CIA’s Loss of Top Spies ‘Catastrophic,’ Says Agency Veteran

It looks like the CIA is having trouble keeping good officers just like the U.S. Army... one more effect of the Bush Doctrine.

“It’s comparable to the hemorrhage of junior officers from the Army right now, in the sense that these are leaders whose experience and hands-on ability right in front of their people on the front line is so critical,” he said...

"I mean, the money makes it easier. Nobody joined the CIA to make money. If money was your driving force, you never would have been there in the first place," Faddis said. "People leave because they're just fed up. They leave because of the management structure. They say, 'I've tried and I've tried and I've tried to change this place, and it's just never going to turn the corner and I'm done.' That's the sentiment."

"But frankly I think there are other factors," he added. "There's a general perception of cronyism, favoritism, that the way to get promoted — that the guys who are not being promoted are the guys who are doing aggressive operations in dangerous parts of the world. If you're a chief of station in a dangerous part of the world running aggressive operations, and your contemporary is a staff aide sitting on the seventh floor in meetings, there's no question of who's getting promoted. It's the guy standing next to the boss telling him what he wants to hear. It's not the guy in a dangerous place really trying to take the fight to the enemy."