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Rochard · 10-13-2011, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quentin

Rochard, do you trust the information contained in the book Ghost Wars? It's a book that I know you've read, because you posted about it here, and if I recall correctly, you were of the opinion that it was a pretty good read.

If you did trust the information in that book....well, guess what? The sources for the book were largely ex-CIA, and included the aforementioned Bob Baer, former Peshawar station chief Milton Bearden (whom Baer and other officers sometimes refer to affectionately as "Uncle Milty"), Mike Scheuer and Gary Schoen, among many others.

Whether you 'trust' them or not, it stands to reason that the only place you could conceivably get reliable information about the covert work done by the CIA is from people who either currently work for that agency, used to work for it, or who have received briefings from such people (like the President, and to a much lesser extent, members of congressional committees tasked with overseeing the CIA).

Personally, I think Bob Baer has pretty strong credentials with respect to Iran. Among other things, he spent a lot of time working in Lebanon during the 80s, and was smack in the middle of the CIA's investigation into Hezbollah's kidnapping of Beirut station chief Bill Buckley in 1984. On the other hand, I don't believe Baer is infallible, or that his opinions are sacrosanct. So, while I'm definitely not going to dismiss his opinion out of hand, I'm not going to simply accept it as the end-all, be-all perspective on the subject, either.

At the end of the day, intelligence work is really a very murky business. Much of what is "known," even by the case officers who investigate it, is really just "passionately believed." Intelligence collection and analysis isn't an exact science, even for those most directly involved, and it sure as hell isn't something that can be discussed with categorical assurance by a bunch of 'outsiders' like those of us who populate this forum.

I've actually interviewed two ex-CIA officers myself. The funny thing is that I didn't know that's what they were at the time of the interviews; I interviewed them in the context of their new/current jobs, and only ran across the fact that they were ex-CIA years later. One of them is Chuck Joyner, the head of the FBI's 2257 inspection team.

So... let the conspiracy theories about Chuck, the porn industry, and the CIA begin, I guess. ;-)

I do remember reading that book; I still have it.

I tend to trust books more than I do anything I'll read on line, but still even with books I read them with a grain of salt. It's hard to figure out when people have an agenda.

As for the CIA, I'd never trust anyone from the CIA. Right out of the gate part of their job is dis-information. Factor in that someone is ten years removed from the CIA, and.... Doesn't have direct access to top secret information anymore.... Makes his opinions just that - opinions. Granted, he's a lot more qualified than me to talk about Iran.

The one thing that gets me... Is why would anyone pay $1.5 mil to have someone killed? And why would you hire a Mexican cartel member in the United States to do it? Something is off here.