Is the CIA getting what it deserves?

The Obama administration is branding the CIA as a bunch of rogue torturers and worse. That is an interesting development for the CIA. From my perspective, they appear to have failed in their primary function prior to 9/11, and become part of the organized anti-Bush political scene after, helping to so demonize Bush that it helped Obama get elected. You would think that Obama would be grateful, but he appears to be throwing the CIA under the bus as part of this anti-Bush-all-the-time strategy.

Lest I be accused of painting with too broad a brush, I will admit that it appears that elements of the CIA did get enough intelligence to stop a second 9/11 attack. We will not be sure until all the evidence is presented, but former Vice President Dick Cheney has seen the evidence and apparently believes this to be the case. Of course, the evidence of this is assumed to be in the form of reports by the CIA itself, and there is a question of whether the organization can be trusted to justify its own actions.

While conservatives are often reflexively ready to spring to the defense of the military or groups like the CIA, at this point some of us remember the past and ask the question, whose side are they on? Should we defend them or hang them out to dry? Is the agency similar to the Abwehr in WW2, headed by Admiral Canaris?

Glenn Reynolds:

I’D FEEL SORRIER FOR THE C.I.A. FOLKS, if they hadn’t run a multiyear leak-war against the Bush Administration. Did they really think electing Obama would improve their situation? Once again, they don’t seem to have gamed things out to the end.

In response Charlie Foxtrot says: The CIA is not Monolithic

That sentiment would make sense if the CIA was a monolithic organization and voting bloc. However we are really talking about two different worlds within one agency.

The folks that Glenn would, and should, feel sorry for at this moment are the dispirited members of the Agency's Directorate of Operations. These are the 'brawny' operatives work in the shadows and handle unpleasant business. Many of them come to the agency from the world of military Special Forces. As such, they probably didn't vote overwhelmingly for President Obama, or wage any war against President Bush

But you can't separate the two. And it appears that the few good apples are spoiled by the larger barrel.

Commentary is on the CIA's side:

If CIA operatives were not already dispirited (and they are, according to a former CIA official) by the events of this week and the threat of ongoing litigation, then the upcoming release of some 44 photos of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan will do the trick.

However, the commenters from the Left are preening their fine feathers to best show off their unblemished morals. A bizarre turn about from the defenders of perjury and semen stained dresses by those who facilitated by their fecklessness the events of 9/11.