"To discover to the world something which deeply concerns it, and of which it was previously ignorant; to prove to it that it had been mistaken on some vital point of temporal or spiritual interest, is as important a service as a human being can render to his fellow creatures..."
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
When looking at the world of the CIA, spycraft, and espionage, it fair to say that the images of both WWII and particularly the Cold War, shape our vision. Unfortunately, it does not always allow us to understand the reinvented world of 21st-century coverts action and government secrecy.
Joining me to explore this, as he has done in his nine previous books about the CIA, is Washington Post global affairs columnist David Ignatius. His new book The Paladin: he takes us inside today's very different world of spycraft.
Every institution of government today is in chaos. Departments are unstaffed, the State Department is hollowed out, cabinet secretaries are either apologizing for themselves or the President, or they are traveling the world trying to reassure allies and adversaries.
But few institutions are in the kind of direct conflict, almost open hospitality, with the administration that the intelligence community and the CIA are. From his botched initial visit to Langley, to six am tweets, not since Kennedy have we had a President in open warfare with his intelligence community
Joining me to talk about all of this is John Kiriakou.
John Kiriakou, was a 15 year CIA veteran, where he rose through the ranks to the very highest levels of the agency. He was the first one in the intelligence community to expose the CIA’s use of torture. As a result he became on of very few American ever prosecuted under the Espionage Act. He was considered a whistleblower and served twenty-three months in federal prison
Certainly the subject of spying and secrets is front and center today. For Scott Johnson it almost always was.
It has been written that the sins of the father shall be visited upon their sons. In a broader sense it's clear that often, as we try to reach escape velocity from our fathers, we end up becoming just like them.
When looking at the world of the CIA, spycraft, and espionage, it fair to say that the images of both WWII and particularly the Cold War, shape our vision. Unfortunately, it does not always allow us to understand the reinvented world of 21st-century coverts action and government secrecy.
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