Put not your faith in secrets

One of the very common liberal criticisms of the war in Iraq is that the Bush-Cheney administration ignored the intelligence analysis coming from the experts at the CIA and went ahead with their own analysis. As eb points out though, the CIA has been part of the problem of politicized and distorted intelligence and analysis as much as it has been part of the solution.

And Congress?

I have long marveled at the inability of most oversight legislators and staffers to ask clear questions; their failure to frame pertinent follow-up questions borders on the absurd.

And he's not alone.

Espionage and covert action are essential tools of foreign policy and national defense, but they do not lend themselves to near-perfect oversight.

Which is why it's important to have people of integrity and skill doing the work. Very, very important.