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June 30, 2009
Exclusive: Ask Willa: Former CIA Operations Officer – Keeping the CIA Viable
Dear Willa,
What can Americans do to make the government keep the CIA an active force in protecting us? There are far too many people that want this great country to fail. We do not need another 9/11. Thank you for your 30 years of service.
Martin Stemler
Dear Martin:
Thank you for your question and your kind words.
Let me say a few things about your questions. First, I think that you and the American people are doing a good job of supporting the CIA and the Intelligence Community. Wise people know that these organizations are made up of patriotic, hard-working employees who are serving their country and trying to do the best job they can to obtain high-quality intelligence and analyze it for the policy-makers. Since the CIA began in 1947, we have grown to an Intelligence Community of over 16 agencies, and I don't know how many people, but plenty! That number is, and should be, classified. So, I think it is safe to say that the U.S. Intelligence Community will survive and continue to provide critical support to our government and its policy-makers.
That said, every effort should continue to be made to prevent leaks from anyone who has access to classified information, whether in the executive or legislative branches of government or from within the Intelligence Community. When leaks occur, the American people should indeed register their concern. During my many years in the CIA, I rarely heard of a leak, a revelation, anything that suggested that classified information was getting out to the press or into the public domain. If and where this has happened in recent years, reforms should be put in place. The bottom line for me would be that anyone who has leaked information should have his or her clearance revoked, no matter what level.
As for terrorist threats and the possibility of another 9/11, we do live in a dangerous world, and another event is a possibility. The fact that nothing has occurred "yet" does not give me deep comfort, since it took al Qaeda eight years between attacks at the World Trade Center to accomplish their awful mission on 9/11. I do believe we are more knowledgeable about international terrorism and specific terrorist groups than we were before 9/11, and we are also much more reactive than we were then. In addition, our coordination within and among all U.S. intelligence organizations has been brought up to date. The worry is that it just takes a small group of deeply ill-intentioned individuals with weapons – biological or nuclear – to create another event. We have to work to isolate hostile terrorist elements and to contain the movement and flow of nuclear and biological and chemical weapons. I am confident the U.S. Intelligence Community is focused on this!
Regards, Willa
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