What is the CIA doing?

A lot of people seem to be upset that the CIA destroyed tapes of interrogations of Al Qaeda operatives.  And of course a lot of folks opposed to the Bush administration will use this discovery for political purposes.  Here's my take from high up in the bleachers.

I'm not in the least bit shocked that the CIA would try to destroy the tapes of an interrogation.  It's a spy agency for God's sake, not an accounting firm.  The whole foundation of the CIA is based on secrecy and covert operations, not transparency and accountability.  Yet I too have to confess to being shocked by this revelation. Why?  Well, apparently our top spy agency is too inept to handle even a simple cover up operation.  This a very despairing revelation. 

It's sort of like finding out that your Karate instructor was beaten up by an interior decorator.  It's bad enough when embarrassing stuff like this happens, but do we really want to publicize our top spy agency's buffoonish mistakes on the front page of a major newspaper?  Apparently so.

Comments

[Sophmom]

The fact that they hid the existence of these tapes from the 9/11 Commission is scandalous.

[Greg]

Congress will investigate. But they will go down the wrong path looking into issues of legality, etc. What they should demand to know is why the CIA is so incredibly stupid that it can't even manage the tiny task of covering this up. Earnie The Attorney has pointed them in the correct direction, but most representatives are even dumber than the CIA (who didn't even see the end of the Soviet empire). It is indeed truly frightening that our fate in contending against the forces of extremist, militant Muslims is in the hands of the CIA, aided and abetted by morons in the Congress who cannot see them for the incompetents they are and, therefore, cannot try to remedy the situation.

[Charlie]

I just want to express my dismay at the obvious swipe you are taking at interior decorators everywhere. Are they so much more whimpy than say...attorneys?What gives? What do you have against them? Somebody hang the wrong curtains in your house?I believe an appology is in order, buddy.