Something that strikes me about some of the recent news — the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, the NIE before that one, and the news about the CIA destroying recordings of interrogations…
Remember back when spy stuff was actually classified, which means, NOT in the newspapers? Remember the Patrick McGoohan series, or for that matter the Joseph Conrad novel — or the Johnny Rivers song? "Secret Agent Man," remember?
Seems like, not so very long ago, it was a bad thing that Bob "Prince of Darkness" Novak blew Valerie Plame’s cover. Some folks thought so, anyway. I mean, before she wrote her memoir.
Didn’t NIEs used to be secret? And what was the CIA doing taping interrogations anyway? Isn’t it sort of part of the etiquette of intrigue that the rubber-hose business isn’t on YouTube?
I can think of only one practical reason why spies would record an interrogation — for use on the subject, to extract more information. It’s one of the classic ploys — actually, it’s sort of the classic ploy — for the brutish business of intelligence gathering: You get a guy to spill a little, then you say, What if we told your pals on the other side what you’ve already told us? If you don’t want that to happen, tell us more…
But that was back when secret agent stuff was secret.
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I just hope something is secret somewhere. I don’t want to know our country’s intelligence, because that means everybody else would know it, too, including our enemies.
I don’t want to know about the private lives of celebrities. I don’t want to know one more non-secret about these people who really should know that there are some things they really shouldn’t tell.
There are no secrets, and the problem isn’t the Internet. It’s that secrets have somehow become morally distasteful. If it can’t be told, it must be shameful. So all manner of shames are outed, and all manner of intelligence is spilled in the streets.
This country has always had, as far as I can tell, a tendency to ‘out’ the secretive at every chance. “Secret Agent Man” was a fun song and/or TV show, Nothing more. The big difference, as far as I can see, is that we have grown up a bit in that we may ‘out’ information, but people think twice before ‘outting’ a person who can be physically hurt. And anyway, Brad, do you still trust this presidency even without the recent leak?
If so, why? And what do you want to attack Iran with?
We know only what they want us to know. The question is, why do they want us to know it now? … It’s all just disinformation.
And what do you think of Obadiah Shoher’s arguments against the peace process ( samsonblinded.org/blog/we-need-a-respite-from-peace.htm )?