John LeBoutillier
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001

The United States is in trouble. Real trouble.

Not just because we are under attack but because we are relying on an 'Intelligence Monopoly' that is out of control – and perhaps incompetent, too.

Let me explain.

Our genius Founding Fathers created a system of checks and balances to prevent any one man – or any one agency or department or branch of government – from becoming corrupt. Under their system, each and every post in our federal system has a 'check' and a 'balance.'

Congress 'checks' the Executive. The Judicial 'checks' the Executive. The Executive appoints the Judicial – and Congress confirms it.

A wonderful system – except for the mutating of our most secret 'branch' of government: our intel community, specifically the CIA.

The CIA has become a government unto itself – and, as such, is a threat to our very system and to our liberties. I know this is not fashionable to say these days, but we have to face facts:

1) They did a horrible job of predicting/preventing Sept. 11.

2) They have lashed out at Congress – the members of which are elected directly by the people – and tried to limit what information is shared with the 'people's representatives.' True, some congressmen are jerks and reveal top secret information. But CIA then uses that breach to justify keeping everyone in the dark.

3) They were just given an extra $1 billion by the president for the hunt for Osama bin Laden. And yet now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells USA Today that we "may never find Osama bin Laden." What, then, are we paying all that money to the CIA for?

4) Iraq: clearly the CIA – through leaks from "government intelligence sources" – is trying to ignore/dismiss Iraq's role in both Sept. 11 and the ongoing anthrax attacks. The CIA is deliberately trying to steer American public opinion away from Saddam. In other words, instead of a straight assessment of gathered facts, they are 'cooking the books' to result in a pre-ordained conclusion.

For example, the CIA very clearly leaked to Murray Weiss of the New York Post on Thursday's front page that "ultra right wing organizations have become the key focus of the massive federal investigation into the murderous anthrax attacks."

Furthermore, the CIA has carefully leaked that of the three nations that manufacture this particular form of anthrax – Russia, Iraq and the United States – the federal authorities have "ruled out Russia and Iraq as sources of this strain of anthrax."

Oh, really?

Why are they ignoring the fact that Israeli intelligence now knows that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta picked up Iraqi-produced anthrax spores in Prague when he met with Iraqi intelligence official Achmed Al'ami on June 2, 2000, in a Prague café?

And that Atta was frequently known to have tried to learn all about cropdusting planes in Florida?

And that Atta once went to a Florida pharmacy for treatment of 'damaged hands'? Perhaps a case of cutaneous anthrax from handling the master supply he brought over with him from the Iraqis?

Is it because the CIA wants to give Bush/Powell/Cheney only the intelligence they want to hear?

5) The Pentagon's announcement that the Taliban seems to be weathering the bombing better than expected – and the fact that the Northern Alliance has never attacked Kabul – can only mean that the CIA's original assessment of the difficulty of this war was way, way off.

If our intelligence is bad, then all subsequent actions based on that information will be less than optimal. And this is unacceptable.

Until we remove the 'aura' surrounding this bloated, overrated, cocky – and incompetent – Intelligence Monopoly, the CIA, we are going to continue to suffer a string of devastating defeats.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bioterrorism

Bush Administration

War on Terrorism