Spy World

Since I was old enough to read books beyond the level of The Adventures of Nancy Drew, I have been interested in the world of spies. I grew up on a farm in the West with my nose in a book. Reading gave me a desire to know many more exotic worlds. As a grown-up I have seen all the Bond flicks, some several times. Parenthetically, did you know the next hunky Bond man is on the way? Movie moguls recently crowned his blonde head.
Unfortunately, the world of spies has been in huge trouble in the United States and elsewhere for many years, probably since the Cold War ended. For one thing, no one effectively updated the plan. Funding the effort was not fashionable in the '90's. For these and many other reasons at the turn of the century, our country did not know what it needed to know, when it really needed to know it. We missed it before 9/11. The safety of our nation was at stake and the system failed.
Radical jihadis have remained remarkably elusive, and we still need to do things very differently. The spy world of today - associated with terms like "intelligence," "covert," "snoops," and "Hummint" - has needed something new and more helpful. And I hope it has has occurred; women are more involved.
I am fascinated with the emerging public role of women in this secret world. In recent years these lawmakers have had important roles in formulating the reorganizing legislation for, and exercising congressional oversight over the new intelligence community.
In past blogs, I have referred to my admiration for Senator Susan Collins and Representative Jane Harman. In researching this post, today I learned by chance that, in June of 2002, it was another of my favorites, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who introduced the idea of the single more powerful intelligence director.
John D. Negroponte is this first Director of National Intelligence. In a recent post I referred to a move within his intelligence community which changed the way HUMINT is coordinated. CIA Director Porter Goss has been given this coordinating responsibility by DNI John Negroponte. I certainly hope his trust is not misplaced, because this article headlines: A Year Later, Goss's CIA Is Still in Turmoil. Further, this earlier article states that chronic underfunding has also played a role in intelligence failures.
And the failures are not confined to the intelligence community. The prevailing headlines this week are about a White House intelligence scandal with the possible involvement of Vice President Dick Cheney, his chief of staff, Louis "Scooter" Libby, and "Bush's Brain," Karl Rove. And at the center of it all is a woman spy I know hardly anything about, CIA operative, Valerie Plame. I do not know whether she, like the female legislators, is worthy of my admiration. But she has my deep respect and support as I watch her name becomes history through "Plame-gate."