Highest Rated Comments


amaryllishope1281 karma

I think the information he brought to light has been acknowledged by congress to have been an illegal abuse of power and he should be protected as a whistleblower.

amaryllishope1254 karma

Actually the opposite, honestly. Before I got out there, the media made out so many groups and adversaries to be monsters. Once I was in the field, I found that almost always, they are fiercely human, just coming from a wildly different set of life experiences. If you can find a way to understand the human drivers for their violence, you can understand how to bring about peace. I think that's left me in the habit of seeking common ground, which is something we're sure having a hard time doing in our own country right now.

amaryllishope708 karma

That the reality is very different from the movies. On the big screen, it's all about chase sequences and juggling Glocks on rooftops. In reality, it's much more about relationships and emotional intelligence. There are high adrenalin moments, for sure, but the real work is building enough trust with a source that they warn you when an attack is about to take place.

amaryllishope457 karma

I think Syriana is a great one.

amaryllishope457 karma

There was sexism and harassment at time, for sure, but probably not all that much more than in any other male-dominated profession. I will say that there was a growing sense at CIA of the fact that women are uniquely well suited to this kind of work. Unlike the military, where problem solving often involves removing or destroying the target, human intelligence is more about building a relationship with the target to prevent an attack from taking place. It makes great use of skillsets we often associate with the feminine -- emotional intelligence, multitasking, trust building. I've been really happy to see women take on so many leadership roles at the Agency -- it makes me very hopeful for the future of human intelligence as a path to diffusing and resolving conflict with less default reliance on military force.