In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

IN SEARCH OF ENEMIES
On the other hand, I was afflicted with bureaucratic function lust.
Angola Task Force chief was what I had been prepared for in fifteen
years of government service. And, I rationalized, I was being offered
a unique human experience. Like most of the rest of the world, I had
only read other people's accounts of Vietnam and the Bay of Pigs.
Except in certain narrow areas, I had been dependent on other
peoples' reporting of what had happened, and as a CIA case officer
I knew well how news gets distorted. I did not know how things got
done at the policy level in Washington. I had been upcountry in
Vietnam, not involved in headquarters activity. Even during the
ouster of Nkrumah in Ghana, I was one 1country away, in the Ivory-­
Coast. The inside story came to me from an egotistical friend, who
had been chief of station in Accra at the time. Now it would be
different. In the Angola program I was involved from the outset. I
would have access to the inner secrets and most accurate intelligence
about the war. I could evaluate what was being done on the basis of
personal experience in Central Africa which dated back thirty years.
After it was over, I could continue my career or resign, confident
that I had really known the clandestine services, that I was not
quitting just before promotion to a level where I would suddenly
understand.
Tomorrow I would put Foster in his place and keep working on
the organization of the task force. I jogged back along the trail,
sprinting up hills in the fading light.
At seven-thirty Monday morning I took the IAFEATURE cables
from the Horn and Central slot in Registry. In an hour I had read
and sorted them into piles according to importance. Those requiring
an early answer or discussion in staff meeting I read a second time,
making notes of key cryptonyms, names, figures, and details.
At eight-thirty I interrupted my reading to catch Potts in his office.
It was imperative that I nip the Paul Foster challenge in the bud,
before Bantam could maneuver me off to Kinshasa, and take away
my ringside seat in this little war. The key to my counterattack would
be Potts's pride. If he felt his authority was being challenged, he
would keep Carl in line. I also had the advantage that Carl was
suggesting an unorthodox arrangement to favor his protege, Foster.
Potts tended! to opt for standard solutions to personnel problems.
Leaning against his office door, I asked Potts about Foster's position
on the task force. Apparently Carl hadn't gotten to him yet and