George Tenet and Spies For Obama?!

[babylonsister]

Rank-and-File Spies Seem to Be Leaning Toward Obama
By Jeff Stein, CQ Staff


In normal times you might expect intelligence types to support John McCain , who has said he would like to turn the CIA into something like the far more nimble World War II-era cadre of spies and saboteurs, the OSS.

It’s an idea that’s suddenly attractive to a lot of disillusioned veteran CIA operatives, who think the present CIA has grown too big, cautious and sclerotic for today’s needs.

But this is not a normal year, to say the least. And the signals I’m picking up from the direction of CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., suggest that the spies are going for Barack Obama .

“Normally, at least a while back, and certainly in the 1990s, during the Clinton administration, people around the CIA would tend to vote Republican,” says a recent covert agency retiree, asking not to be identified because he still consults with the spy agency.

“But I think that’s changed, probably because of Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

After years of derision and insults from neoconservatives who coalesced in the Bush administration, old hands say, they’re getting their revenge.

“I think a lot of the intelligence community, and particularly the CIA, has been pissed off at the neoconservatives, going back to first Red Team effort,” a group of 1970s-era hawks that challenged the Carter administration’s CIA estimates on Soviet weapons, says a national security official who has served in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

“There’s been a longstanding distrust by conservatives of the intelligence community and particularly the CIA,” he said, asking not to be identified because he occupies a sensitive position.

Campaign insiders say former CIA Director George J. Tenet and virtually his entire senior management team at the agency are standing behind Obama — in the shadows, naturally — not that a public endorsement by the top intelligence officials who helped bring us Iraq could do the Democratic candidate any good.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=hsnews-000002979071

[Bicoastal]

1. Look who else endorsed Obama today:

[Historic NY]

16. where's the other guy?

[EFerrari]

2. Felons for Obama?!

:wtf:

[ej510]

3. Is Barack Obama a republican? Lol!

:sarcasm:

[babylonsister]

5. Tenet, yes, but I can't imagine all those spies are felons. I can't

even grasp this really. :crazy:

[CJCRANE]

6. Tenet is like Powell, not a bad man

but didn't stand up to the neocons at the time.

[EFerrari]

8. When are you bad? When you obstruct the My Lai massacre investigation?

When you cover up Iran Contra?

When you lie to the world about WMD?

When you keep quiet about torture and illegal wiretapping?

When you take the stand to give Ted Stevenson a character reference?

Colin Powell, not standing up to the neocons -- his whole career.

[babylonsister]

12. I KNEW I should have told CJCRANE to duck! nt

[EFerrari]

13. Okay! I'm sorry!

lol

[abumbyanyothername]

15. In an election we need every vote

but this post indicates why replies should be entitled to recs.

[EFerrari]

9. It's very simple. They go to where the power is.

[babylonsister]

10. OK.

But I'll just bet there are some employees in the CIA who have not been happy with what they've been seeing. There could be a few Dems in the mix who have more honorable intentions.

[EFerrari]

11. Can you imagine what the last eight years have been like

for nonpartisan professionals in the whole Bush government? :scared:

[babylonsister]

14. Not even. If someone with a family and bills had to go through

this and not agree with it, that would take a strong person. But so many of us are in that boat, working in a place we can't stand for whatever reason. THIS would be a reason.

I've also read a lot of people bailed or/and are bailing.

[CJCRANE]

4. The neocons only outed a covert operative

blamed the CIA for the WMD lies and allowing 9/11 to happen.

Why would the CIA look forward to the end of Republican rule?

:sarcasm:

[Geek_Girl]

7. Cheney brow beated these guys into cooking intelligence

Careers were destroyed over the WMD bullshit. I've seen several documentaries were former CIA official came out and basically blew the whistle on how Chaney's office cherry picked un credible intelligence to create the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was presented to congress. They were basically forced to make up shit that caused the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands Iraqis.

I can see why they've had a change of heart.

[windbreeze]

17. Interesting...you jogged my memory...you betcha...

That agency was told to come up with the information the WH wanted NO MATTER HOW THEY HAD TO DO IT...even if it meant outright lying...I recall seeing a leaked memo...with just those instructions(I had bookmarked it, then lost my hard drive)...and the guys at the CIA were really pissed that they were charged to lie about information and evidence of WMD in Iraq...so this makes a lot of sense...wb