At The Center Of The Storm Part 21

The current DNI, Mike McConnell, is an enormously capable former senior intelligence officer. His years in the private sector will give him useful experience to build the collaborative enterprise that American intelligence must become. His princ.i.p.al tasks will be to enable the const.i.tuencies that report to him to perform better without having a vast staff to micromanage every operation, collection decision, or piece of a.n.a.lysis.

He will understand that common policies with strong central management with regard to enabling the free flow of data, training and retaining intelligence professionals, enacting security protocols, setting priorities, and measuring achievement all can have a liberating effect on the intelligence community. As a former director of NSA, and chief intelligence officer to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he also understands that decentralization, the collection and processing of data, and a.n.a.lysis of that data as early as possible to get close to the beneficiaries of the intelligence, are essential elements of success.

Domestically, he will quickly understand that this decentralized model-in particular the linking of data and a.n.a.lysts, whether from the FBI or the intelligence community, to state and local police officers or to the private sector-is an essential element of deterring future terrorist attacks against the United States.

We as a country chose not to create a domestic intelligence service separate and apart from the FBI. In fact, little serious consideration was ever given to the proposal. At the time I left office, a time of crisis, it would have been difficult to create yet another wholly new ent.i.ty on top of everything else we were establis.h.i.+ng. Yet, the potential benefit of a domestic intelligence service should be debated. The answer to that debate should not be based on whether such a service detracts from the FBI but rather on whether the country would, over the long term, be safer and whether such a service, separate and apart from traditional investigatory and police work, could exist within our framework of laws and individual rights. At the very least, a dispa.s.sionate examination of the idea should be considered now, and not in the aftermath of another terrorist attack.

Whatever the challenges that face us, one of the most frequent questions I am asked is: "As a result of the steps that have been taken, are we safer today than we were on 9/11?"

The answer is yes, we are safer, but much danger still remains. We must not fool the American people into believing that reorganizing the structure of American intelligence has created an impenetrable s.h.i.+eld. It has not. And much more work still needs to be done. My fear is that we have lost our sense of urgency.

One final lesson learned during my time as DCI over two administrations is that, despite what conspiracy theorists and political operatives would have you believe, people from both parties, with vastly different approaches, try to do what they think is right for our country. It is a great disservice when partisans on both sides of the aisle suggest that their opponents are willfully putting American lives at risk and playing into the hands of the enemy. As I said at the outset of this book, their methods can and should be debated, but not their motives.

My time as DCI ended with more than a Medal of Freedom hung around my neck. Not everything laid on my shoulders was welcomed or, I'd like to think, deserved. But certainly some of it was.

I rest easy knowing that I was in the arena and that I tried my d.a.m.nedest to protect my country. Some people described me in the days prior to 9/11 as "running around with my hair on fire." If so, it was not because I was excitable but because we saw a threat and tried to do something about it. The work of American intelligence officers is a critical and largely thankless task. They share the dangers and uncertainties that are shouldered by our military. The country has many entirely appropriate and needed ways to thank our armed forces-but precious few to do the same for the men and women of the intelligence community. There are no parades to honor veteran spies or bands to welcome them home. Yet intelligence professionals willingly and enthusiastically embark on their important missions knowing that self-satisfaction for having fought the good fight will have to suffice in lieu of public thanks.

There is a tradition at CIA where fallen officers are memorialized with a marble star carved into the wall of our lobby. By the time I left, there were a total of eighty-three stars. Each May we hosted a memorial service, where we would read aloud the names of fallen officers and tell some of their stories, sometimes in the presence of family members who did not know of their exploits. It was a way to bridge the past and the future, a way to teach our young officers about the meaning of service.

Eleven officers were taken from us during my time as director. I felt each of their deaths personally. Some, such as Mike Spann and Helge Boes, died in Afghanistan, on the front line of the war against terrorism. Others cannot be mentioned. Their lives, and deaths, must remain secret. But those of us who became part of the Agency family will always remember them.

Whenever the CIA's engraver, Tim Johnston, had to carve a new star, I would slip out of my office for a moment and watch him at work. The most valued gift I received during my tenure was a small marble star, presented to me by Tim. I still keep it on my desk.

When I was in office, I tried my best to represent the American people in thanking our intelligence professionals for what they do for all of us. Being the chief defender and spokesman for a secret organization was challenging-and I bear more than a few scars-yet I also experienced great moments of quiet joy with colleagues who took enormous risks on behalf of America and its allies. Considering it all, would I make that long journey again? Absolutely-in a heartbeat.

GLOSSARY.

Aardwolf-Code name for a comprehensive written a.s.sessment of a situation submitted by a senior CIA field representative to Agency headquarters.

Alec Station-A "virtual station" set up within CIA's Counterterrorist Center in 1996 to focus specifically on al-Qa'ida. Originally designed TFL, for Terrorist Financial Links, it became known informally as the Bin Ladin Station.

al-Qa'ida-Arabic for "the base"; the umbrella name for Usama bin Ladin's Sunni Islamist group dedicated to driving Westerners out of the Gulf region and establis.h.i.+ng a Muslim caliphate.

Ba'ath Party-The Arab nationalist secular political party that ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003.

BND-The Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service); the external intelligence agency of the German government.

The Bubble-CIA's auditorium.

BW-Biological weapons; the use of bacteria, viruses, toxins, etc. as weapons.

Case officer-A member of CIA's clandestine service who recruits and directs foreign agents.

CBW-Chemical and biological weapons.

CENTCOM-The U.S. Central Command; the organization responsible for U.S. military operations in Northeast Africa and Southwest and Central Asia.

CIA-Central Intelligence Agency.

Covert action-An operation conducted in a way to conceal the role of the U.S. government behind those actions.

CPA-Coalition Provisional Authority; a government ent.i.ty, under the direction of L. Paul "Jerry" Bremer, established in Iraq in April 2003 to provide transition to an Iraqi government. Disestablished on June 28, 2004.

CPD-Counterproliferation Division; the part of CIA's Directorate of Operations concerned with trying to stop the spread of weapons of ma.s.s destruction.

CTC-Counterterrorist Center; a portion of CIA made up of a.n.a.lysts and operators, which conducts operations against terrorists worldwide.

CW-Chemical weapons.

DC-Deputies Committee; NSC committee generally made up of the second ranking person from the NSC, State and Defense departments, CIA, etc.

DCI-Director of Central Intelligence; the head of the U.S. intelligence community and CIA. Position established in 1947 and disestablished in 2005 with the creation of the position of the director of national intelligence.

DDCI-Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.

DDI-Deputy Director (of Central Intelligence) for intelligence; head of the a.n.a.lytic arm of CIA.

DDO-Deputy Director (of Central Intelligence) for operations; head of the intelligence-collection arm of the CIA. Now called the National Clandestine Service.

DDS&T-Deputy Director (of Central Intelligence) for science and technology.

DIA-Defense Intelligence Agency; the Department of Defense's intelligence organization, providing foreign military intelligence to the warfighter.

EIJ-Egyptian Islamic Jihad; a terrorist group whose origins date back to the 1970s. Under the leaders.h.i.+p of Ayman al-Zawahiri, EIJ essentially merged with al-Qa'ida in the late 1990s.

EXDIR-Executive Director of Central Intelligence; third ranking official in CIA.

Finding-A legal doc.u.ment, signed by the president, granting specific authorities to the CIA and the intelligence community to conduct covert actions.

FISA-Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; a 1978 law laying out specific authorities and procedures for the collection of physical and electronic intelligence regarding foreign intelligence.

FSB-The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation; the domestic successor to the KGB in Russia.