We Spend $68 Billion a Year on Intelligence Agencies—and They Don’t Really Work

[DonCoquixote]

8. Intelligence is only as smart as the Pols who run them

http://historum.com/european-history/60710-why-did-stalin-not-trust-his-own-intelligence-network.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/books/review/12FERGUSO.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


It is well known Stalin distrusted the KGB, which led to disaster. The current ones in charge,like Stalin, have blinders on, as they are not seeking information as much as a political point. The lives of Millions of Russians was lost due to his stubborn belief that Hitler wouyld not dare repeat the mistake of his idol, Napoleon, and take on Eastern and Western Europe at once. Granted, it is hard to believe Hitler was crazy enough to do many things he did, but the KGB agents found the evidence, for which many of them got a bullet to the head or a trip to Siberia.

It does not help that the CIA was founded is it was my politics rather than intellgence. Granted, they did have a good reason at the time, namely Washington was scared to death of what someome like J. Edgar Hoover would do with both domestic and foriegn intellgence under his iron thumb. It is not like researching "cointelpro" will not give any of us liberals shudders when we think of the crap Jed would have done with the CIA. However, the by product has been shown by folks the Poppy Bush and the rets of the "skull and bones" types, the CIA winds up being a haven for flunkies and creeps, many fo whome got their job by political connections, as opposed to skill.