I've been pretty clear in that I didn't support Donald Trump although I thought Hillary Clinton was far worse. My concern with the CIA's arms dealing and drug trafficking permeates generations of Bush Clinton fraud. The CIA opposing Trump is a sign for people to support him. Yet his choice for a new director of the CIA represents one step forward and three steps backwards.
He is a member of the Tea Party who pride themselves on being supporters of the US Constitution which is a good thing. Sdaly he supports increased government surveillance and torture of prisoners. WTF? That is the exact opposite of what the Constitution represents.
The Atlantic is reporting that Trump’s CIA Director Wants to Return to a Pre-Snowden World. One would think that would be a good thing. Go back to defending the civl liberty in the Constitution that sent Edward Snowden into exile. Au contraire. The subheading states He’s called for a “fundamental upgrade” to U.S. spying powers.
"Mike Pompeo, the man that President-elect Donald Trump chose on Friday to lead the CIA when he becomes president, has long been a vocal supporter of expanding the government’s surveillance powers. As Congress worked to wind down the National Security Agency’s bulk data-collection program last summer, rolling back one of the secret measures first authorized under President George W. Bush, Pompeo—a Republican representative from Kansas who sits on the House Intelligence Committee—was pushing back." AYFKM?
Mike Pompeo also supports torture and the expansion of Guantanamo Bay. Good God. At least he opposes gun control. If the Agency can orchestrate mass shootings they can also orchestrate 911. Operation Northwoods was real. Now he is saying he won't return to torture under Trump's leadership. Torture in black prison sites is OK as long as they aren't on American soil? Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like a crazy ride ahead.
It's looking more and more like there will be some house cleaning of the Intell community after Trump is in. Too much friction, and Trump doesn't tolerate that from people who work for him. And in 4 days and a wake up, they work for him. The CIA is severely bloated personnel wise, they've added some 3500 personnel in recent years and almost all of them people who work in an office in the D.C. area vice field people. Intell analysts, fine, but layers of admin that aren't really needed have to go.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually possible for someone to go from entry level to Senior Service over the course of a career without ever being inconvenienced by an overseas assignment or speaking the primary lingua franca of the area of the world they supposedly specialize in. That needs to change.
I believe people are still not getting the degree to which Trump is going to transform the government, and find it an amazing 'fail' that people who supposedly work in the intell world think it's a good idea to start butting heads with this guy. But then again that would be yet another example of the lack of understanding of the dynamics of a situation that has driven CIA's other failures, which seem to outweigh it's successes, so I guess it's not that remarkable after all.
#drainthecia
Trump could help fix some of the CIA's bureaucracy but I highly doubt he will be able to address the CIA's arms dealing and drug trafficking not to mention any modern Operation Northwoods.
DeleteLike they say, a bitter tree cannot bring forth good fruit. If it's roots are evil it is good for nothing but to be cut down and cast into the fire. Which brings us to my next post about Jesse Ventura's pivotal question when he was elected governor. What the hell is the CIA doing operating on American soil? That is out of their jurisdiction. That's the FBI's responsibility.
Pompeo wants more surveillance powers. that is never good in a democracy. The Republicans will want more surveillance so they can go after those who oppose them. they will not take the U.S.A. down the road to an open democracy but a facist state.
ReplyDeleteAs Harper said when he took office, people wouldn't recognize Canada when he was finished with it. He was right, we almost didn't. He passed all sorts of laws which were in contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Trump will most likely avoid those court challenges by stacking the court. Legal Schanzzer is reporting he has interviewed Pryor. Never a good thing.
As to the CIA going to war with Trump, well they could always shoot him. For those of us old enough, not every one was satisfied with the Warren Commission and their determinations.
if the CIA will run guns, sell dope, "meddle" in other countries elections, who knows what they will do in their own country.
That's the problem with government surveillance, both parties use it for political purposes. Obama used it to censor members of the Tea Party.
DeleteRon Paul issued a statement expressing his concern that Donald Trump is going to end up like JFK. He's the only other president who stood up to the CIA.
I don't believe in political assignations, so as much as I don't want Trump to be President, I don't want him killed either. its a tough one. Today is MLK DAY and TCM ran a very interesting documentary about voting rights in Mississippi leading up to the 1964 Democratic convention, which failed to seat the Freedom Democratic delegation, but the Dixicrats. The film follows a group who worked during these times and also when the film was made in 1994. One of the participants made a statement to the effect, had the Johnston/the democratic party seated the Freedom delegation and involved African Americans in the political process instead of going to war within their own country, the U.S.A. would be a very different country today. Perhaps, if the CIA killed them, all three, we now know why.
DeleteIt's not what the truth is Its what is perceived to be
ReplyDeleteJfk Bobby 911 Iran Contra Vietnam Bosnia Africa etc
Lest we forget eh???