Funny you should mention books from the CIA. I'm trying to plow through "The Company" by Robert Littell atm. Can't say I've gotten too far, though, cos these damn bloggers keep updating their sites.

Don't we all wish the CIA, FBI, et. al. government law enforcement agencies were all on the level and above partisian politics. Oh, and the Pentagon. What a joke!

Some of the books listed in Hayden's document really get at the game that is played by the large 3-ltr's. In the end I believe it comes down to a funding game. Nothing moves without funding, and the idea that a gov't agency with a budget of this size could move above the level of partisan politics without getting their funding sucked dry for being honest...is absurd. Sad as it is, the system almost requires a political two-step be played to maintain and move forward. Thankfully the "vital" areas of our national security structure have secured funding and can move about without having to engage in the funding games the rest are subject to playing.