CIA blind to its shortcomings before 9/11, former spy says

[struggle4progress]

14 years an agent, she now offers an insider's view in book
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Melissa Boyle Mahle's first brush with the clandestine world of espionage was Frédérique, a mysterious Frenchwoman who unexpectedly joined Mahle as a volunteer at an Israeli archaeological site in 1985 -- and then vanished, with an Israeli security team hot on her trail.

Frédérique, Mahle eventually learned, was actually Christine Cabon, a French secret agent hiding in Israel after infiltrating Greenpeace New Zealand, where she collected information other agents used to bomb the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. <snip>

About 20 percent of her original manuscript did not make it through the agency vetting process, she said. <snip>

"The agency declared me disloyal, accused me ... which is the worst thing I think you can do to a committed public servant, which I was," she said. <snip>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/26/MNG5CBHD1N1.DTL

Strange story ...

[CindyDale]

1. Oh, great idea

street types doing any "dirty" thing they want in secret with no accountability whenever they get the urge.

How did Osama get his start anyhow?