Setting the record straight on the CIA

Tim Weiner of the New York Times has covered intelligence and national security issues for two decades and has won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. Weiner's latest book, "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA," draws on hundreds of interviews and archival documents, revealing decades of blunders that have compromised the country's national security. This week, Word for Word features Tim Weiner's recent speech at the Minneapolis Public Library, where he discussed how the CIA evolved over the past six decades, and where it went wrong.

"Intelligence is extraordinarily difficult. it is prone to failure. It is a human endeavor to know what someone else is thinking, there is a very high degree of difficulty in that, and we are new at this relatively speaking, we've only been at it 60 years."

Listen to Tim Weiner's speech on the Word for Word web site, and share your thoughts below.

At what point in history do you feel the C.I.A. has been most effective? How can the C.I.A best serve the interests of the American people? Is Weiner fair in his criticism of the C.I.A.'s ignorance of "the enemy"? Weiner talks about the contentious relationship between the CIA and every president for the past 60 years - what do you think is causing this tension?
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Suzanne Pekow
Word for Word
APM|MPR

Comments: 2

Julia Schrenkler Jun 25, 2008, 12:59pm EDT

I can't believe there aren't more takers on this discussion, because "At what point in history do you feel the C.I.A. has been most effective?" is a very, very interesting question.

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Ron C. Jul 2, 2008, 12:36pm EDT

John Kennedy did not like the murderous dirty tricks operations of the CIA.

Geo Bush senior, the head of the CIA was in charge when John was removed from office.

hmmmmm

effective?

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Setting the record straight on the CIA

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