We don’t need to guess where this top CIA official’s loyalties lie, because she’s telling us herself by posting a pro-Palestinian image to Facebook just two weeks after the horrific Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 and while the U.S. president was in Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to The Financial Times, on October 21, the associate deputy director who was not named changed her profile photo to a picture of a Palestinian man waving the Palestinian flag.
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FT didn’t name the analyst, because “the agency expressed concerns about her safety.” However, they did say that posts such as this one from intelligence analysts on social media are not typical.
A senior intelligence official posting a political image in a public forum is an unusual thing to do. The move comes at a time when tensions are rising within the administration over whether or not President Joe Biden ought to put more pressure on Israel in order to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The senior intelligence official posted a selfie on Facebook with the sticker “Free Palestine”. A person who is familiar with the photo said that it was uploaded to Facebook many years ago, long before the current conflict.
The flag was taken in 2015. It has been used to criticize Israel’s policies on Gaza and the West Bank in both news articles and opinion pieces.
She is one of three people (including the deputy CIA Director) responsible for approving the analyses that are disseminated within the agency.
Former agents did not like the posts.
One former intelligence official said that posting a controversial political statement in the middle of a crisis was a poor decision. He added that there were some members of the intelligence community who were worried that the post could be interpreted as a bias and undermine the Analysis Directorate.
Some members of the intelligence community were concerned that this post could be interpreted as a biased statement that would undermine the Analysis Directorate. What do you think?
Another anonymous official said:
A third former intelligence official said that social media activity in this vein by a senior US officer reflected a shockingly bad judgment, given the role played by [CIA] Director [William] Burns in the ongoing Israel crisis.
In a press release, the CIA tried to minimize the severity of the situation.
CIA officers adhere to the principle of analytical objectivity. This is fundamental to what we do. CIA officers’ personal opinions may not affect their commitment to unbiased analyses.
It’s one thing to have personal views, but it is reprehensible when a CIA agent undermines the President of the United States from abroad. This is also extremely bad taste, especially when the world is still coming to grips with the systematic murder and rape of Hamas. We’ve seen many responses like this in recent months, but they are particularly concerning when coming from a senior intelligence official who’s supposed to be helping implement the administration’s policies.
If you do not like this president’s position or if you dislike working for him, you should resign. Don’t let anyone hit you with the door on your way out.
