I like how people who support Wikileaks trust an Australian egomaniac under investigation for rape more than their own government. You guys do know that "The West Wing" is just a TV show, right? Not real life...?
Twenty bucks says nobody here know anyone who's worked in the American intelligence community. Newsflash: it's not all Jason Bourne, James Bond, secret government corruption, and misappropriation of funds. In fact, almost none of that goes on. Let's think about this for a second.
First, the employees. What does it take to get into the intel community?
-An impressive academic record
-A rigorous, extremely thorough background check that WILL reveal any embarrassing personal information you have
-Not being able to talk with anyone about your work, possibly having to lie to spouse/friends/relatives about what you do
-If you're overseas, you pretty much sacrifice having a family
-And best of all... the pay is shit compared to what these people could make in the private sector. Seriously.
Everyone likes to wear yellow ribbons and scream "SUPPORT THE TROOPS!!1!" but I think I've met more people who have been to Iraq/Afghanistan for the money or some other selfish reason than go into the intel services. The guys and gals I know who do classified work for the US do it because they love America, not because they want power (you don't really get to know anything outside what you're doing) or because they want money (see above).
If anyone's to blame for our mistakes in intel, it's Congress. My friends and relatives who've done this sort of work say it's horribly frustrating when briefing Congress on an issue, only to be asked ridiculously basic questions, to realize they don't know what you're talking about, and then get your funding cut because they need to put more in a shitty local pork-barrel project so they can get re-elected.
And that's all I have to say about that.