David Ignatius Quotes
The ISI is above all a paramilitary organization. It doesn't do all that much collection of intelligence. It's not a very good spy agency, but it's good at running covert action.
Ignatius, David. Interview. NPR, 2011.
Magruder and his boss OSS Director Donovan did not believe that the military services, the State Department nor the FBI could or should properly be breaking the laws of foreign nations which would be virtually certain if one was spying in foreign nations. They advocated the formal extension of a the wartime OSS which became the CIA. Magruder convinced Secretary Lovett and this was important in establishing a CIA successor to the OSS.
Hirsh had uncovered CIA illegal surveillance of anti Vietnam war protesters in the late 1960s. They broke two sets of laws. First, the CIA had no authority to investigate and track American Citizens anywhere but particularly American citizens. Second, the FBI which did have the authority to investigate Americans, were not allowed to use the methods that the CIA did. They violated not only Federal Law and Rules, but also violated the 4th Amendment Rights of thousands of citizens.
Harmon was one of the nation’s experts on Intelligence. She pointed out that the CIA spent a relatively small portion of its budget on spies, intelligence and analysis relative to the larger proportion that went to their paramilitary covert operations. Since its inception, the CIA professionals have always preferred the glamour, adventure, and machismo of covert operations as opposed to the relative drudgery of intelligence gathering and analysis. This many believe explains the many major intelligence blunders the CIA has made such as missing the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the development of nuclear bombs in several countries and the totally mistaken analysis in the Bay of Pigs and The trigger for the Iraq War.
David Reynolds Ignatius is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post. He has written eleven novels, including Body of Lies, which director Ridley Scott adapted into a film. He is a former adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and currently Senior Fellow to the Future of Diplomacy Program. He has received numerous honors, including the Legion of Honor from the French Republic, the Urbino World Press Award from the Italian Republic, and a lifetime achievement award from the International Committee for Foreign Journalism.
