Foreign Policy of Intelligence (6/17/02)
by Dean Hartwell
A number of weeks ago,
members of Congress questioned the Bush Administration handling of intelligence
prior to September 11. Bush and his advisors responded, in part, by blaming the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for failing to provide more specific
information about threats to the United States.
Now, President Bush says he plans to oust Saddam Hussein with the help of the
CIA. Before he gives the orders for those plans, I have a few questions for
him:
If the Agency's intelligence was not good enough to warn us about the acts
of terrorism last year, can we rely upon it to help us force Hussein out of
power?
Bush's willingness to use the CIA and his decision not to subject it to his
planned "Department of Homeland Security" suggests that perhaps the
CIA is not the problem after all. Maybe the problem is with the people
responsible for reading the intelligence reports.
If we do force Hussein out, how will we handle his successor?
Actively putting someone in his place could make that successor reviled for
being a "puppet" of the U.S. by some of the nations neighboring Iraq.
Staying out of it could create a void in power, or even an ally of Hussein.
Regardless of which problem we are trying to avoid, we need a plan to deal with
the new leader, which takes intelligence.
When will the United States stop changing its alliances with people like
Saddam Hussein?
The Carter Administration tacitly supported Hussein's decision to go to war
with Iran in 1980. During that war, the Reagan Administration at one point
backed Iraq with weapons. Our nation has, at some point, also supported each of
the following leaders before calling them "dictators": Castro,
Gaddafi, and Noriega. Let's not forget that we supported the Taliban in
Afghanistan when they fought the communists, only to declare them the enemy
later.
We should use this opportunity to think clearly as to what leaders we should
support and which ones we should not. A given leader's actions to promote
freedoms of speech and the press, due process and other basic human rights
should be key factors. So should their nation's ability and willingness to
conduct fair and competitive elections. These are the same factors for
identifying stable governments.
Bush and his Administration have an opportunity to follow a solid foreign
policy based on stability. Using the CIA as a tool to change governments we do
not like causes turmoil and the need for more intelligence.