CIA analyst Mel Goodman speaks in Lancaster - Part 4 4/9/07
 |
||
Former CIA analyst Mel Goodman speaks at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. in April of 2007.Goodman goes into the history of the CIA and the intelligence failures of the organization that helped to lead the U.S. into a war with Iraq.Goodman is a senior fellow and director of the National Security Program at the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., and an adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. He is former chairman of the International Relations Department at the National War College, and from 1966 to 1990 was division chief and a senior analyst at the CIA's Office of Soviet Affairs. Before that he was a senior analyst at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and an intelligence adviser to the strategic arms limitation talks in Vienna and Washington, D.C.I've included a story I wrote on the event:Mel Goodman sees the Central Intelligence Agency in crisis and few remedies to bring it back from the brink of failure.The former senior CIA analyst for Soviet Affairs from 1976 to 1986 spoke for more than an hour Monday afternoon at Franklin & Marshall College, discussing "The Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA."Goodman said the CIA has existed for almost 60 years and has produced a mix of success and controversy and created a need for secrecy that works counterintuitively to the ideals of democracy."Here is an agency that has existed in a world of controversy," Goodman said. "So it shouldn't be any surprise that there's still controversy surrounding the CIA."Goodman focused on the history of the CIA, including its successes in strategic intelligence and verification and monitoring of arms treaties.He said the CIA was the first government agency to anticipate the split between the Soviet Union and China in the 1970s, leading to the Triangular Diplomacy under President Nixon and Henry Kissinger.However, Goodman said, the tactical intelligence branch of the CIA has been a different story. He said it is difficult to anticipate events that come as a surprise to the international community, giving the example of the Chinese entry into the Korean War.Goodman left his harshest criticism for the clandestine activities and espionage branch of the CIA. He said too many people in government tend to put too much faith in espionage and regime change through clandestine activities.Goodman said the worst decision ever made by a president was George W. Bush's resolve for war with Iraq for regime change.He said all analysts needed to look at was the CIA's record of regime change to see disastrous consequences, including installing the Shah of Iran in the 1950s leading to the Islamic revolution in 1979."When you look at the strategic side of clandestine activities, particularly covert action, I would say there have been no strategic successes that I can think of and very serious strategic failures," he said.Goodman also talked about CIA intelligence used by Bush to justify the war with Iraq. He said in the run-up to war nearly every piece of evidence given by the administration was challenged and has proven to be false. He said the day after former Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations about Saddam Hussein's supposed weapon's program, the Washington Post ran seven op-ed pieces with every one taking up Powell's argument.The speech consisted of more than 20 points, Goodman said, that all proved to be false, and it was written by then-CIA director George Tenet and deputy director John McLaughlin.Goodman said in the last 20 years the CIA has become too political and not focused enough on nonbiased intelligence. "Bush looks at intelligence the way he looks at all government agencies — they are there to be politicized," he said.Goodman said he is concerned about what he sees as the erosion of the Constitution and civil liberties in America since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."We have given up a lot of what we stand for as a people, in terms of the meaning of America," Goodman said. "Right now I'm not prepared to give up any more."
Canal: News & Politics
Añadido: April 11, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Autor: CoolLikeMiles
Duración: 09:32
Puntuación: 5.00
Reproducciones: 597
Etiquetas: and Bush CIA College Franklin Goodman Iraq Lancaster Marshall Mel
Comentarios
| No comments. |