The fate of the agency is no minor matter to intelligence professionals who have spent their careers trying to serve both presidents and the nation; all know that these two masters are often at odds. There is no easy way to reconcile these divided loyalties. But there are good reasons for trying to understand what has now brought the stresses to the breaking point.

This article will leave you enraged or in tears or both. Whether your emotion is directed at the author, or at the President, or at the CIA, or at Saddam, or at bin Laden, or elsewhere ... well, that depends on your politics.

This is not breaking news, but you may find it heartbreaking. If you follow this area closely, then few to none of the individual facts presented here will come as a surprise to you. However, Thomas Powers has selected and organized them into a powerful essay in support of his thesis. While Powers clearly comes across as Blue, I find that his analysis on this particular topic is closely aligned to that of George Friedman, who is said to be Red.

When experts from across the spectrum agree on a thesis like this, I fear that we are getting very close to the truth of the matter.

I am still a bit conflicted as to whether this gets a Gold Star, but for now I am giving it one.

Gold Star.

Secret Intelligence and the 'War on Terror'