Charles Faddis - Beyond Repair: The Decline and Fall of the CIA

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or Agency endorsement of the authors views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

Copyright 2010 by Charles S. Faddis

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN 978-1-59921-851-9

Printed in the United States of America

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To the men and women of the Clandestine Service, out there now as they have been for sixty years, on the ridgetops, in the back alleys, hunting the monsters the world prefers to pretend do not exist.

WITH APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE TO ALL THOSE I AM INEVITABLY going to omit, here are a few of the ind11ividuals without whom this manuscript could never have been completed.

First, I want to thank my wife, Gina. She has been the love of my life for thirty-plus years, and it is no exaggeration to say that without her there never would have been a book. They say that we are born as halves of complete ind11ividuals and that when you find11 your soul mate only then do you become whole. I can tell you that is true, and that I am one of the lucky ones who found the rest of himself.

Next, I want to thank my kids, Hannah, Tucker, Libby, and Ike. Sometimes they proofread copy. Sometimes they did research. Sometimes they just cooked dinner, so Dad could keep writing. Regardless, they were ind11ispensable and, as always, my inspiration.

There are a host of current and former intelligence officers and special ops folks I would like to thank as well. They have provided wise counsel. They have told me when I was on the right track and when I was lost. Many, in years past, have kept me alive. I will name only a handful here. Hans, Happy, Dakota, Reaper, Fury, Joe, Snake, Sasquatch, Doogie, Boomerang, Mr. Wizard, Maffu, Pix, Gary, Sipowitzthank you.

Outside the community there are another vast number of people who have been instrumental in the drafting of this work. Some of them have provided deep philosophical insights. Some have remind11ed me how to use a spell checker and called my attention to that fact that normal people do not necessarily know what MASINT is. Again, I will name only a few. Bud, Karl, Miss Pat, Jeffrey, Patty, Johnthank you.

And, finally, I need to express my deep appreciation to Hawk, who walked point. Every man dies; not every man truly lives, Hawk. Keep the faith.

Charles S. Faddis

LET ME START BY SAYING WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT.

It is not an attack on the men and women of the Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency, the overwhelming majority of whom are dedicated, patriotic Americans working hard every day on behalf of their fellow citizens. God knows that they do not do it for the money nor do they do it for the recognition. They do it because they believe in the work and because they know, as I do, that there really are monsters in the world, and someone has to protect us from them.

It is also not an argument against the existence of a central human intelligence collection organization within the United States government. We desperately needed a central intelligence agency in 1947, when the CIA was created. We even more desperately need such an entity today. The threats facing us are multiplying and becoming more complex. The time horizons in which threats are emerging are shortening. Technology is evolving at an astonishing rate, and we are fast approaching the day when there will be dozens of groups and nations on this planet capable of threatening us with biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear weapons. This is not pulp fiction. This is reality.

This book is an argument that the existing Central Intelligence Agency is no longer capable of performing the task for which it was designed and must, rapidly, be replaced.

Somewhere out there in the ether right now a terrorist organization is working hard on an anthrax program with the express goal of launching a biological attack on the United States of America. Such an attack, with even a moderate amount of the bacteria, if properly executed, could, without the use of any sophisticated technology, kill tens of thousands and force the evacuation of major American cities.

Several nations in the world, despite our best diplomatic efforts, have already succeeded in acquiring nuclear weapons. These include not just traditional powers such as Russia and China but also much less stable and predictable nations, such as Pakistan, India, and North Korea. Proliferation is real, and the threat is expanding. For all its dangers the Cold War was characterized by a great degree of predictability. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had in place elaborate command-and-control structures and could be counted on to act very deliberately and with due regard for long-term strategic interests.

The same cannot be said of the nations now fielding nuclear arms. A friend of mine used to say of the challenge of determining what Indias nuclear war plans were, that it was complicated by the fact that the Indians themselves did not know. Pakistan, which is engaged eyeball to eyeball with India in a nuclear standoff, is an even more fragile and unpredictable entity. The prospects for an actual exchange of nuclear weapons in the subcontinent in the next ten to twenty years are enormous. The consequences for all of humanity would be almost unimaginable. These are nations with huge populations, where hundreds of millions of individuals wrestle with poverty and disease on a daily basis. The aftermath of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan would probably most resemble the Dark Ages, and the survival of either nation as a viable entity in its wake would be problematic at best.

Russia has not gone away. The Russians are a great and proud people. I have known many, even some who were adversaries, over the years, whom I count as good friends. This does not mean that their national interests coincide with ours. They are rebuilding, and they are working to reassert themselves in areas of the world that they consider crucial to their national interests. They remain the second most powerful nation on earth, after the United States, in military terms. The nature of the government in Moscow, its plans and intentions, and the security of its nuclear arsenal are still of vital importance to our nation.

The Chinese are not our friends. It may or may not be a good thing that we can all go to Wal-Mart and buy televisions and DVD players at a fraction of the cost they would be if they were still produced in the United States. Regardless, it remains true that China is a Communist nation, that it denies basic human rights to its citizens, that it supports North Korea, that it is engaged in a massive military buildup, and that its explosive economic growth is placing its entire political, economic, and social structure under almost incalculable strain. We may find ourselves at war with China in ten years; we may witness a second Chinese Revolution in ten years. Regardless of what happens, given Chinas size, its economic and military power, and its geographic position, anything that occurs regarding it will have huge ramifications worldwide.