Excellent questions.
But as a liberal, I find it hard for us to discuss America's role in the world and the world's view of America without there being a serious discussion of the CIA and its continued counterproductive existence.
It goes far beyond how we treat prisoners at GITMO, whose guards were in part trained in interrogation techniques by CIA experts. Consider Seymour Hersch's recent New Yorker article about how the Bush administration used the CIA, at times "off the books" to manipulate the Iraqi elections.
Liberals have, it seems, accepted the CIA as necessary, and for strategic reasons in the Rove scandal, even raised the agency and its spies to the level of heroes.
But how do we talk about trying to model for the rest of the world when we happily accept a permanent, secret foreign spy agency that is now under the control of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Porter Goss and overseen, sort of, by the likes of Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas? It can't be done.
The existence of this covert foreign policy renders any overt foreign policy a facade.
Is this topic beyond discussion by liberals?

Posted at July 29, 2005 8:27 AM in response to Be Like Us?

Good work, Larry.
But while I'm all for getting Rove et al, now Mrs. Wilson has had a "distinguished career"? Based on what? Why can't we just say that before Rove outed her, she was in line for the Congressional Medal of Honor? Who's going to argue with us? IT'S ALL SECRET.

Posted at July 27, 2005 2:12 PM in response to More Lies From the Right

Hi gang:
Seriously, after Rove and Libby are up the river can liberals have a talk about why the CIA still exists considering all the undeniable negative baggage it hauls around?
Doesn't anyone else see the silliness in our country not being able to name the head of the directorate of operations? Does anyone really think that if a foreign agent wanted to learn the name,he or she would not be able to after a little work?
How many intelligence agencies does this country have? How many intelligence agencies does this country need?
richard 

Posted at July 24, 2005 5:36 PM in response to Incompetence on Senate Intel

I've nothing at all against Valerie Plame, but where is the evidence that she or anyone in the CIA has done any good controlling proliferation of WMD?
 

Posted at July 21, 2005 7:56 AM in response to Plame, Labor and US Foreign Policy