My own experience with the mainstream media as a whistleblower is revelatory. During my congressional testimony in 1991 against the nomination of Robert M. Gates as director of CIA, I provided background information to Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times in order to counter malicious rumors emanating from the White House that were designed to compromise my credibility. Sciolino initially reported this information accurately, but then tilted to support the Gates' confirmation. In a conversation several weeks after the confirmation hearings, Sciolino explained that it was becoming obvious that Gates would be confirmed and would be an important source to her as a CIA director. She added that, as I would return to the National War College as a professor of international relations, I would be of little further use. Sciolino noted that whistleblowers make good sources only in the short run, while journalists must rely on policymakers for long-term access and should not gratuitously offend them. This explains the conventional analysis offered by the press corps and its reluctance to challenge official sources.
As a result of the imbalance in the process of foreign-policy decision making, we have come full circle from President Woodrow Wilson, who wanted to make the "world safe for democracy," to Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, who find the world too dangerous to honor constitutional democracy. The excesses of the Vietnam War; Watergate; Iran-Contra; and the Global War on Terror have contributed to the creation of a dangerous national-security state and a culture of secrecy. Whistleblowers can help all of us decide whether the ends justify the means regarding these excesses.
Meanwhile, secrecy itself has fostered dangerous ignorance in the United States. The overuse of secrecy limits necessary debate and dialogue on foreign policy and deprives citizens of information on which to make policy and political judgments. Only a counter-culture of openness and a respect for the balance of power in the conduct of foreign policy can reverse the damage of the past decade. As long as Congress defers to the president in the conduct of foreign policy; the courts intervene to prevent any challenge to the power of the president in the making of foreign policy; and the media defer to authorized sources, we will need courageous whistleblowers.
Reprinted from Counterpunch.
Melvin A. Goodman, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University, is the author of the recently-published "National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism" (City Lights Publishers) and the forthcoming "The Path to Dissent: The Story of a CIA Whistleblower" (City Lights Publisher). Goodman is a former CIA analyst and a professor of international relations at the National War College.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
