At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions

[BridgeTheGap]

WASHINGTON — In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked to a secret prison for interrogation in Afghanistan.

But he was the wrong guy.

A hard-charging CIA analyst had pushed the agency into one of the biggest diplomatic embarrassments of the U.S. war on terrorism. Yet despite recommendations by an internal review, the analyst was never punished. In fact, she has risen to one of the premier jobs in the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, helping lead President Barack Obama's efforts to disrupt al-Qaida.

In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officers who committed serious mistakes that left people wrongly imprisoned or even dead have received only minor admonishments or no punishment at all, an Associated Press investigation has revealed. The botched el-Masri case is but one example of a CIA accountability process that even some within the agency say is unpredictable and inconsistent.

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/02/09/1627915/ap-impact-at-cia-grave-mistakes.html#more#ixzz1DStOc500

[leveymg]

1. It's like The Thin Red Line: when commanders f-ck up badly, they get a medal and a promotion.

Their mistakes are the organization's mistakes. The organization doesn't make mistakes, so commanders who distinguish themselves in any way (almost) always get rewards. This, of course, also keeps everyone's mouth shut.

Take Michael Rolince, head of counter-terrorism at FBI HQ, after he refused warrant requests to track down some of the 9/11 hijackers known to be inside the U.S., for instance. He got a commendation and a nice cash bonus. Same with Cofer Black, who as head of the CIA CT Center, let the Flt. 77 hijackers into the US, withheld warning cables to the FBI bin Laden unit, and after 9/11 was put in charge of the failed operation to capture bin Laden. He went on to make millions as a Board Member of Blackwater.

[BridgeTheGap]

2. Reminds me of the tank unit commander during the first gulf war - can't remember his name but

I believe he was colonel or major. He had first been given orders to go into a certain area to secure it - held by the Iraqis. Before he and his command could get there, he got an order to "sit tight" - aborting the mission. He ignored the order and went in guns blazing. The problem was that another U.S. Army unit had already secured the area. Can't remember how many friendly fire victims there were but it doesn't matter. The officer had connections and was never punished for his actions.

[vets74]

6. Contrast these SNAFUs with Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) in WW I.

"American Caesar" is the Biography. William Manchester.

[vets74]

5. Rolince and Black were critical to keep Coleen Rowley from stopping the 9/11 plot.

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