Why Did She Talk?
In the military and most government jobs, if something happens that you think is wrong there are procedures in place to deal with the problem. First you go up your chain of command to fix the problem. If that doesn’t work, or the problem deals with your chain of command, you then go to your Inspector General.
Mary McCarthy was an analyst who was in a pre-retirement job; she wasn’t in CIA operations. The problem wasn’t hers; it was reported to her as a member of the Inspector General’s staff. She recognized what was happening as a problem, and, apparently, nothing was being done about it.
Mary McCarthy was the last resort for someone reporting illegal behavior, and she saw that it was being ignored. She did the only thing she knew that would fix the problem: she went public.
Porter Goss, the Republican Director of Central Intelligence, said that Ms. McCarthy damaged US relations with the intelligence services of other countries. Well I suspect the fact that the people who were part of this illegal operation in other countries were probably demoted, fired, and/or arrested, and the affected countries shut down the secret prisons, probably would impact it.
The problem is that while Abu Gonzales might ignore the applicable US laws, the European Union has its own laws, and they were violated. The countries involved are having to answer some very embarrassing questions, and are in no mood to deal with the US right now.
All of the things that these fools are doing haven’t even slowed the increase in the number of worldwide terrorist incidents. When do people figure out that the current group is on the wrong track? You can’t combat terrorists by using their tactics: kidnapping, torture, and murder.
Ms. McCarthy is a symptom of just how out-of-control things have gotten in the intelligence community.
9 comments
Some Insight…
Bryan at Why Now? provides a look at why a CIA operative might blow the whistle on an operation like Abu Ghraib.
In the military and most government jobs, if something happens that you think is wrong there are procedures in place to deal with the pr…..
Having linked this post to one I wrote, “Luke” is now inquiring as to what was illegal about the “secret prisons.” Gentlebeings, start your engines.
I gave him a response. People forget that when you work in other countries, you work under their laws.
…as I was saying, the only damage that was done was to this administration’s ability to engage in a deep black program that most Americans would probably have some reservations about in any case. Firing her in so public a fashion over this particular issue looks a bit like another self-inflicted wound…
The Inspectors General won’t investigate, the Congress won’t investigate, no one in this country is interested in investigating what is going on. In the absence of a thorough investigation the charges just ferment and everyone assumes the worst.
When you politicize the Inspector General system, you put people in the position of having no authorized system for dealing with these situations and you are going to have leaks, because the pressure has to be relieved.
Does the thot plicken?
The CIA officer fired last week for unauthorized contacts with the media denies allegations that she provided information leading to The Washington Post’s award-winning story on secret CIA detention centers, according to a friend speaking on her behalf.
“She was not the source for that story,” said Rand Beers, who has talked with his former colleague, Mary McCarthy, a veteran intelligence analyst. (Link
So…if true, I wonder who did the talking?
Dana Priest is a long time Pentagon reporter with credibility. Ms. McCarthy was probably a confirming witness with a pretty good case for unlawful termination if true.
If all Ms. McCarthy did was confirm that the matter was under investigation by the IG, the CIA has a problem.
Andante, I couldn’t get that link to work, but I found another source for the information.
I couldn’t get it to work, either….it’s from Yahoo News. The same story is popping up elsewhere.
This whole story smells fishy to me.