Читать книгу The Human Factor - Ishmael Jones - Страница 7

All individuals, unless they are public figures, are obscured in order to make it impossible to identify any CIA employee or agent. Dates and places of non-public events have been obscured or changed. No classified information, sources, or methods are revealed. As a former CIA employee, I was required to submit the book to CIA censors for their approval. I initially sent a copy of the manuscript to the CIAʹs Publications Review Board, asking them to identify any classified information, which I would then take out. I am an expert on what portions of intelligence operations constitute classified information and already knew there were none. Without reviewing the book, the CIA disapproved the publication of every word. During the course of a year, I repeated my request to the CIA that it identify any classified information in the book. The CIA eventually returned it to me with all but a few paragraphs wiped out. Words deemed appropriate for public viewing by the CIA were reduced to less than one percent throughout the book.

Before writing this book, I exhausted all avenues open to me to improve human intelligence programs. I repeatedly confronted all levels of my chain of command without result. I met with the Inspector General’s office, but found it a broken system—the IG was not up to the task and was under investigation by the FBI for leaks. The Director at the time was sympathetic and cleared the way for my final foreign assignment, but he was soon removed and replaced by managers who represent the status quo. No anti-corruption or whistleblower systems exist in the organization, possibly because the CIAʹs official secrecy makes such checks and balances dead-ends. Only open, public debate will lead to reform.

I worked with the CIAʹs censors in good faith. During telephone conversations, CIA censors seemed to recognize the manuscript contained no classified information and at one point suggested it might be approved with minor revisions. During each of my many communications with the censors, I repeated: Show me the classified information in this book and I will take it out. In each case they replied, after months of delay, with evasive letters, from anonymous P.O. boxes, signed by people using fictitious names.

I believe the CIA sought to block publication of this book solely because it is critical of the organization. All of the dozens of books written by ex-CIA officers and approved by the CIA demonstrate that censorship standards are lax and inconsistent. Some of the books, especially the recent Tenet and Drumheller books, reveal what I consider to be a startling amount of classified information. These books criticize the President, however, and not the organization.

Funds allocated to protect Americans are being stolen or wasted on phony or nonexistent intelligence programs. By attempting to censor this manuscript, the CIA puts Americans at risk. The purpose of the book is to add to the criticism and debate about reform of the organization. Criticism and debate is how we solve things in America and I consider it my duty to publish this manuscript.