More on Kos and the CIA

Let's follow up on our earlier story on Markos Moulitsas and his strange relationship with the CIA.

In the earlier piece, we noted that his story has certain difficulties, chronological and otherwise. Moulitsas, in a recorded interview, says that he decided to become a clandestine officer in 2001. He went all the way through a six-month interview process.

Just before signing the final papers, though, he decided that he didn't want to go through with it -- ostensibly because he would have been required to serve in a dull "desk job" position in DC for six years before being sent out into the field for all those James Bond-ian thrills and chills. So he decided to join Howard Dean's presidential campaign instead.

Problem 1: The Dean campaign did not begin until 2003. This leaves roughly a year unaccounted for. (Training...?)

Problem 2: Would Moulitsas really have had to spend six years behind a desk in the DC area? Doubtful. Remember all those post-9/11 stories about a CIA manpower shortage?

I asked Larry Johnson about this matter. His reply:

The claim about a six month period to get hired sounds right. In my case, I started the process in March of 1985 and entered on duty on September 1985. However, there is no way that the CIA was going to keep Markos in DC for 6 years, especially in 2001. Remember Johnny Michael Spann, who died in Afghanistan? He was pulled out of training and sent direct to the field because they needed people. Sounds to me like Markos did not get a credible job offer.

I suspect that, if the CIA had doubts about Moulitsas' abilities, the plug would have been pulled before six months had passed. Besides, why wouldn't Moulitsas have been considered a good "catch"?

Moulitsas' claim that he was anxious to get into the field strikes me as odd for another reason. On other occasions, he has said that he was relieved when he learned that he did not have to serve in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. That doesn't sound like the kind of thing you'd hear from a guy who was rarin' to go where Spann went. Which is it, Markos -- are you Mr. Adventure, or Mr. Play-It-Safe?

In my earlier piece, I wrote:

The CIA is prohibited from operating domestically. Anyone offered a stateside psyop assignment would naturally go through the training course, and then, at the last moment, refrain from signing official employment papers. This is exactly what Moulitsas did.

If you read enough books about American spies, you get the impression that the real problems are caused by the fellows who remain technically non-employed by the Agency.