Political Quotes

“when General Schwarzkopf came back from the Gulf War, he told us that he had better intelligence than any battlefield commander in the history of the world. He also was asked by the media if there were any improvements that could be made, and he said yes, there were, and he went on to outline what further improvements could be made. The headlines then became ``Schwarzkopf Criticizes Intelligence,'' rather than the emphasis on his tremendous complimentary comments about the extraordinarily good intelligence which he had during that war. Mr. Chairman, I think that there is a pervasive feeling across this country somehow, at least in some quarters, that criticizing intelligence is the thing to do. Indeed there has been a drum beat of criticism of intelligence rather than the kind of support which I believe it deserves. And it is largely as a result of that, I believe, that there has developed, particularly in the clandestine service, what might be called a culture of timidity, and I do not fault the clandestine service for that at all. I think it is a rational response, if each time someone raises their head they get a shot taken at it, they learn to keep their head down. Unfortunately, by its very nature, the clandestine service must be a careful but bold risk-taking service, and I think we are losing that in this country, and I think it is a very, very serious matter, and it is going to take years to rebuild it.”