interview Sunday evening, Scheuer was highly critical of the Sept. 11 Commission's "refusal" to point fingers at senior government officials whose actions contributed to the attacks. Rather than changing the structure of government, as Congress is considering, he said a signal must be sent that people will be held accountable for their actions.

"No one seems to be capable or inclined to find anyone responsible for 9/11," he said.

Scheuer doesn't think the 9/11 attack could have been stopped, but believes the various commissions that have investigated the attack should have better considered whether the intelligence community was working optimally.

For instance, Scheuer finds flaws with the FBI agents who were sent to the CIA to work with the bin Laden unit under his watch. He said the CIA shared information with the agents, but they didn't take it back to their headquarters. He said they were more interested in "travel overseas" and "war stories."

"They were interested in doing everything but work," he said. He could think of only limited exceptions.

Scheuer is also critical of how CIA resources and personnel are now being distributed to go after al-Qaida.

Spokespeople at the CIA and the FBI declined to comment.

Even after his resignation, Scheuer must abide by regulations that govern all former agency employees. He won't be able to discuss classified information, and speeches, books and articles on intelligence subjects will have to be cleared by an agency review board.


© 2004 The Associated Press
© Copyright 2004 Capitol Hill Blue

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I think if you read between the lines something was going on in this government that they won't tell you about. You think Nixon was bad?

Nixon wasn't "bad", he just went a little crazy. Classic bipolar disorder. Bush, now, he's not entirely bad either, but he has surrounded himself with monsters.

You should check out how the state department felt when they got the news that Colin Powell was leaving. People throughout the federal government are disturbed, and of course they know something we don't.

Much has been made of the supposed "disconnection from reality" endemic to the Bush followers, but I suspect almost all of us have been disconnected to varying degrees, by design.

all

This self-'outing' is a crock. First, the CIA gives approval to whatever gets out into the media. Second, as shown in James Bamford's books on intelligence, this guy had to have permission ('mother may I') before this story even got from his mind to the media.

Try reading "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael Ruppert and visiting the FromTheWilderness website and view this CIA inspired stunt for what it's worth.

The Col. Flaggs of this world have gotten themselves into a mess that they thought would end in chocolates and nylons being distributed to Iraqis... they thought they could have access to Iraqi oil on the cheap. Troop occupation we now hear from Gen Franks is 'five years'... But Sen John McCain says on CNN from "ten to twenty years"...

Oooops. The "intelligence" boys need a fig leaf. Ain't gonna happen.

all

If we really had an intelligent 'intelligence community' they'd be thinking of a way to duplicate the brilliant Watergate scenario they pulled off in 1973-74, in order to rid the country of Nixon. Former Navy intelligence officer Robert Woodward...

""At the same time as the murder of Ron Brown, his business partner, Tommy Boggs, traveling also overseas, survived an assassination attempt.

A driving force in the Watergate burglars, was long-time CIA officer, E. Howard Hunt. His wife, Dorothy Hunt, courier of hush money to various spies, assassins, and operatives on behalf of the Nixon White House, was part of twelve Watergate related operatives murdered by way of a sabotaged plane crash in Chicago. That was in December, 1972, one month aftter the re-election of Tricky Dick.

Right after the Nixon re-election , Pentagon operative, Bob Woodward, under cover as a "reporter" for the Washington Post, wrote story after story about the Watergate Affair. Woodward contended he was getting details planted, for example, in a purported "flower pot" at his apartment. Or, that certain "sources" were meeting him in underground auto parking garages.

The real role of Woodward did not become plain until the 1991 publication of "Silent Coup: The Removal of a President", by Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1991. The entire book can be read ON-LINE, www.nixonera.com/etexts/silentcoup/contents.asp

Various of the Military Junta are named and identified in the book; those who wanted Nixon removed for treason and other high crimes using Bob Woodward as their driving force. The history of Naval Lt. Robert U. Woodward and his top Pentagon security clearance on super-secret projects, and his role with General Alexander Haig, are mentioned such as at pages 69-70 of the book. The monopoly press either ignored the book or it was for a while tied up by various proceedings."" from http://www.rense.com/general52/overthro53.htm

The Watergate Tapes were revealed to the public by former CIA employee Alexander Butterfield....

Woodward and Sen Robert F Bennett .... Nixon believed Bennett was "Deep Throat" (revealed in Michael Drosnin's "Citizen Hughes").
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/0...scoop-9727.html

CIA and media manipulations
http://www.realhistoryarchives.com/media/ciamedia.htm

John McLaughlin, the guy that served as acting DCI when Tenet resigned is ending his service with the CIA on December 3rd.

Article:
"No. 2 Official at the C.I.A. Announces He's Stepping Down"
from the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/politics/13intel.html

Funny, Republicans accuse the Dems of "gutting" our intelligence establishment through budget cuts. At least Democrats were never responsible for a meltdown through incompetence!

washingtonpost.com
Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA
Agency Is Said to Be in Turmoil Under New Director Goss
By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 13, 2004; Page A01


The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials.

John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year CIA veteran who was acting director for two months this summer until Goss took over, resigned after warning Goss that his top aide, former Capitol Hill staff member Patrick Murray, was treating senior officials disrespectfully and risked widespread resignations, the officials said.

Yesterday, the agency official who oversees foreign operations, Deputy Director of Operations Stephen R. Kappes, tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Murray. Goss and the White House pleaded with Kappes to reconsider and he agreed to delay his decision until Monday, the officials said.

Several other senior clandestine service officers are threatening to leave, current and former agency officials said.

The disruption comes as the CIA is trying to stay abreast of a worldwide terrorist threat from al Qaeda, a growing insurgency in Iraq, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan and congressional proposals to reorganize the intelligence agencies. The agency also has been criticized for not preventing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and not accurately assessing Saddam Hussein's ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.

"It's the worst roiling I've ever heard of," said one former senior official with knowledge of the events. "There's confusion throughout the ranks and an extraordinary loss of morale and incentive."

Current and retired senior managers have criticized Goss, former chairman of the House intelligence committee, for not interacting with senior managers and for giving Murray too much authority over day-to-day operations. Murray was Goss's chief of staff on the intelligence committee.

Transitions between CIA directors are often unsettling for career officers. Goss's arrival has been especially tense because he brought with him four former members of the intelligence committee known widely on the Hill and within the agency for their abrasive management style and for their criticism of the agency's clandestine services in a committee report.

Three are former mid-level CIA officials who left the agency disgruntled, according to former colleagues. The fourth, Murray, who also worked at the Justice Department, has a reputation for being highly partisan. When senior managers have gone to Goss to complain about his staff actions, one CIA officer said, Goss has told them: "Talk to my chief of staff. I don't do personnel."

The overall effect, said one former senior CIA official, who has kept up his contacts in the Directorate of Operations, "is that Goss doesn't seem engaged at all."

If other senior clandestine officers leave, said one former officer who maintains contacts within the Langley headquarters, "the middle-level people who move up may eventually work out, but meanwhile the level of experience and competence will go down."

The CIA declined to comment on the issues raised by the current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A CIA spokesman said McLaughlin's retirement "was a long-planned personal decision taken at a natural transition point in the administration and not connected to any other factors."

McLaughlin issued a statement that said: "I have come to the purely personal decision that it is time to move on to other endeavors."

Goss, too, issued a statement, which applauded McLaughlin's "outstanding service."

"On a personal note," the statement continued, "I want to thank John for the kindness he has shown me as Director of Central Intelligence."

In addition to bringing in his former aides from the Hill, Goss plans to dilute the authority of the Directorate of Operations by removing the director as the central figure in appointing country station chiefs overseas and regional division chiefs at headquarters.

"I definitely think all this is disrupting people's work," one agency official said. "Everyone is waiting for the centipede to drop all his shoes."

Associates said McLaughlin was disappointed by Goss's management style and was particularly disheartened by a series of recent confrontations between Murray and senior leaders.

In one of those confrontations, on Nov. 5, Murray raised the issue of leaks with the associate deputy director of counterintelligence. Referring to previous media leaks regarding personnel, he said that if anything in the newly appointed executive director's personnel file made it into the media, the counterintelligence official "would be held responsible," according to one agency official and two former colleagues with knowledge of the conversation.

All three sources gave the following account:

The associate deputy director of counterintelligence, a highly respected case officer whose name is being withheld because she is undercover, told Michael Sulick, the associate deputy director of operations, about the threat. Sulick told his superior, Kappes, and both sought a meeting with Goss to complain.

Goss, Murray, Kappes and Sulick met to discuss the matter. After Goss left, Sulick "got in Murray's space," according to one of his associates whose account was corroborated by another. Murray then demanded that Kappes fire Sulick. Kappes refused, and told Goss that he would resign. Goss and other White House officials appealed to Kappes to delay his decision until Monday.

Goss, a former CIA case officer and Republican legislator from Florida, promised during his confirmation hearing to set aside partisan politics and work to strengthen the CIA clandestine service. But current and former officials have said that his plans have been unclear to the senior clandestine service officials who would be responsible for carrying them out. In addition, they have been concerned by the backgrounds of the senior staff Goss has hired.

Michael V. Kostiw, who was Goss's first choice for executive director -- the agency's third-ranking official -- withdrew his name after The Washington Post reported that he had left the agency 20 years ago after having been arrested for stealing a package of bacon.

More generally, Goss's aides arrived at the CIA with harsh views of the clandestine service. Their views were laid out in a House intelligence committee report in June. "There is a dysfunctional denial of any need for corrective action," the report said. The clandestine service suffers from "misallocation and redirection of resources, poor prioritization of objectives, micromanagement of field operations and a continued political aversion to operational risk."

The report was drafted primarily by Jay Jakub, whom Goss appointed to the newly created position of special assistant for operations and analysis.

The House report's critique brought on a tough response from then-CIA Director George J. Tenet and led to a near-breakdown in relations between the agency and the panel staff. It was repeatedly noted by present and past clandestine officers that Jakub had a limited career at the agency, first as an analyst and later as a case officer.

"He never distinguished himself before he left," a former boss said.



© 2004 The Washington Post Company

Bush is replacing intel pros with ideological pols like Porter Goss- just what we need.

I've heard it said, it will be interesting at least, to see this admin. in all it's ineptness, crumble without anyone but themselves to blame. A minor sick and morbid thrill, to watch them reep what they've sewn.


Ughh.

Interesting aside. I believe it was Grover Norquist ( though I really am not sure ),who said he wanted to so wreck the economy that when the inevitable loss at the polls occurred, they needed to throw only one last wrench on the tracks as they left office and not only would government wreck, and the blame would forever be placed on the unfortunate winner of the election. The staffing, or unstaffing of the CIA, reminds me of the same thing Reagan did to Air Traffic Control with the PATCO strike. If they were willing to put hacks anywhere, like Air Traffic Control, where safety was already being compromised by an obsolete system, being held together only by the sheer ability of experience, then what's to be lost by destroying the intelligence community? This is pork barrel and faithful rewards season. To the victors go the spoils. I am sure Osama is smiling.

Apparently, much turmoil is because the agents are now told to report to Porter Goss's underling instead of to Goss himself. I can see why there is a problem.

He's appearing now on 60 Minutes for an interview!