CIA agent publicly chides White House for terror war - Defying protocol

[seemslikeadream]

from the November 12, 2004 edition

CIA agent publicly chides White House for terror war

Defying protocol, analyst Mike Scheuer criticizes the administration for Iraq war and losing focus on Al Qaeda.

By Faye Bowers | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – It's a little like yelling an obscenity at a wedding. In the etiquette of Washington, it has always been an unwritten rule that members of the CIA don't publicly criticize the people they work for - namely the US government.
From the agency's inception some 50 years ago, the mantra of top officials in particular has been to provide "hard" information - estimates and analyses - not public opinions about their bosses' policies or veracity.

Now a senior CIA official is violating the trench-coat oath - and roiling already sensitive relations between the White House and the nation's top spy agency. It comes at a time of major reform of the nation's intelligence apparatus.

Mike Scheuer, a 22-year veteran who works in the CIA's Counterterrorist Center and is a former head of its Osama bin Laden unit, is criticizing the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq and for the way it has conducted the war on terror in general. And he's doing it very publicly.

Mr. Scheuer, who says he will leave his job today after holding "cordial" talks with his superiors on Wednesday, has been granting interviews to members of the media for days - and will appear Sunday night on CBS's "60 Minutes."
more
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1112/p02s02-usfp.html

[seemslikeadream]

1. CIA insider may face disciplinary action

Intelligence official says he broke rules on media contacts
From Pam Benson
CNN Washington Bureau

Tuesday, November 9, 2004 Posted: 2343 GMT (0743 HKT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA is reviewing whether to take disciplinary action against a senior terrorism officer who it says violated the agency's regulations on contacts with the media, a U.S. intelligence official said.

Michael Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA who once headed the agency's Osama bin Laden unit, has criticized the CIA's handling of the war on terrorism in recent interviews with news organizations.

"Mike is not authorized to speak for the CIA," the intelligence official said. "He knows the procedures governing relations between the agency and contacts with the press," and he "decided not to follow them."

The official said the agency has several options it could take against Scheuer, including dismissal.
more
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/11/09/cia.critic/

[Moderator]

2. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=980766