Internet Searches Reveal CIA's Secrets

GabrielF writes "In another blow to the reputation of the agency that just can't seem to get anything right, the Chicago Tribune used web searches and various commercial online databases to uncover a treasure trove of information about the CIA. The Tribune found the identities of over 2600 CIA employees (including an undisclosed number of covert operatives) as well as the locations of over two dozen CIA facilities across the U.S., internal telephone numbers, and information on 17 aircraft."

Comments

Disinformation

[SkankinMonkey]

But how are they sure it's not disinformation setup by these organizations to throw people off the trail? I don't have much faith in our government, but I don't think the Intelligence Agencies are that stupid.

Re:Disinformation

[Anonymous Coward]

After further thinking, you might realize that it is no better if your statement is true because innocents might get into trouble by being falsely identified as CIA agents. In one way or another, it is stupid.

Re:Disinformation

[flyingsquid]

But how are they sure it's not disinformation setup by these organizations to throw people off the trail? I don't have much faith in our government, but I don't think the Intelligence Agencies are that stupid.

Hmm, let's see here...

- WMDs in Iraq.

- 9/11.

- Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, still alive and at large.

- failure to anticipate India's test of nuclear weapons.

- failure to anticipate the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Yes. Yes, they are just that stupid.

The organization probably employs some really bright people. The problem is that when the culture of a government organization goes bad, it goes really bad, because it's not accountable; they still get funded whether they succeed or fail. The only thing you are accountable for is breaking policy, so bureacracy and following the rules to the letter(never mind that the rules often make no sense and are counterproductive) become more important than actually doing anything. The best people- the ones who actually care about getting something done instead of sitting on their asses eight hours a day so they can one day collect a pension- get frustrated and leave. At any rate, that's my experience dealing with a messed-up government institution. Keep in mind, however, that the private sector isn't necessarily the solution. As Enron so brilliantly displays, corruption, arrogance and incompetence can flourish in private industry as well.

Re:Disinformation

[birge]

Actually, as Enron displays, corruption DOESN'T flourish in private industry. I can't believe you missed the irony in your own statement. The CIA has been a disaster far longer than it took Enron to collapse. The private sector is not perfect, but it's reliance on VOLUNTARY financial support (at least to the extent the government keeps the hell out) means that it's connected with reality in a way the government never can be. In the long run, the private sector is self-correcting. Pointing out the (former) existence of Enron actually proves that point. Enron was an example of that mechanism in action. The world will never be perfect; all we can hopefor is a system where the right underlying forces are in place.

People seem to expect a world in which nothing bad ever happens, and when something does, rush to form government solutions that are worse than the problem. The best we can hope for is a world where bad stuff dies as quickly as possible. More government is almost never the right answer. (I'm not saying that's what you were suggesting, so don't take any of this personally.)

Red Herrings

[TFGeditor]

How do we know that all that info is not just a bunch of red herrings to throw us off the track and keep us distracted?

Re:"the locations of over two dozen CIA facilities

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

The Gestapo was a secret police and its facilities were perfectly well known (and feared).

(Damn, I just broke Godwin's law...)

Re:Consolidate funding sources for intelligence

[whitroth]

Excuse me, the "failure got 3000 civilians killed"? What about the presidential security briefing, a month before 9/11, entitled "bin Laden plans to strike inside the US"?

And what about the US MURDERING somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 Iraqis, on the basis of no WMDs?

Now, unless you think that we've spent tens of billions of dollars on what, three? four? five? (CIA, FBI, NSA, Army intel, Pentagon Intel, etc) agencies completely staffed by clones of Maxwell Smart, the only intelligence failure, either through ideological blinders or deliberately for ideological reasons, is the administration and the GOP.

And the fools who voted for them.

        mark

Re:Treason

[Forbman]

The CIA is on its own side. It is not on yours, or mine, or anyone else's necessarily. It is not even necessarily on the US government's side sometimes.

The article is somewhat misleading...

[ChePibe]

The article puts up some big numbers, but lest we forget a few things:

- The CIA is a BIG organization - it needs support personnel, etc. and they are not likely to ALL be undercover. Maintaining cover on accountants and receptionists would certainly be a big waste of resources.

- Most CIA positions are not undercover, including most analysts

The article admits a lot of this halfway down: "Not all of the 2,653 employees whose names were produced by the Tribune search are supposed to be working under cover. More than 160 are intelligence analysts, an occupation that is not considered a covert position, and senior CIA executives such as Tenet are included on the list."

So, in other words, the Tribune puts up a big number that is supposed to be shocking and then, after most people stop reading, admits it's not really that big a deal. The article does state, however:

"But an undisclosed number of those on the list--the CIA would not say how many--are covert employees, and some are known to hold jobs that could make them terrorist targets."

There must be at least one - given the example at the top of the article - but no one says how many. The discovery that 26 people are working at Camp Peary (AKA - "The Farm" of "The Recruit" fame) is equally unimpressive, as SOMEONE must work there for support staff, and the 26 individuals discovered are likely to be support staff, not trainers. The 17 aircraft aren't particularly interesting, either, as the CIA likely operates many aircraft openly. Big organizations like the CIA cannot maintain cover on EVERYTHING, nor do they try to, as this report implies

I'm of the opinion that this article boils down to the following:

- The Chicago Tribune tooting its own horn
- A cheap jab at Bush, which seems to represent "objective" journalism these days
- Sensationalist journalism - they put up big numbers, but those numbers are unlikely to actually mean anything

Many have jokingly said, "move along, nothing to see here". To be honest, I think those statements are accurate.