CIA Leaked Memo Encourages Caution
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
An internal classified memo was sent on August 8, 2003 to CIA operatives. The memo told operatives "If the military employed any type of techniques beyond questions and answers, we should not participate and should not be present." The CIA issued the directive after complaints from operatives that Special Operations units were using coercive measures such as noise and bright light.
Each CIA operative will receive 40 to 80 hours of sensitivity training.
While, the CIA’s directive did not mention guidelines for prisoners in CIA custody, it is well known that the CIA is trying to create a better image of itself both at home and abroad. Each CIA operative will receive 40 to 80 hours of sensitivity training. Signs are now hung all over CIA headquarters in Langley declaring statements such as, “You can catch more flies with honey than with gunshot wounds”, “Fatal beatings do not aid information gathering” and “Ask questions first, apply electricity to testicles later.” Furthermore, many CIA facilities are now offering “chill-out” rooms. If an operative is under too much stress and thinks they may be inclined to violence, the operative can go into a chill-out room and relax. In these rooms, they are allowed to look at lava lamps, do some light reading, or just meditate.
"We remain a secret organization," Goss wrote.
This is just one of a number of leaked classified memos to come from the CIA recently. The leaked memos touch on topics such as how to keep quiet about the internal shakeup by new director Porter Goss, how to support the current administration without backing the president, and the likelihood of the Iraq situation becoming worse. In a recent memo about leaked memos, Goss asked CIA employees to "scrupulously honor our secrecy oath". Goss went on to say that that CIA press office should decide what information went to the press. "We remain a secret organization," Goss wrote.
These newly leaked memos come as no great surprise. There have been a flood of leaked memos over the last four years. According to leaks within the CIA, the leaks come from CIA employees looking for “political payback” to the Bush Administration. Tension within the CIA has increased greatly since the appointment of Director Goss as several senior officials have left the agency. Democrats are warning that the implosion of the CIA could be damaging to the security of the United States. They claim it is of utmost importance that the CIA keep its place as the fifth or seventh most secret intelligence gathering organization in the US government.
