It's been a while...

It has been awhile, sorry; but between Lisa's maneuverings and Chris's...well, Chris being Chris, I have not been given a blog writing assignment until just now. And mind you, the assignment wasn't much in the way of detail. "Write something," was the order I got from one of the Babes. Alas, such is the lot of a lowly old Colonel.

Little has happened since I last yelled into the blogosphere, yeah right. But as this is a blog, and usually we do current events, it would seem appropriate that I do that as well. So, here goes.

The CIA is in turmoil--again. The Executive Director, kind of like the Chief of Staff, has just resigned over there over sex, gambling, rock and roll; juicy stuff. This disaster was only eclipsed by the firing or resignation or leaving, or a combination of them all, of the head guy, the Director of the CIA, Porter Goss. Oh, in case you did not think it could get even juicier, Goss is the guy who brought the sexed out Executive Director into the agency.

Damn! This is not a good day for what is our first line of defense in the undeclared War on Terror.

All of this, when we are supposed to be at our best; when we are supposed to be at our sharpest. Hell! we are kind of looking at

Iran

, and instead of focusing on that we are going to go through yet another cluster of hearings and political posturing. This will be the third Director of the CIA we have had in three years and the truth is that we may not get this one.

The President has decided to run Air Force General Hayden up the flag poll and see who salutes. Hell, on this one even the Republicans are bailing out--not a pretty site. Here is my take. We have a less than 55 years young agency in the CIA. Surely we have some professional spooks out there who can also lead. Surely we can do better than this Air Force guy?

Hayden ran the NSA, where he spent billions on a failed intelligence system overhaul and said its OK to tap the phones of Americans without a court order. This is not a good beginning. I am in favor of wire tapping just not without some form of control.

My bet it that this guy Hayden will get a grilling and pull out and then we might, just might, get the right man or woman for this very important job--maybe the most important of jobs.

Col. David Hunt

Comments

[daf1]

Colonel Hunt, I don't understand your logic. I know whatever the Bush Administration does will not suit you, but explain this. In a previous column you wrote," How about we let Al-Qaeda run our telephone system", when refering to the U.S. turning over some port operations to the UAE in an attempt at making a point. Now, you bemoan the administation wiretaping American's who are speaking with Al-Queda. If there are American citizens speaking with Al-Qaeda, I hope to God we are taping them. It may lead to preventing a bomb going off. By the way, you should look at what FDR did during WWII. It makes the wire taping of calls involving Al-Qaeda look trival. But I forgot, he's a democrat; or maybe he's really related to Bush.

[Col. David Hunt]

Look, I am not saying do not tap the phones, damn it. I am saying if it is an American you want to tap, get the FISA court order-- which you can do up to 72 hours after you start the tap. Tap all the phones you want, tap until the cows come home--but if it is an American citizen, you have to get the court order. I know some suggest the FISA court was slow a few times, that is true but they have fixed it. This is not about taping it is about competency. The same people who missed 9/11 and then missed the WMD that you want to give a pass to, are the same ones now patting you on the head saying trust us we know what we are doing....and you are ok with that? How about not making this about politics, and about fighting terrorism.

[Nurse Judy]

Col Hunt:
Who do you think would make a good CIA director? What qualities, what kind of background, what kind of experience should the new director have in our current terrorist environment? Why would a military guy even be auditioned? What is the reasoning behind this?

I'm sort of at a loss to figure this one out. I thought Goss was supposed to be a good choice. Did he lose the job because of his sexed up friend or were there other reasons?

Okay, I know, too many questions. Answers to any of the above would be appreciated.

[daf1]

Col. Hunt, just a few points in rebutal. First, I respect your service to our country and your opinions of our situation. I believe we are in an Islamic Holy War with the extermists in the Moslem religon. The war is not going to end with Iraq. Iraq is just 1 piece of the puzzle. They want to kill the infidel or die trying. With the taping of calls, their maybe an American on one end but there is an Al-Qaeda terrorist on the other end thats in a foriegn country. The FISA court is slow and outdated. With all the leaks in the press (like the one where they released we were tracking Asama Bin Laden by his sat phone), the terrorists are using throw away cell phones and other tools so they cannot be tracked. We may only have 1 chance to catch someone and we cannot wait on a court to decide. Yes, mistakes have been made. You can look all the way back to the first Bush administration and especially the Clinton admin. and see problems. And yes, you can say Bush 43's admin. should have been able to put the pieces together for 911, but very few people in any areana contemplated that they would fly airplanes into the world trade centers. By the way, WMD's were found in IRAQ and evidence of most of it being shipped out to Syria & other countries. The main problem with the media is there is no historical perspective. To me, this is a world war and it's no where near to being over. The US did alot more to infringe on individual liberties to protect the population. Ask the Japanese Americans how they felt, but a decision was made to protect the country. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the civil war. The next time your out at the mall with your family and a bomb didn't go off, you should thank President Bush for being a leader in this war we are facing. I don't know of any other politician who has been as consistant. No, I'm not a Koolade drinker. I do not agree with his stance of immigration, but for the war on terror, I cannot imagine John Kerry protecting us with the same tenacity. Thanks again for your service to our country.

[Col. David Hunt]

Judy, Goss was a light weight, there are many good former and current Intelligence Professionals, Frank Anderson, Doug Smith to name two, both were big deals in the CIA lead large numbers of people and had great successes and are out spoken

[Chris]

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[Chris Sears]

Reading "daf1", I was expecting to see my name at the bottom!!! (Were we twins separated at birth?) We should compare black and blue marks from getting beaten up on believing in WMD. (Most of mine from Chris H) Only thing I may have expounded further on was John Francois Kerry, but that would have just been such cruelty, though he is deserving of.

Wish I had time to say more, (though most others are thankful!) It never happens that I hold back for fear of another's perturbation, but does for lack of time.

By George!!!! (no presidential pun intended)I've think got it!!! I am schizophrenic!! "daf1" was my identity after the 7 Harpoons!??!!

[Chris Sears]

Oh..PS Col.Hunt, Wish I could get to Orleans. Laurel and Hardy...Martin and Lewis... Howie and Hunt!!! THE BEST!! Get the Colonel's book now in paperback!

[SSG Rob]

Col Hunt, How do I get an autographed copy of your latest book? Is Amazon.com the only way to buy it online?

[Drewesmom]

Col. Hunt -- Nothing you say is wrong and your comments on the Isreal defense action as usual is correct.
Love ya Col. and if my son goes into the Military I hope he meets a man just like you, and I am pushing him towards the military, to first defend our nation and 2nd get a great education.

[Chris Sears]

Hey Drewsmom!! Glad to see a "continuing" over here!! Maybe we shall "keep a lifeline" going over here with regard to the Colonel, though he has left us.

Anyway, I am a happywoman today, (and I bet the Colonel is a happy man) that the Israeli's have started to fight like their lives depend on it!! I was a little worried that they had caught that "American" thing of caring too much what the rest of the world thought rather than doing what was right. Thank-you, Israel, for fighting this battle for us! We rally you on! We Thank=God for you! We know you fight for our heart and soul and we know that you honor our President for his devotion to Israel.

[drewsmom]

Sorry. if a fu%k**g American is talking to someone in an Arab country we should know what the hell they are talking about and if its innocent so be it, God, I check AlZareerah to see what they have to say and no CIA or NSA has paid me a visit and I've been doing it since 9/11, NONE OF MY CIVIL LIBERTIES HAVE BEEN EFFECTED AND I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO KNOWS WHAT I CHECK OUTTA THE LIBRARY, but I hardly ever go cux I, like most Americans do out reading on the net.