Jonathan Alter titled his most recent article in the June 14 issue of Newsweek, Cheney’s Tortured Logic. The story is about enhanced interrogation techniques—that’s benign politicolegaleze for torture. Alter actually says in the article that Eric Holder the US Attorney General is wrong for assigning a federal prosecutor to delve into the matter, which I wholeheartedly agree with and have said so in previous blogs and to my wife, when she’ll listen. My criticism of Alter is that I think he added gratuitous spice to the article in order to sell it to Newsweek. Controversy sells magazines, therefore the tweaks that were sure to draw applause and consternation at the same time. If you didn’t have an opportunity to read what I’m referring to here they are, followed by my consternation-revealing remarks. And I quote:

          “Two words jumped out at me from Cheney’s Fox News interview last week. Chris Wallace asked, “So even in those cases where CIA interrogators went beyond the specific legal authorization, you’re OK with it?” Cheney answered, “I am.” Alter says in his article to that, “That unadorned ‘I am’ was terrifying.”

          Please, Mr. Alter, terrifying? I think not. There are many of us who believe Cheney simply puts words and actions, no matter how unpopular, to how we feel. I do not engage in conversations promoting the torture of known terrorists that may have information critical to saving the lives of innocent people. However, have no doubt, if it were my responsibility to save one innocent I’d torture until I got verifiable information. Call me immoral, some would. Call me a hero, some would do that too but be assured I wouldn’t indulge in debate over the morality of such an act while waiting for a bomb to explode. Neither would Cheney. What would you call Cheney, Mr. Alter, if he authorized, condoned, encouraged, participated in the torture of someone who had foreknowledge of an event that would most certainly injure or even kill one of your family members?

          Secondly, Mr. Alter said, “As much as I’d like to see Cheney frog-marched out of Jackson Hole and sent to prison…” My problem with this remark is Alter’s apparent lack of respectful decorum when speaking of a former elected official who spent the better part of his life serving the USA. And frog-marched out of Jackson Hole, wouldn’t that be humiliating and possibly torturous? Many legal scholars as well as political ethicists would find that extremely unreasonable and bordering on criminal. Frog-marched, that sounds terrifying.

Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano was lambasted a few weeks ago for releasing publicly her thoughts concerning the growing number of militant groups here in the US. She mentioned that many disgruntled former military servicemen were either forming these groups or at least joining them. She miscalculated the backlash and probably, unintentionally I’m sure, simultaneously encouraged ex-soldiers and marines to do just what she claimed was occurring. I don’t have facts to support the above statement, but I’m guessing there is a level of truth to it.

Most of these groups are not dangerous; as a matter of fact it may be a proper venue for disgruntled ex-military, military wannabes, and anti-government rightwing pseudo-revolutionist to burn off some of their anger and hostility. Eventually, I hope the majority of these folk will mature and realize operating a government is not all black and white nor is it easy.

I said, “Most of these groups are not dangerous…” However, there are some that are potentially dangerous and those groups seem to be growing also. On the far left are the environmentalist groups and on the right are the racist groups and extreme religious fundamentalist groups. I have concern about all these factions but this is my biggest fear and one we all need to be aware of especially when engaged in debate with people on the verge of blowing their top.

I did not vote for Obama and the reason I did not vote for him has nothing to do with bigotry or racism, contrary to what Wright, Sharpton, and the rest of the race baiters say. I did not vote for him because I believed he was too naïve, inexperienced and promising a change for the good in the way we live far beyond what God himself could do. Obama is obviously far more intelligent than most of us and he has a surplus of wonderful qualities but his politics are far too socialistic sounding for me. Now, that is why I didn’t vote for him.  

My concerns are for those on the verge (see above) as well as skin heads, Arian Nation/Neo-Nazis and whoever else shares those imbecilic notions.  I suspect they interpret the tea-parties, town hall meetings, and the growing grassroots movement against the new administration’s policies as a clear sign that most of the white-ish population just doesn’t want a black man running the country and I, for one, want to make it clear that’s absolutely wrong. As a matter of fact, had she run for president I would have voted for Condoleezza Rice.

Wondering why this has shown up in the middle of a blog on spying? Because the government must take whatever measures it deems necessary to spy on these groups. Yes, is the answer to your next question. We do spy on them but usually at a level less sophisticated than we do with potential foreign adversaries, such as Iran. Law enforcement keeps a close eye on these groups and when there is evidence wire tapping is permitted. Their criminal enterprises are busted and culprits prosecuted. ATF, FBI infiltrate groups and funnel intelligence back to their respective agencies and so on. However, with all that’s being done I don’t think we’ve taken the newest threat as seriously as we should. The problem is that we—our own citizens—are preventing this by taking a stand on such things as gun control and government intrusion into our personal lives.

Before you react to what I’ve just written and click to something else hear me out. I have four hand guns and two rifles. I’m still mulling over how I will answer questions on the 2010 government census form that I don’t believe is anyone’s business. I’ve been a republican for over forty years with no plans of changing, ever.

Our government does all kinds of things outside the continental limits of the US that they cannot do here. Although there are rules set by our government that apply to espionage in a foreign land we American citizens don’t really care how spying is carried out there, we just want it done and done accurately. That isn’t so here in America, just read the accounts—and watch the movie adaptations—of glorified anarchists allegedly standing up for their rights and claiming protection under various articles of the US Constitution. And it seems every time an account makes the news there is a ground swell of support for the poor soul that was simply exercising his or her right as a free citizen. Never mind what it was that brought that free citizen to the attention of authorities in the first place. Hollywood and tabloid news tend to make heroes of the anarchist and villains of law enforcement and other participating government agencies. The point of all this is to say that some (the free citizen and others mentioned above) fancy themselves as revolutionists who believe their cause is just and will make better the world we live in. Underlying that false revolutionist mentality we usually find a person or group entwined somehow in illegal activity such as tax evasion, polygamy, illegal weapons, drugs, prostitution, environmental terrorism as well as those who not only claim their own interpretation of constitutional rights but hide behind their own interpretation of the Bible as well.

These groups, if you will allow me to clump them together, concern me for the very reason I mentioned earlier. Are they misinterpreting my disagreement with the Obama administration because he is black and if so do they think this disagreement is a mandate for them to act on? A man brought a gun to a town hall meeting to make a point. I don’t know if he is a member of any of these groups or if he is just angry and wants someone to see just how angry. But if he’s an average citizen, like you and me, think about the anarchist and consider what lengths he might go to especially with the aid and encouragement of other like minded psycho’s.

How to find out who is thinking this and how to find those preparing to act violently toward the president and other representatives of Obama’s administration is a question needing to be answered. How to do it without stepping all over the US Constitution is another matter entirely.

I refuse to talk more about the US Attorney General Eric Holder and his misguided attempt to reconcile Bush-era interrogation methods via the investigation and possible prosecution of CIA operatives. However, I will say the act of appointing a federal prosecutor in and of itself is a strike—intentional or not—at the heart of what keeps America secure.

The espionage void began shortly after the Berlin wall fell. Russia, or what was left of it, was no longer seen as a great threat. Nuclear weapons were de-commissioned; nuclear non-proliferation was on the uptake. All of a sudden the nuclear armed countries had all these expensive and technically complicated rockets that were no longer needed. An effort began then to disarm, and with disarmament came downsizing of various intelligence gathering agencies. Fear of instant annihilation was set aside as a reasonable issue for consideration at another time. And at that point or somewhere close to that point the baby was thrown out with the bath water. If these big threats, we were thinking, were no longer as concerning then why spend billions on spying-information collection and analysis? It made no sense, besides that we needed money for other things.

This was a clear bi-partisan error committed under Reagan and Bush 41 and carried over into the Clinton era. The difference being that Reagan and Bush valued the contributions made by those agencies and Mr. Clinton didn’t. Bill Clinton had, at best, distain for them and dismantled them during his presidency. He even apparently ignored warnings from those agencies that further attacks against US interests overseas were eminent.  In addition to the first World Trade Center bombing in `93, there were the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. To be fair I should mention that President Clinton vowed to hunt the culprits down and bring them to justice, but was hindered in the attempt to do a thorough job by a number of legitimate factors. There is also a good chance the Monica Lewinsky scandal had a deleterious effect on the president’s judgment at the time. At least it would have mine.

Now, after a disastrous eight years trying to reorganize and repair our country—after 9/11 and two wars—we find ourselves needing quality intelligence as much as we did during the cold-war. Instead of our government providing support to the CIA, political and otherwise, the attorney general wants to expose the ugly side of something (espionage) we all know exits. This looks and smells to me like one of those back room hidden agendas you hear about from the far left and far right conspiracy kooks. You don’t suppose I’m being influenced by those kooks do you?

After two days of seeing the sights we boarded a bus for Damascus, Syria. Everyone on board bore the signs of retirement; graying hair, wrinkles, loose fitting comfortable cloths, a tourist bag, camera and a friend or spouse to set with. I on the other hand was alone, carrying no bag, was then 34 years old, and wearing jeans, polo shirt and light jacket. I don’t know what my attire communicated but evidently it wasn’t tourist. When we got to the boarder between Jordan and Syria two twenty-something military types came aboard the bus to check pass-ports. Both had assault weapons dangling dangerously from their shoulder, the muzzle banging against the metal back rests as they moved from person to person down the aisle. One got to me and reached for my pass-port in a manner different than he had with the other tourists. Rather than just taking the document from my hand he grabbed and jerked it from me. I played it cool and looked out the window, ignoring the abrupt gesture. The soldier showed my pass-port to his partner, they exchanged comments in Arabic in a tone recognizable in any language—hostility—and ordered me off the bus and escorted me to a small guard shack. Once inside the soldiers seemed to argue, from time to time they’d point at the pass-port and then stare at me, not saying anything. Finally the bus driver, an older man, came into the shack and intervened. By all appearances it looked as though the driver was berating the soldiers. I was hoping he wasn’t antagonizing them further. Rather quickly the shouting quieted and the driver motioned for me to follow and as soon as I’d returned to my seat on the bus we were back on the road. That evening one of the tour group members asked me if I was afraid during the incident. I said, “No”. I explained at the time I wasn’t at all apprehensive, all I thought about was that the incident might be worthy of a book one day. However, as the day passed I became acutely aware of how close I came to losing my family first and my freedom second. The incident at the boarder turned out to not be a big deal, hardly worth mentioning, but I learned a valuable lesson that has remained with me since then. Never take your safety for granted, even under the most benign circumstances (especially in unfamiliar territory) life can change in a second.

Since then I’ve thought about the hundreds of people carrying out clandestine missions every day with one goal in mind and that is the safety of America and our way of life. Their job is thankless, and their achievements are buried because of the confidential nature of the mission. No one knows what sacrifices they’ve made on our behalf and they can’t tell, ever.

My novel, mentioned in an earlier blog, tells a story of a few fictional characters performing a thankless job under conditions that aren’t at all fiction.

My interest in espionage, the CIA, and military intelligence work never waned, although marriage, education, kids and my profession all took precedence during the following years.

 In 1977 I embarked on a mission to further my understanding of two more interests I’d only day-dreamed about; The Holy Land and archaeology. My wife Nancy Egner (deceased 1994) surprised me with a tour package for my birthday. I tried several times in the following months to talk her into going with me but Nancy opted to look after our two young children not wanting to burden relatives with that task for two weeks.

The plane full of tourists, including me, landed in Amman, Jordan after dark on October 17, 1977. We were ushered to our hotel with orders from our guide to get some rest so we’d be ready for a busy day of sight-seeing. I tried to take a shower but the pressure was nonexistent. I tried to sleep but was too excited. I was hungry but the hotel wasn’t a Marriott, not even close and as far as I could see out my fourth story window there was not a neon sign advertising food and drink anywhere. I learned to adapt. More tomorrow.

I first became interested in intelligence gathering during my enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corp. While a member of the Third Reconnaissance Battalion, Third Marine Division from 1963 until 1964 I participated in three classified missions. Being one of only a few enlisted men with a secret clearance I had access to information only a small number were privy to. While participating in various military ‘exercises’ throughout the far east Third Recon, as well as Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, were also involved in ‘other’ maneuvers, some of the recon marines weren’t even aware of how involved. I became enamored with the whole idea of secrecy, gathering information others didn’t want you to have. Near the end of my enlistment in 1965 I applied to and was accepted into Marine embassy school in Washington D.C., all I needed to do was sign-up for another six years, I was ready. Now, for better or worse, as life happens I was arrested by the San Clemente police less than two blocks from the rear gate at Camp Pendleton driving under the influence. By the time I’d paid the fine and gotten myself out of jail the embassy school dream had faded into oblivion. I guess they didn’t want drunk drivers representing the U.S. on embassy duty around the world. Go figure.

I was told by my publisher that The Moriah Ruse is going into print this week. That means it will be released to the market in late October or early November, a full year since I typed the final sentence. I began writing the novel in late `07 and by the time the self-editing was complete a year had passed quickly by. Now another year has passed. Writing, revising, editing, publishing and marketing a book takes a lot of time. I’ve read where authors do it in a few months and I wonder how.

The Moriah Ruse is my first spy yarn, a sequel to The Margin which was my first novel—a tale of lost treasure, kidnapping and murder. A protagonist was created in The Margin many readers liked and suggested she play a role in my next book. I liked the protagonist myself and had already decided to give her a prominent place in book two.  So, bolstered by encouragement from readers she and a few others from The Margin make their way from crime solving to deep cover espionage.

I promised to continue the blog topic of last week, SPYING: What Will Obama Do?, but I’m now even more concerned about Attorney General Eric Holder and his intent on investigating Bush-era interrogation tactics, so we’ll return to Spying later.

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and readers of this blog according to an article by Greg Miller and Josh Meyer written August 9, 2009 Mr. Holder is on the verge of naming a federal investigator. The question becomes is this the right move for the US?  No, I say absolutely not.  You might wonder why I’m so emphatic. As some of you know I’m not an expert on interrogation methods or the laws that govern their usage.  I am an interested citizen of the US that not only has the right to proffer my opinion but the obligation to do so, especially in the face of an impending injustice.  The Bush-era interrogation tactics investigation is the impending injustice I’m referring to.

Ask yourself why are we investigating, so that we can point at Bush and his administration with the finger of contempt and righteous indignation?  Or maybe we will find al Qaeda innocent of murdering three-thousand innocent non-combatants.  Some believe we will expose the evil within the CIA, DOD.  Let me say this to that belief, I can find evil in your hometown church, in any college and cookie manufacturer in the US—in other words, evil is everywhere.  Now ask yourself this, is it absolutely evil, absolutely un-lawful, absolutely un-ethical and immoral to torture the hell out of someone if there is a good chance they have information that could save one American life.  I believe it isn’t absolute and therefore the end justifies the means.  Let’s move on with new and improved interrogation methods, let’s implement the ones we already have.  Let’s thank Bush and the interrogators for keeping the US safe from attacks since September 11, 2001 and move on.  What will we benefit if the government spends millions of dollars, countless man-hours, and ruining reputations in the process?  Those citizens, the results of this investigation will be released to, are probably still in diapers, and the likelihood of them giving a damn is remote.

Reading current and historical news articles about the various agencies responsible for gathering intelligence relevant to the safety of US citizens prompts the question—what kind of future are we destined to face? To be honest, and you knew I would be, I don’t have a clue. However, not having a clue doesn’t prevent me from ‘guessing’ just like everyone else does. Does it?

After the first gulf war (Desert Storm) and after the Clintons’ took over, the US government began a systematic disassembling of the military, anything military related and anything spy related. Without going into the vast amount of documentation supporting that claim trust me, it happened. You remember, the cold-war was over, nuclear arms were being dismantled and Saddam had surrendered in 1991, sort of. There simply was no need of spending all that money on defense and intelligence gathering, right? At the risk of drawing attention to an already overly analyzed tragic event let me remind you of 9/11. It sounds here like I’m talking down to you, the reader, but that is not my intention I’m just being a smart-a__. My mother always feared that part of my personality would come out at the most inopportune times, and it did. I did suffer the consequences of my actions.

As the Clinton administration whittled away at the budget for the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency many other foreign factions were ramping their intelligence gathering up. After our wake-up call on September 11, 2001 the Bush administration poured bucket after bucket of our hard earned tax dollars into repairing the dam weakened by Clinton. The money was spent fast—no one questioned the administrations motive—but spent very inefficiently. A reaction to a tragic event always breeds irrational thinking and that breeds inefficient spending.

Someone left the door open and now the horses are out of the barn, so to speak. To prevent this from happening again we equip the barn with a steel door operated by a system of fail-safe mechanisms, monitored by staff around the clock, inspected frequently by several oversight agencies. We hire a consultant to tell us what to do next and she advises that the steel door needs a full-time maintenance crew and a full-time security force to guard against incursion. Now that that is taken care of we buy more horses—the others were never found—and put them in the barn only to find out they galloped out the back barn door that was inadvertently left open by the minimum-wage cowhand.

What’s next?

The title should actually read, Not a Saint, a Messiah, a Seer, a Superman Among Them. I’m talking of course about our political leadership, and not just Obama’s administration but all that came before. Some administrations accomplished wonderful things, at a cost I might add. Of course some wreaked havoc. Some have done both, none have been perfect. Good men do some amazingly dim-witted things and once in a while the not-so-bright, not-so-good conquer amazing challenges. With that said I bring you to the subject of Eric Holder Jr., the attorney general of the United States, and his plan—according to Newsweek, July 2009—to resurrect the probe of Bush-era interrogation methods. Holder commented to an associate that when he read the Bush administration’s torture policies it ‘turned my stomach.’ During a speech at West Point Holder invoked a George Washington-ism to help support the concept of decency even when hosting prisoner’s of war. It was at the Battle of Trenton where General Washington said, “…captive British soldiers were to be treated with humanity, regardless of how colonial soldiers captured in battle might be treated.” No doubt, Holder is a good man, aspiring to be an example of Washington’s comment. He was appalled with the Bush-era interrogation policies, a sentiment I’m sure many would share. And standing before the cadets, his words crafted to inspire, he pointed the way to moral primacy. I would want my grandchildren to hear him and learn. Idealism. Now, move idealism to one side and make room for a little pragmatism. When faced with the practicality of life pragmatism trumps idealism at about every turn. A soldier goes to war thinking he must fight for the freedom of his country, fight so that his family will be safe from the enemy, fight for liberty and so on. All wonderfully idealistic notions but when the first bullet zings overhead that notion vanishes, and from there on out the soldier is fighting for one thing and only one thing—to stay alive. The idea Holder thinks he must ‘show the way’, in the case of severe interrogation methods is at best naïve and at worst dangerous to any person or agency tasked with accumulating actionable information necessary for the protection of our sovereign nation. There are new interrogation parameters that must be set in place and many interrogation methods that need to be scrubbed but, in the words of a very wise mother, “Don’t through the baby out with the bath water.”

July 8, 2009

Intel gathering with respect to Iran and their nuclear intentions is the most important issue facing the US spy community today. There are other issues of a similar nature that are on the Intel agenda, but at this moment in history Iran and what that nation is up to ranks number one. Why? A number of reasons and at the top of that list is Iran’s history, culture and providence. Iran, formerly the Persian Empire was unchallenged hundreds of years ago as the seat of trade routes linking the Mediterranean with the East. Trade was not limited to silk, salt and pottery, the most significant import/export that passed between regions trading in tangible goods were the intangibles—culture, language, philosophy, religion, belief systems, even the rudiments of science. The Persians were under, or at least exposed to, the influence of other cultures that challenged their strict lifestyle. This required a tightening of leadership influence and in some cases extreme measures were taken to inoculate the people from the pressure of persuasion. As a result, like most religions, the Qur’an became the absolute word on behavior as well as faith. Of course, like most religions, various interpretations emerged and with that fanaticism. Today Iran’s Guardian Council views the influence of the West (mainly the US) the same as it did the harmful influence of other cultures long ago. Looking at Iran’s situation from their perspective is a challenge for those of us liberated from what we call oppressive government, but if we could see it the Councils way one might empathize, a smidgeon. It isn’t hard to see how religious leaders, no matter how dogmatic, could see our nation as astray. A nation of egomaniacal, self-centered, immoral, perverted idol worshippers and that’s just the leadership. I’m smiling, sort of. I said all of that just to make a point and that is; Iran and its leadership don’t play by the same rules. They’ve been at the game much longer than we have and they are a sophisticated, shall I say, adversary. They know tricks we can’t even conceive of and right now the Guardian Council and their own ‘Dennis-the-menace’ Ahmadinejad have their collective fingers crossed as they lie to the world. Everyone knows about their deceptive ways and they know everyone knows, but they keep on deceiving. That is precisely why the Intel gathering community must do all in its power to obtain verifiable information for use when developing policy concerning US and Iranian matters.

Intelligence gathering is an absolute necessity. They are, so should we, and if that’s the way government has chosen to assure the safety of the US then spying is essential and must be done more cleverly than anyone else. Does that mean collecting intelligence by whatever means necessary? The answer, of course, is situational. If US citizens are in imminent threat of death, then yes, anything goes. I hear you…who decides if the threat is imminent or not? Wish there was an easy answer but, even if there was some would aggressively object calling on old rhetoric about how the US must hold itself to a higher standard. Holding to a higher standard is good no denying that, but there is a limit and every citizen knows there is a limit. It is a part of Homo sapiens’s innate barbaric nature. Some stand firmly against torturing for vital information yet petition for abortion rights.

One thing is certain about intelligence gathering regardless of your opinion of the above paragraph; we can not afford another Colin Powell moment. Not that Secretary Powell was wrong in what he told the UN. He and the Bush administration were right in so many ways about WMD but they were fooled, manipulated and made to look incompetent when Powell held photos of a mobile chemical lab up for viewing attesting to his certainty of its contents. Once it was determined the trucks were empty all credibility went the way of money at a carnival sideshow.