The politicization of intelligence, I think, happens when intelligence is thought to be more than it is. And what it can be at best, is a summary judgment at a given moment in time based on the information that one has been able to glean.
________
On October 9th, 2002, Brigadier General Rick Baccus was relieved of command at Guantanamo Bay for being "too nice":
Sources quoted in a number of US newspapers said General Baccus, 50, often clashed with other senior officers at the camp, including Major-General Michael Dunlavey who is in charge of interrogating the prisoners.
The Washington Times said General Baccus irritated General Dunlavey with his decision to allow the Red Cross to put up posters advising detainees they need only provide their name, rank and number during questioning.
MG Miller took command of Guantanamo on November 4th, 2002. And things didn't go smoothly after that:
Under his watch, one interrogator was charged with espionage and is up for court martial this month. Another interrogator was charged with transporting secret documents; his case is pending. A Muslim chaplain - and close adviser to Miller - was charged with mishandling classified information and adultery, though those charges were recently dropped.
Miller also faced steady criticism from human rights groups over the U.S. detention mission itself, which they say is abusive. None of the detainees have been charged yet, and some have been held for more than two years. The U.S. government has yet to agree on a date for tribunals.
In a rare public rebuke, the International Red Cross condemned the prolonged detentions at Guantanamo in October, saying that mental instability and attempted suicides among detainees indicated severe problems with the U.S. operation.
This is the same MG Miller that MG Taguba refers to in his Abu Ghraib report here:
From 31 August to 9 September 2003, MG Miller led a team of personnel experienced in strategic interrogation to HQ, CJTF-7 and the Iraqi Survey Group (ISG) to review current Iraqi Theater ability to rapidly exploit internees for actionable intelligence. MG Miller�s team focused on three areas: intelligence integration, synchronization, and fusion; interrogation operations; and detention operations. MG Miller�s team used JTF-GTMO procedures and interrogation authorities as baselines.
It was Miller who "got tough" in Guantanamo, and it was Miller who changed the interrogation procedures in Abu Ghraib. It was Miller who was selected to replace Baccus, an officer accused of being "too nice".
Who sent Major General Miller to Abu Ghraib last year, where he gave his "advice" on interrogation techniques?
CAMBONE: Yes, sir. My name is Steve Cambone. I'm the Undersecretary for Intelligence, Senator.Cambone's statement is ambiguous. He either sent Miller to Abu Ghraib, or he supported the order sending Miller there.
The original effort by the major general was done down with respect to Guantanamo and had to do with in fact whether or not we had the proper arrangement in the facilities in order to be able to gain the kind of intelligence we were looking from those prisoners in Guantanamo.
We had then in Iraq a large body of people who had been captured on the battlefield that we had to gain intelligence from for force protection purposes, and he was asked to go over, at my encouragement, to take a look at the situation as it existed there. And he made his recommendations. His recommendations were that.
Steven Cambone's personal henchman is Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He is the "Holy Warrior" who said:
...Islamic extremists hate the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."Either of these men could have ordered Miller to Abu Ghraib.
But there is also one other man who could have issued that order; the same man who appointed both Cambone and Boykin:
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Call of Cthulhu May.11.04
