AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions

AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions

news.yahoo.com

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.

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

(visit the link for the full news article)

Im pretty sure alot of us here on ATS already know this kind of stuff happens in the CIA, but I was pretty suprised to see this on the headlines of news.

The article has a few stories about how "mistakes" were made during different situations, such as "mock executions" (which the US is forbidden to do), inhumane conditions, tortures and death.

Heck, sometimes they cant even get the right guy.

And what happens when this kind of stuff happens? A slap on the wrist, name calling, and then .... promotions..........Talk about job security right there.

And what happens to the people they mistakenly "get"? Here is what one "detainee" had to say.

El-Masri says he was beaten, sodomized and drugged

"I was blindfolded, put back on a plane, flown to Europe and left on a hilltop in Albania — without any explanation or apology for the nightmare that I had endured," el-Masri wrote in The Los Angeles Times in 2007.

Nobody in management was singled out for discipline.

Edit - The article is kind of a long read, just fyi

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Oops sorry bad intel.
Well it's not like we decimated a country or 3!!
3rd line.

reply to post by buni11687


Situation normal...
It's fair enough to torture 1000 innocents if it means getting to the ONE bad guy..
It's merely collateral damage..Nice phrase huh?

Other officers were punished after participating in a mock execution in Poland and playing a role in the death of a prisoner in Iraq. Those officers retired, then rejoined the intelligence community as contractors.

Kill somebody, retire, and then rejoin the "community" hands free. Sounds like one of the easiest jobs in the world. Heck, I wonder what would happen if somebody in the CIA accidentaly made someone the wrong sandwhich for lunch?

Heres a bit more about the wrong guy who got picked up in Macedonia.

Even after the CIA confirmed that the German passport was authentic, Frances was not convinced, former officials said. She argued against freeing el-Masri, saying his phone had been linked to terrorists. For weeks, the U.S. knowingly held the wrong man, as top CIA officers tried to figure out what to do.

The document has never been released but its findings were summarized by people who have seen it. The report came down hard on Frances. She had been warned about the uncertainties surrounding el-Masri's identity. There hadn't been enough evidence for a rendition, the report said, but Frances pushed ahead.

"You can't render people because they have called a bad guy or know a bad guy," a former U.S. intelligence official said, describing the investigation's findings on condition of anonymity because the report still has not been released. "She was convinced he was a bad guy."

Even after they found out he was the wrong guy, they still held him, because.......they didnt know what to do......

But, there are some ex-CIA people who nearly unanimously agree that the CIA accountability system is messed up.

Since 9/11, retired CIA officers have published a variety of books opining on what ails the CIA. Their conclusions differ, but they are in nearly unanimous agreement that the system of accountability is broken.

Sexual harrasment? No problem! Cheers to the good work! Heres a little slap and a promotion!

There are accounts of womanizing CIA managers who repeatedly violated the agency's rules, only to receive a slap on the wrist, if anything, followed by promotion. Officers who were favored by senior managers at headquarters were spared discipline. Those without such political ties were more likely to face punishment

Apparently, the CIA has been infiltrated by al-Qaeda before to.

Humam al-Balawi, a supposed al-Qaida turncoat whom the CIA codenamed "Wolf," had promised to lead the U.S. to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. But al-Balawi was really a double agent, and as the CIA ushered him onto its base in December 2009, he detonated a suicide bomb. The explosion killed five CIA officers, including the base chief, and two contractors. Six other people were injured in an attack that led to criticism in and out of the CIA that the officers had violated basic rules.

How could the mighty CIA not see this coming? Well....they kind of did.

Nine months later, a CIA review determined the opposite. Warnings had, in fact, been ignored. Jordanian intelligence had raised concerns about al-Balawi. But the promise of killing or capturing al-Zawahiri clouded the agency's decision-making, the review found. Security protocols weren't followed. Officers displayed bad judgment.

Does Jordan have a better spy network in that region? Hmmm.....Again, no accountability for this, just like 9/11

Panetta agreed there were widespread problems. But, in a move that's been compared to former CIA Director Porter Goss' decision not to hold an accountability review for the failures before 9/11, Panetta opted not to punish anyone.

Bump

This is ridiculous....

Heres another article I found about that same stuff, except this one is alot shorter than the OP one, if anyones interested.

www.pbs.org...

reply to post by buni11687


Meh, just look at the people that totally F$#$ed up on 9/11 and how well their careers have gone..
All promoted for screwing up..
Seems that's the way to get ahead in the Good Ole USA...