MB Civic

By Joshua Rovner | September 28, 2006 | The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/09/28/the_public_politics_of_intelligence_reports/

Joshua Rover is a rising star, a doctoral candidate in the MIT Security Studies Program. If his career is as clear-minded and persuasive as this article is, he will make important contributions to our nation in this century of rapid change.

He argues, “…intelligence officials must offer candid judgments while staying outside the political fray…Publicizing intelligence almost always damages that relationship. The Johnson administration clashed with the CIA when the agency refused to support reports about progress in Vietnam. The Nixon administration pressured the CIA to provide intelligence that justified its plans to develop a new missile defense system. Both episodes created lasting hostility between policy makers and intelligence officials.” And more dangerous still, it basically forces administrations to manipulate and bias the data, as we saw in the days before the fraudulent Iraq war…BS