Sorry, but here comes another war story

"There are more foreign spies on U.S. soil now than at the peak of the Cold War, according to Hank Crumpton, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency's National Resources Division, a highly sensitive operation charged with collecting foreign intelligence here in the U.S. Crumpton also led the covert response to 9/11 in Afghanistan, where the CIA helped topple the Taliban." Those were the words a CBS spokesperson used on the May 13 edition of its news program, "Sixty Minutes." Crumpton has written a book, "The Art of Intelligence, Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestne Service," just published this week, which traces his career in the CIA. As of a few hours before publishing this post, I have not been able to locate a review of the book. So, here is a publisher's promotional piece regarding Crumpton's career and a video of his interview on "Sixty Minutes." If I run across an actual review of the book, I might slip it in here later, but, of course, there is no reason you cannot buy the book and read it yourself. It might be educational and even jolt you into reality.

Hamlet .... Act 1, Scene 5:
"Swear by my sword
Never to speak of this that you have heard"

 A legendary CIA spy and counterterrorism expert tells the spellbinding story of his high-risk, action-packed career while illustrating the growing importance of America's intelligence officers and their secret missions.

For a crucial period, Henry "Hank" Crumpton led the CIA's global covert operations against America's terrorist enemies, including Al Qaeda. In the days after 9/11, the CIA tasked Crumpton to organize and lead the Afghanistan campaign.

With Crumpton's strategic initiative and bold leadership, from the battlefield to the Oval Office, U.S. and Afghan allies routed Al Qaeda and the Taliban in less than ninety days after the Twin Towers fell. At the height of combat against the Taliban in late 2001, there were fewer than five hundred Americans on the ground in Afghanistan, a dynamic blend of CIA and Special Forces. The campaign changed the way America wages war. This book will change the way America views the CIA.

"The Art of Intelligence" draws from the full arc of Crumpton's espionage and covert action exploits to explain what America's spies do and why their service is more valuable than ever.

From his early years in Africa, where he recruited and ran sources, from loathsome criminals to heroic warriors; to his liaison assignment at the FBI, the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the development of the UAV Predator program, and the Afghanistan war; to his later work running all CIA clandestine operations inside the United States, he employs enthralling storytelling to teach important lessons about national security, but also about duty, honor, and love of country.

No book like "The Art of Intelligence, Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service" has ever been written -- not with Crumpton's unique perspective, in a time when America faced such grave and uncertain risk. It is an epic, sure to be a classic in the annals of espionage and war.

The war within a war

Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's clandestine service,  has written "Hard Measures," a book in which he defends the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on high-level Al Qaeda detainees. Here is a review of the book by Husna Hag, a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, followed by a two-part video interview with Rodriguez aired on the CBS television news program, "Sixty Minutes." Both the book review and the interview appeared on April 30. Look them over and offer your thoughts, opinions or beliefs -- if you have any ....

Enhanced interrogation:
Good idea or bad policy?

By Husna Hag
The Christian Science Monitor

Talk about explosive. We can already see the policy arguments, newsroom discussions, and dinnertime brawls emanating from the latest terrorism book to hit shelves, one that already has the blogosphere buzzing.

In “Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions after 9/11 Saved American Lives,” by former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, Jose Rodriguez, and the CIA’s former top spokesman, Bill Harlow, Rodriguez argues for the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” like waterboarding, methods some consider torture.

In the book, Rodriguez, who for years was unable to publicly respond to criticism of his interrogation techniques, defends his waterboarding program and his order to destroy videotapes of harsh interrogation sessions in which suspected Al Qaeda members were held down and subjected to simulated drowning. He also goes on the counterattack, pointing a finger at those he says hindered the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

According to the Daily Beast, which earlier obtained a copy of the controversial memoir, those targets include the government of Pakistan, Washington’s supposed ally in the war on terror, whom Rodriguez says is actually assisting terrorists.

“We got close to [9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed / KSM] a couple of times,” Rodriguez writes.

“At one point we had narrowed down his whereabouts to a few square miles in Karachi. Working with Pakistani liaison, we tried to narrow it down. But then a corrupt Pakistani policeman who had somehow learned of the effort tipped off KSM. An email from the crooked cop was intercepted. In it, he told KSM, ‘They know where you are.’”

Rodriguez also goes after the FBI, whom he said publicly criticized the CIA’s interrogation methods and hampered its efforts. “Could we have gotten the same information using FBI practices?” Rodriguez asks. “Maybe. If we had all the time in the world, perhaps we could have. But we did not.”

He also skewers CIA critics in Congress, none more so than House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, challenging her assertion that she was not informed about the use of waterboarding.

“Pelosi said that we only briefly mentioned waterboarding and left the impression that it had not been used,” Rodriguez writes, explaining that he himself briefed her about waterboarding and its use, according to the Daily Beast review. He also says Pelosi posed no objection to the technique. “I know she got it.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that she, like almost all Americans less than a year after, wanted us to be aggressive to make sure that Al Qaeda wasn’t able to replicate their attack…. Pelosi was another member of Congress reinventing the truth.”

Rodriguez even goes after the CIA inspector general’s office, which reprimanded him for the destruction of the interrogation videotapes and the Obama administration, whom he says has become too reliant on missile-armed drones to kill, instead of capture, terrorists.

“Drones can be a highly effective way of dealing with high-priority targets,” Rodriguez writes in the book. “But they should not become the drug of choice for an administration that is afraid to use successful, legal and safe tactics of the past.” He adds, “Needless to say, there is no opportunity to interrogate or learn anything from a suspect who is vaporized by a missile launched by a keystroke executed thousands of miles away.”

We’re pretty sure this won’t be the last we hear of “Hard Measures.”