A Spy For All Seasons by Duane R. Clarridge & Digby Diehl

Author:Duane R. Clarridge & Digby Diehl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner

CHAPTER 13

The Two-Front War—Washington and Nicaragua

In the late spring of 1982, Bobby Ray Inman resigned as deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) after an evening meeting with Bill Clark, the president’s national security adviser. Inman’s resignation seemed to surprise Casey, who was out of Washington at the time. When he returned, he didn’t appear to have anyone in mind for the job and didn’t move with alacrity to fill it, interviewing just one candidate, an admiral, before he lost control of events. Almost immediately after Inman left, the press and Congress began a drumbeat to have John McMahon, then the Agency’s executive director, which many at the time regarded as a nonjob and holding position, named the DDCI. McMahon was certainly qualified. However, Congress’s desire to have him in the job had less to do with his very real abilities and more with its view that he was sympathetic to its interests. McMahon was believed to be trustworthy, lukewarm on covert action, and thus a counterweight to Casey within the Agency. Casey, of course, knew this when he was more or less forced to appoint McMahon DDCI.

There is an interesting cultural difference between directorates within the Agency in how they view and interact with the executive branch and Congress. An understanding of this explains some things, such as the McMahon phenomenon.

The Directorate of Operations or the Clandestine Services has always “marched” for the president, no matter what his political party. On the other hand, the Directorate of Science and Technology, which is involved in large and expensive programs, usually of a technical nature, has a very different focus, and Congress controls its funding. The president is a beneficiary of its intelligence collection, but the implementation of its programs, the success thereof, and thus its officers’ promotions depend on congressional financial largess. No wonder then that officers largely brought up in this directorate, such as John McMahon, develop an almost symbiotic relationship with Congress, in stark contrast with the Clandestine Services, which is beholden to Congress for little.

Lt. Gen. Paul Gorman, assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and a member of the RIG, suggested that I occasionally brief the JCS on what I was up to in Central America. The chiefs seemed to find me amusing, probably because I came alone, carried my own briefing boards, and had a colorful pocket square hanging from my suit-coat pocket. I described what for them were some rinky-dink operations in Central America, which was an arena they or at least some of them wanted to avoid. One briefing occurred in June of 1982 shortly after McMahon was appointed DDCI.

These briefings took place in the “tank” in the Pentagon. The tank is a kind of military holy place, where the chiefs meet together to discuss and decide military issues. Within the room is a large U-shaped grouping of tables with various writing implements, paper, and munchies available at each seat. Because this was the Reagan administration, the munchies were a substantial jar of jelly beans at each position.

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