I
received a notice from the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO)
yesterday. It notified members that former CIA Deputy Director, Michael Morell,
will give a talk at Books-a-Million this Saturday (May 16) from 1-3 p.m. at 1451
Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA. He will no doubt discuss his new book, "The
Great War of Our Time."
It
should be an informative talk, for Morell worked within the CIA for 33 years
and is now a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center. He has seen
much, being alongside President Bush on 9/11 and with President Obama when
Osama bin Laden was finally brought to justice. He saw the agency he loves make
heroic efforts to protect America, and he witnessed intelligence failures as
well. Through it all, he learned a great deal about what works, and what
doesn't, in a war we did not choose but which we cannot lose.
So, if you're around McLean, VA this Saturday, you may want to attend
his talk. Morell believes 9/11 was a national failure and not a failure of
imagination as argued by the 9/11 Commission. He also says it is a myth that
the Bush White House forced the CIA into its position on Iraqi W.M.D; however,
he strongly believes that Vice President Cheney's office tried to pressure theAgency to conclude that there were links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. I might add
that Cheney made dozens of unprecedented visits to the CIA during those years
and bombarded middle-managers with questions about WMD's in Iraq. I'm sure the
lower level analysts felt compelled to write reports of scanty evidence of WMD
existence in Iraq as a result.
Morell never held back in voicing his
expert opinion, which he habitually bases on supportable evidence. He feels that
the Arab Spring has been a boon to Al Qaeda because it left countries either
unwilling or unable to confront extremists, and he dismisses Republican chargesthat the CIA conspired with the White House to spin the Benghazi story. In
Morell's assessment, the agency should
get out of the "talking point" business.
He justifies why the U.S. government's drone program has
prevented another 9/11 and why the charges of significant collateral damage are
wrong. Morell
contests that the report
of Senate Democrats on the CIA's detention and interrogation program after 9/11
is a deeply flawed document, and argues that Edward Snowden isn't telling us the
real story behind his NSA leaks.
Unfortunately, he has stated time and again that this war against Islamic
extremism will last generations and specifies what needs to be done if we are
to win it. It will last much longer than our Cold War with Russia.
Robert Morton, Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes the online spy novel series "Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster in the Caribbean". The views expressed on this site do not represent those of any organization he is a member of. Contact him on the Secure Contact Form
Robert Morton, Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes the online spy novel series "Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster in the Caribbean". The views expressed on this site do not represent those of any organization he is a member of. Contact him on the Secure Contact Form
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