On the July 12 World News Sunday, ABC correspondent John Hendren filed a report relaying concerns by a former CIA agent that recent attacks on the CIA has hurt the agency’s morale and will weaken its ability to protect America. Hendren even ran clips of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky accusing the CIA of lying as examples of "harsh accusations" that have created a "rift" between Congress and the CIA.
Anchor Dan Harris introduced the report: "The CIA is, of course, an agency that largely operates in secrecy. There are concerns tonight that two full-blown investigations of the agency might undermine its ability to gather intelligence. John Hendren has that part of the story."
Hendren introduced clips from former CIA agent Robert Baer:
JOHN HENDREN: This legendary spy sees dark days ahead.
ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA AGENT: It's one of the last nails in the CIA's coffin. It's finished. It's over. It's done.
HENDREN: Bob Baer, whose exploits as a case officer in the Middle East made him the model for George Clooney's role in Syriana, says the damage at CIA has already taken its toll.
BAER: It's demoralizing the rank and file completely. I've been getting e-mails from officers overseas, you know, they're talking about quitting.
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The ABC correspondent then tied in Democrats like Pelosi and Schakowsky:
HENDREN: With rising calls for investigations into CIA tactics and harsh accusations-
NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: The CIA was misleading the Congress.
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL): I know that I've been lied to.
HENDREN: -the rift between Congress and the CIA is so bitter that when analysts head to Capitol Hill, the agency gives them this stock response, "I'm sorry, but I will be unable to continue our dialogue if you continue to question my integrity or that of my agency."
After a soundbite of former national security official Richard Clarke dismissing complaints from the CIA, and a recounting of the restrictions placed on the CIA in the 1970s, Hendren ended with a clip of Baer expressing fears that all the attacks on the CIA could lead to another 9/11 attack:
BAER: When you have people running for the doors, and they continue running for the doors, and it's going to hurt our national security, it is going to interfere with stopping another 9/11.
HENDREN: If there are hearings, that is a line that will be heard over and over again on Capitol Hill. John Hendren, ABC News, Washington.
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the July 12 World News Sunday:
DAN HARRIS: The CIA is, of course, an agency that largely operates in secrecy. There are concerns tonight that two full-blown investigations of the agency might undermine its ability to gather intelligence. John Hendren has that part of the story.
JOHN HENDREN: This legendary spy sees dark days ahead.
ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA AGENT: It's one of the last nails in the CIA's coffin. It's finished. It's over. It's done.
HENDREN: Bob Baer, whose exploits as a case officer in the Middle East made him the model for George Clooney's role in Syriana, says the damage at CIA has already taken its toll.
BAER: It's demoralizing the rank and file completely. I've been getting e-mails from officers overseas, you know, they’re talking about quitting.
HENDREN: With rising calls for investigations into CIA tactics and harsh accusations-
NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: The CIA was misleading the Congress.
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL): I know that I've been lied to.
HENDREN: -the rift between Congress and the CIA is so bitter that when analysts head to Capitol Hill, the agency gives them this stock response, "I'm sorry, but I will be unable to continue our dialogue if you continue to question my integrity or that of my agency."
RICHARD CLARKE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIAL: The CIA has become a master at saying to Congress, "If you do your job and supervise us, it will hurt our morale. And if our morale is hurt, we won't be able to do our job." That’s largely a myth.
HENDREN: CIA insiders say the agency hasn't faced this kind of scrutiny since the 1970s, when Congress probed extreme tactics, like allegedly hiring the mafia to kill Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Those hearings led to a whole host of restrictions on the nation’s intelligence agencies, many of which were relaxed after the 9/11 attacks. With rising criticism and poisoned relations with Congress, he says, the agency's headquarters feel like a morgue.
BAER: When you have people running for the doors, and they continue running for the doors, and it’s going to hurt our national security, it is going to interfere with stopping another 9/11.
HENDREN: If there are hearings, that is a line that will be heard over and over again on Capitol Hill. John Hendren, ABC News, Washington.
—Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Crises that can't be
July 14, 2009 - 01:48 ET by RR GOPCrises that can't be allowed to go to waste don't happen on their own you know. They often need a little help to get going.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
That delusional cow couldn't care less.....
July 14, 2009 - 02:17 ET by supercon" BAER: It's demoralizing the rank and file completely. I've been
getting e-mails from officers overseas, you know, they’re talking about
quitting."
In her mind American citizens and the military are the enemy and she would risk all their lives just to keep her job with her own private jet. She is the biggest disgrace this nation has ever seen as politicians go and so is anyone who supports her. With these people in charge this country will be lucky to survive them. It is astounding to me how somebody who is so incompetent can rise to such a high position in this country. That includes the President too.
Read up on his latest example of smart power.
http://www.worldtrib...
"There are a few things you need to know
about President Obama’s shameful release on Thursday of the “Irbil
Five” — Quds Force commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC) who were coordinating terrorist attacks in Iraq that have
killed hundreds — yes, hundreds — of American soldiers and Marines."
They couldn't care less.
Hey Janet Napolitano...I'm proud to be a Right-winger.
supercon, thanks for that
July 14, 2009 - 06:16 ET by motherbeltsupercon, thanks for that link; that is an amazing piece! I didn't know that.
The world now knows that America will trade terrorists for hostages.
If only Reagan had known it could be that easy!
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Please use the correct term.
July 14, 2009 - 06:52 ET by superconThey are " diplomats ".
It was quite the eye opener. Kudos to Andrew McCarthy. One of the terrorist released was one of the group that disguised themselves as coalition forces then kidnapped and murdered American soldiers. I remember it very clearly.
Even the NYT's is on it. http://www.nytimes.c...
"BAGHDAD — The American military has released a senior Shiite insurgent
said to be backed by Iran who was accused of playing a leading role in
a group that killed five American soldiers in Karbala in a
sophisticated attack in 2007, according to senior American and Shiite
officials."
They support the troops though.
Hey Janet Napolitano...I'm proud to be a Right-winger.
Seems like just yesterday
July 14, 2009 - 03:52 ET by acumenwhen the dems in Congress were so very, very concerned about the well-being of CIA employees and they proudly annointed themselves as personal defenders of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Nothing like the smell of political opponents blood in the water to bring out dem patriotism.
And now that defending CIA agents is no longer politically advantageous to the dems, they are are doing everything in their power to put the CIA and consequently the whole nation at risk.
Quick, bring Plame back in from the cold so the dems will be deeply concerned about the CIA once again. Oops. Different Party in the White House now, Plame served her purpose as useful idiot and has since become irrelevant to the dems. Maybe they can find something for her in fundraising.
I truly don't know which is worse. The dems politically motivated and much too public love/hate relationship with the CIA which threatens our national security or America's gullible electorate that keeps sending these self-serving fools back to Washington.
One More Reason
July 14, 2009 - 07:57 ET by Wildcatter1980This is juse one more reason that Obama and the Democrats cannot, CANNOT be trusted with our national security.
--
We already have term limits. They are called elections. We can & should vote out those who do not represent & serve us! - Me
What I'd like to know is
July 14, 2009 - 08:06 ET by RowaneWhat I'd like to know is where the people that voted these nimrods into office had their brains when they voted. This is like something from a banana republic.
Oh but the Dermocrats in
July 14, 2009 - 03:58 ET by Jack BauerOh but the Dermocrats in Congress LOVE the CIA... that's why they spent sooooo much time and effort defending that desk-jockey heroine Valerie Plame.
is there anything documented to prove any of these claims???
July 14, 2009 - 05:41 ET by spmcintyreor are they manufacturing this crap out of whole cloth? Say something enough times and even they will start to believe something, and materials proving themselves correct will magically appear....
...how about we have a recall vote on Senator/Congressperson so and so....
Wow - Another Pointless Distraction
July 14, 2009 - 05:55 ET by HoosierEmThe democrats think they are good at this. While they erode away our economy and rights with their idiotic pie-in-the-sky policies, and with all the balls that are up in the air right now, the democrats decide to add one more ball to the juggling act. For the ordinary American, it's confusing. For those of us who follow along closely, it's obvious what they are doing.
Ahhhhh, you gotta love the politics of change in Washington, D.C.
Watch the other hand
July 14, 2009 - 06:04 ET by OneZeroDon'y let them fool you. Congress couldn't care less about CIA except for scoring a few cheap shots at Pres. Bush & VP Cheny.
The economy is still tanking despite TARP and porkulus. Rassmeussen has Obama's favorability at -8 pts. Unemployment is expect to exceed 10%, and will probably go much higher.
This CIA story is a good way to keep the headlines on the EVIL previous administration and off the economy.
Not to mention a new story I read this morning about Russia not helping with Iranian sanctions even after Obama's Moscow apology tour. I am sure the White House would much rather talk about our dysfunctional intelligence agencies than the successes or failures of their own policies.
There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
There are concerns tonight
July 14, 2009 - 07:00 ET by ThisnThatThere are concerns tonight that two full-blown investigations of the agency might undermine its ability to gather intelligence.
What's the mystery here? Isn't this the actual goal of leftists?
___________________________________
An optimist thinks that the glass is 1/2 full; a pessimist 1/2 empty; a realist thinks the glass is twice a big as it needs to be
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL):
July 14, 2009 - 07:18 ET by SickofLibsREP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL): I know that I've been lied to.
Yeah, no shit, Sherlock - just look up at the Speaker's Chair.
I think the CIA should
July 14, 2009 - 08:12 ET by RowaneI think the CIA should uphold their oaths of office and treat these blatant liars as they deserve and launch full scale investigations into all of them. I know..I know, the CIA isn't supposed to operate in the US but that hasn't stopped them before, they just pass the word (and the evedince) to the FBI or Federal Marshals.
Jan shankowsy
July 14, 2009 - 09:23 ET by east tennessee johnJan Shankowsy should focus her attention on bank fraud. Was she told the truth about that? Most of the house dems on the intelligence/oversight committees are eithe Pelosi tools or far left committed leftists who think protecting the US is a crime in and of itself. Traitors, the lot of them for putting partisanship over country.
Robert Baer..very brave warrior indeed
July 14, 2009 - 09:48 ET by PaarlHello
I knew Robert Baer at georgetown university in the early 1970's. He was brave even then when he rode his motorcycle sans clothing into Lauringer Library in a unique display of 'streaking' ..a fad of the time.
I have met him since but know nothing more about his exploits than what is public but since his retirement he has become a bit of a cassandra. I know he knows more than most about workings of black box activiites etc....but the people involved in these very daring and dangerous activities tend not to look 15-20 yrs down the road and worry about whether they will be strung up (metaphorically ) for their efforts.....these are the best of the best and the challenge and immediacy of their tasks overwhelm everything.....while exposure and Nancy Pelosi's derangement are not helpul these guys/gals go on and on and on...they are not bureaucratic 'Gs' who sit around complaining about pols...they do their jobs and do them well.
Paarl of Rhodesia
Contrary To The Left Wing
July 14, 2009 - 11:46 ET by sic721And despitr the so-called 'Freedom of Information Act', there are some things the public has no 'right to know' and shouldn't be privy to. Most covert ops fall under this category. Bottom line, CIA, do what you do, keep us safe, and more power to you.
"The human race divides itself politically into those who want to be controlled, and those who have no such desire."-Robert A. Heinlein
How did that work out for you?
July 14, 2009 - 11:47 ET by slickwillie2001The Bamster and his wretched cabal wants to destroy America's superpower status. The CIA and intelligence in general is a part of that apparatus that makes us a superpower. It should not come as a surprise then that he wants to destroy the CIA. It is what it is, and we are naive to try and ascribe a more acceptable motive than the obvious.
To the CIA, that worked very hard to destroy the administration of President George W. Bush and get the Bamster elected, I have to ask, 'how did that work out for you?'
slick... Yep...it brings
July 14, 2009 - 13:59 ET by bigtimerslick...
Yep...it brings back memories of the Frank Church Commission days...same tactics now.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Who Is Misleading?
July 14, 2009 - 13:56 ET by JDWYesterday's WSJ posted an article articulating the fact that congress had authorized the CIA to develop a secret counter terrorism plan to kill al-Qaeda operatives.
How can this procedure make people feel safer?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
JDW... ...and these idiot
July 14, 2009 - 13:57 ET by bigtimerJDW...
...and these idiot dems think this is going to hurt the former administration somehow.
They are delusional...talk about back-fire.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Obama Administration
July 14, 2009 - 14:19 ET by JDWThe stimulus is Obama's and the CIA ain't got nothing to do with it
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
We need secrets
July 14, 2009 - 14:40 ET by slickwillie2001Who will be the first Republican to say that Congress should not be told everything that the CIA or the other agencies are doing, because they cannot be trusted with secrets? That's the truth, based on recent history; let's hope someone can say it.
I've been waiting for that
July 14, 2009 - 14:46 ET by bigtimerI've been waiting for that too slick, and more than one or two need to step out to the plate on this.
Liz Cheney said the very same thing this morning about us needing secrets ect to keep this country protected, duh, yet Eugene Robinson had a convoluted answer saying that at the expense of our safety here, we need to have all open, I am paraphrasing here, but you get the drift.
I'm going to look later and see if this is on Youtube yet.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Here are two links I was
July 14, 2009 - 16:55 ET by bigtimerHere are two links I was talking about above to Liz Cheney this morning regarding all of this and fighting back with quick wit and class on MJ.
Eugene Robinson is here which was toward the end...it was pricless...all of it...glad I caught it.
She was on for three segments.
-edit: The link with Robinson is older with Cheney...here is this mornings. ..it's worth every minute of it.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
→ OMG bt
July 14, 2009 - 17:18 ET by Cool ArrowDid Liz take "Okey Doke Mika" to school, or what?
I kept thinking "Mika, you can't be that stupid!!!" and "What part of 'classified' do you fail to understand?"
And Mika trying to say she had problems with our safety on moral grounds really had me cracking up.
CA... She got Mark
July 14, 2009 - 17:28 ET by bigtimerCA...
She got Mark Halperin good too...I hope it was on that segment...he didn't stand a chance.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Cool, We have the new 'classified', School and birth records
July 14, 2009 - 18:40 ET by upcountrywaterFolk have and will go to the grave, keeping the OAF safe from attack..
Systems that protect the American people, well not so much.
Just ask the NYT.
Reagan VS Liberalism
WaPo Revealed Secret Program in 2001!
July 14, 2009 - 17:48 ET by slickwillie2001Some posters at Free Republic uncovered an old WaPo article from 2001 that discusses the 'al Qaeda assassination program'; shortly thereafter the article disappeared from WaPo's website!
[quote] Washington Post | October 28, 2001
Armed with new authority from President Bush for a global campaign against al Qaeda, the Central Intelligence Agency is contemplating clandestine missions expressly aimed at killing specified individuals for the first time since the assassination scandals and consequent legal restraints of the 1970s. [endquote]
This appears to be the program that the democratics in Congress claim they were not told about!
Source: With Pelosi's Blessings, House Dems Push Ahead With Hearings: http://www.weaselzippers.net