Re: Spooks (Was Re: Alex Cockburn going the Hitchens way?)
On Jun 20, 2006, at 10:26 AM, Carl Remick wrote:
Somewhat anomalously for a corporate lawyer, you are touchingly
naive. This isn’t a lodestone for idealists — such as the Peace
Corps — that we’re talking about. This is the CIA, a magnet for
sly, secretive sorts who enjoy playing evil games. Wake up and
smell the intrigue, counsellor.
No it’s not the Peace Corps, but really, you’ve got to understand how
The Pig System sucks in decent people who think they’re doing the
right thing. They really do see themselves as defending freedom
against Terror (or, a generation ago, the Evil Empire). There aren’t
many people besides Michael Ledeen who are so in love with sly, evil
gaming in itself. Ditto the military - it’s full of people who signed
up out of idealism. Many of them have crises when they find out just
what it’s all about. You’re not going to go anywhere in figuring out
how power works if you ascribe evil motives to participants.
Doug