Jane
Mayer and the New Yorker Give CIA Director Panetta
A Pass (June
23, 2009, The Public Record)
CIA Director Leon Panetta has not produced
the openness and credibility his candidacy seemd poised
to usher in. Instead of pointing out his shortcomings,
Jane Mayer, a writer for the New Yorker, has come
to the defense of the new director. Sadly, it seems
the Obama administration will not receive the same
scrutiny the Bush administration faced.[article]
Panetta Continues
the CIA's Culture of Covering Up Abuses and Crimes
(June 17, 2009, The Public Record)
Even his close relationship with the
White House can keep Panetta from being pulled into
the CIA's secretive culture. Though he has promised
to clean up the agency, Panetta has failed to remove
any of the senior officials responsible for policies
that led to secret prisons, extraordinary renditions,
and torture and abuse.[article]
The U.S. and
North Korea: The Need for an About Face (June 5, 2009,
The Public Record) Recent
missile tests and the detention of American journalists
have put pressure on President Obama to act decisively
on North Korea. The United States should take this
opportunity
to initiate face to face talks between high level
diplomats. Six-power talks have failed and it is time
for the Obama administration to take their relationship
with North Korea in a new direction.[article]
This article was posted on the Chicago Sun-Times'
blog. You can access it here.
The CIA's History of Bamboozling
the Congress (May 22, 2009, the Public Record)
Whether or not Leon Panetta
believes the CIA lied to Congress about waterboarding,
the CIA has mislead the Congress on many number of
other occasions. [article]
CIA and the
Washington Post: Joined at the Hip (April 26, 2009,
The Public Record) In
a shift of political leaning, op-ed and editorial
writers at the Washington Post have moved to the right.
They have come to the defense of the CIA over issues
involving torture, relations with Russia and military
operations in Iraq. Writers use unverified material
from questionable sources to back up their stories
and support the CIA stand. [article]
'Action Memo'
for Obama: Recommendations for Dealing with Torture
(April 25, 2009, The Public Record)
President Obama wants to step
away from his predecessor’s legacy and has done
so by stopping torture and shutting down secret prisons.
However, he needs to do more. Those responsible for
the atrocities committed must be brought to justice.
Only a high-level investigation can accomplish this
goal. [article]
Obama's
Search For A Moral Compass (April 13, 2009, The
Public Record): President
Obama’s handling of the war crimes of the United
States in facilities in Eastern Europe, Southeast
Asia, Iraq, and Afghanistan is particularly troubling
because his administration has admitted that crimes
were committed. He has condemned torture and abuse,
closed CIA secret prisons, and ordered the closing
of Guantanamo within the year. [article]
The
Gates Doctrine: Caveat Emptor (April 7, 2009, The
Public Record): Secretary
of Defense Robert Gates has learned very little from
the military trials and tribulations of the United
States over the past 50 years. Despite his previous
lip service to ensure that the State Department and
various civilian agencies get more involved in implementing
American national security policy, Gates clearly wants
the Pentagon to have pride of place in international
areas outside the principal mission of military operations.
[article]
Obama is Talking
the Talk on Arms Control, But It's Time to Walk the
Walk (April 6, 2009, The Public Record):
President
Obama is successfully taking the rhetorical high ground
on the key issue of arms control and disarmament,
but it is time for actions to supplement his words.
[article]
The Colossal
Failure of The Office of The Director of National
Intelligence (April 2, 2009, The Public Record):
The
inspector general of DNI has confirmed the ineptitude
and mismanagement of the DNI. The Intelligence Reform
Act created the DNI in December 2004 to centralize
intelligence production and end CIA's dominence of
the intelligence production process within the intelligence
community. Centralized intelligence production simply
does not work and, in fact, increases the opportunities
for politicized intelligence. [article]
President
Obama's Briar Patch (March 29, 2009, The Public
Record):
Both his writings and his first
two months in office indicate that President Obama
is a man of great confidence and persistence. Unfortunately,
he is likely to join his predecessors in failing to
stabalize the political and economic foundations of
Afghanistan. [article]
Still
on Special
(March 19, 2009, The Economist):
letter to the editor by senior fellow Harry C. Blaney
[link]
The CIA and
Director Leon Panetta: Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est
La Meme Chose (March 18, 2009, The Public Record):
President
Barack Obama's CIA director, Leon Panetta, needed
only one month to establish that he lacks the courage,
contrariness, judgment, and political and intellectual
independence to reform the Central Intelligence Agency.
It appears that the Obama administration is not interested
in examining the errors and corruption of the past
in order to reform the intelligence community in the
future. [article]
Robert Gates's
Big Lie On The Iraq War (March 13, 2009, The Public
Record): Gates
is lying about the Iraq War, arguing that an intelligence
failure was the reason for the Bush administration's
decision to launch a preemptive attack against Iraq.
But the role of the White House and the CIA in distorting
the intelligence on Iraq had nothing to do with the
decision to go to war. Policies of militarization
along with the superpower notions of unquestioned
military superiority must end. [article]
The Israeli
Lobby Knocks Down Charles Freeman (March 11, 2009,
The Public Record): Obama
has learned that the Israeli lobby in the United States
can successfully block a distinguished appointee,
demonstrating how difficult the administration's task
will be to change policy towards Israel, and that
it is not prepared to fight for its policy positions.
[article]
An
Agenda for Demilitarizing American National Security
Policy (March 05, 2009, The Public Record):
Obama
has made an impressive start towards changing American
foreign policy, but more needs to be done--Part
two in a two-part series on the need to demilitarize
American foreign policy. [article]
The
Need To End The Militarization of American National
Security Policy (March 03, 2009, The Public Record):
All
presidents since 1981 have contributed to the militarization
of national security policy. President Obama must
tackle this shibboleth of the Reagan era, but is he
prepared to do so?--Part one in a two-part series
on the need to demilitarize American foreign Policy.
[article]
Caveat
Emptor: Obama Getting Economic Briefings from CIA
(February 26, 2009, The Public Record): President
Obama recently recieved his firse economic briefing
from the CIA. It is to become a daily occurence as
economic uncertainty is a priority in national security.
CIA economic intelligence has a history of error,
it cannot compete with government or private institutions
doing economic research. Hopefully the need for reform
will be addressed. [article]
The Washington
Post and Russian-American Relations (February 25,
The Public Record): Editorials
and articles in the Washington Post over the past
few weeks have argued against improved relations with
Russian and distorted recent events in Russia and
Russian-American relations. These distortions are
typical of U.S. mainstream media and are even present
in the analysis of some Obama advisors on Russia [article]
Secretary
of Defense Gates: An Old Dog Up to His Old Tricks
(January 28, The Public Record): Secretary
of Defense Gates' remarks on foreign policy show a
continuation of his inclination to overstep his bounds.
President Obama needs to establish his own strategic
agenda and it already appears that retaining George
Bush’s secretary of defense could become a significant
roadblock to doing so [article]
The
CIA's Handling of The Washington Post (January 8,
The Public Record): On
Jan. 7, the Washington Post published a front-page
lead article and an oped on the nomination of Leon
Panetta as CIA director; both
articles exaggerated the extent of opposition to the
Panetta appointment and demonstrated the weakness
of mainstream media coverage of the intelligence community,
particularly the Central Intelligence Agency. By Senior
Fellow Melvin Goodman [article]
Goodman:
Right Man for the Job (January 7, The Baltimore Sun):
President-elect
Barack Obama has made an outstanding move in naming
Leon E. Panetta to reform the beleaguered Central
Intelligence Agency. Mr. Panetta is a savvy and sophisticated
political operative who was a consumer of intelligence
as chief of staff in the Clinton White House in the
1990s.[article]
Goodman:
Obama should give Bush's defense chief the gate (November
25, The Washington Times): President-elect
Barack Obama´s apparent interest in retaining
Robert M. Gates as defense secretary and his appointment
of two former subordinates of one-time CIA chief George
J. Tenet to head the transition team at the Central
Intelligence Agency point to continuity - not change
- in U.S. national security policy. [article]
The Case Against Retaining Gates at the Pentagon (November
24, The Public Record): Senior
fellow Melvin Goodman argues against retaining Gates
as secretary of defense.[article]
Change in Intelligence? (November 14, 2008):
Senior
fellow Melvin Goodman publishes op-ed piece in Baltimore
Sun on President-elect Barak Obama's mixed signals
on the reform of the bankrupt culture. [article]
Housecleaning
time for the CIA: Bush's successor must restore agency's
reputation (July
17, 2008):
Senior fellow Melvin Goodman publishes op-ed piece
in Baltimore Sun outlining the steps the next President
must take to alleviate the past presidential mistakes
in handling the CIA. [article]
Blackwater's
Private Spies (June 5, 2008):
Director and Senior Fellow, Melvin Goodman, quoted
in article about privatization and Blackwater spies.
[article]
New
President to Mend EU Fences (May 27, Financial
Times):
Senior Fellow Harry C. Blaney gives positive outlook
on the possibilities of future US-Europe relations.
[article]
Publishers
Weekly
Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 03/10/2008
(March 10, Publishers
Weekly): Senior fellow Mel Goodman's
new book Failure of Intelligence: The Decline
and Fall of the CIA receives star review. [Read
review]
CIA
Myths (February 21, No Quarter):
Senior fellow Mel Goodman writes for No Quarter blog
about myths of the CIA, drawn from his recently published
book Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and
Fall of the CIA. [blog]
Denver
Council on Foreign Relations (January 28, University
of Denver International Relations):
Senior fellow Mel Goodman talks about his new book
The Decline and Fall of the CIA. [Watch
video]
Against
the Grain (January 8, KPFA 94.1 FM):
Senior fellow Mel Goodman argues that the CIA's clandestine
operations harm U.S. security. [Listen]
The
Surreal News Show with Steve and Larry (December 14,
WSLR 96.5 FM):
Senior fellow Mel Goodman talks about the CIA destruction
of interrogation torture tapes. [Listen][Entire
show]
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