You Really Don't Want to Hear the Truth; You Just Want to Benefit From It

Jared Allen of the daily Congressional newspaper, TheHill, wrote "with their Speaker behind them, House Democrats are pushing ahead with plans to hold a series of hearings investigating instances in which intelligence officials may have misled members of Congress."

Coming on the heels of revelations that the CIA misled and kept information from top congressional leaders and that, shock of all shocks, Vice-president Chaney had told them to keep quiet about assassination programs against Al Qaeda leadership, the Democrats in congress are hot on the trail of having hearings about the CIA's conduct. And it's all because Ms. Pelosi thinks this will vindicate her for claiming that she was lied to by the CIA over water boarding.

Well, the way I see it, she needs no vindication. Of course the CIA lied to her, and others. It's the CIA! These people exist to deceive and to twist things in an attempt to gain intelligence necessary to keep this country safe. Sometimes they blow it, like with the whole weapons of mass destruction issue, but those are the exceptions. We never hear about the successes because they are not the things most people want to know about.

These folks operate in a shadow world that is full of things we civilians can't fathom. They do the wet work that has to be done sometimes. And only a very select few need to know what those jobs are.

The CIA, along with the other intelligence organizations in the government, for lack of a better metaphor, are the guard dogs of America, and if Dick Chaney was holding the leash, then good for him. Who is holding the leash now? Biden, Emanuel, Bo the White House dog? I guess we know it isn't Pelosi.

Look, I know almost everybody hates Chaney, but the fact is that what he did, he did because he thought it would keep America and Americans safe. He knew much of it was distasteful to many people but he did it anyway.

Put yourself in his position before you judge. Could you hurt someone else if it meant that you would save the lives of thousands? You might not admit it in public around some of your friends, but I bet deep inside the answer is yes. Would you have someone killed if you believed with religious conviction that if you didn't they would kill one of your friends or family members? You know you would.

So what if Chaney truly believed he was acting as protector? Is he still wrong? Is the CIA wrong for following his orders, if the reports are true? And show me where he benefited. He is hated by a vast number of Americans but he didn't make any money off of it, so what was the motivation if not genuine belief that it was necessary for our security?

Besides, when do you think the CIA has ever been completely upfront and honest with politicians? These folks deal in deception, and let's face it: the majority of our elected officials couldn't keep a secret no matter what level clearance they hold. The House has more leaks in it than a screen-bottomed boat and our intelligence professionals know it.

If anything, they tell Congress the stuff they want to leak out. Let the legislative branch do a little work for them.

I think that the honest truth about all that cloak and dagger stuff is that unless what is found out fits into the policy agenda of whatever administration is in charge, it is treated as untrustworthy. So why should they tell what they know to the incompetent few who think they know some truth nobody else knows?

We need the CIA, and we need our politicians to stay out of their business. The world hasn't gotten any nicer, the people who chant "Death to America" are still out there chanting. Some bad guys are getting ready to try and get The Bomb, and I don't want them to get The Bomb. This isn't a case of "since we have them they have a right to have them, too." No! They haven't proven they are grown-up enough for The Bomb. I would rather send in some Special Ops or a CIA hit team to deal with him. These unmanned aircraft they have been using seem like a good choice, too.

All of you who are going to get angry over my position will rant and rave because you just can't climb down off the "hate the war" bandwagon. So you will never admit that if it were not for the intelligence services and the secrets they keep, we would not enjoy the relative safety we enjoy today. Do you really think people have stopped trying to hurt us?

The fact is that in spite of the fact that you call for it, you really don't want to hear the truth; you just want to benefit from it. You don't want to know what has to be done to preserve your freedoms, you just want to use the information to criticize the people and methods used to protect it.

Sometimes bad people have to be hurt or die to save many more. Most people don't like that fact, but that's also the reason why not just anybody can be in the CIA and why politicians need to be kept out of their business. Let the President handle this part; so far he's done all right. He did block the release of interrogation photos and authorize the continued unarmed aircraft assassination program started under George W. Bush.