I‘m skeptical of the notion that the effectiveness of the nation’s intelligence agencies will be helped by opening up their operations so that Americans feel better about them:
I would move in the opposite direction: rather than more openness, I’d like more secrecy–particularly given the fact that Langley seems to leak like a sieve. I’d rather not get an accounting of exactly how many suspects have been waterboarded. I’d rather not hear members of our intelligence community say things like “I consider myself a citizen of the world” (no cite; that’s a personal experience). And when someone asks an intelligence official whether the United States had the hand in the demise of some terror suspect, I’d rather the answer be a wry smile, along with a simple “you know I’d never disclose that — even if we did.” Wouldn’t the intel “community” be more effective if it was a little less understood?
