Former European CIA chief to speak

Former Chief of the CIA European Division Tyler Drumheller will be speaking on campus today. He recently released his book that accuses the Bush administration of filtering intelligence and exaggerating Saddam Hussein's weapon stockpile to legitimize the attack on Iraq.\nDrumheller will speak at 4 p.m. today at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs Building Atrium to discuss "The Politicalization of the CIA" and to provide an insider account of the secretive government agency.\nGene Coyle, an adjunct professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs who worked with Drumheller at the CIA, said in an IU media release that his former colleague was a highly respected operations officer in the agency. Coyle said today's speech will be a discussion of the mechanisms of U.S. intelligence operations and the use of intelligence in the current war in Iraq. \n"Whatever one's views on the Iraq war, Tyler's insights on the role of the CIA in providing intelligence support to the president will be quite enlightening ... (He has) an insider's view that is rarely available to the public," Coyle said. \nDrumheller retired from the CIA in 2004 after 25 years of service and has written a well-received account of pre-Iraq planning.\nHis new book, "On the Brink: An Insider's Account of How the White House Compromised American Intelligence," has received several positive reviews since it came out a few weeks ago. Ken Silverstein of Harper's Magazine wrote in a Nov. 2 article that the book "offers one of the clearest accounts available on how the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence in order to pave the way for the invasion of Iraq." \nSophomore Alex Effinger said she thinks it will be interesting to hear someone take a tangible stance on such a dynamic topic. After taking a high school class on diplomacy, she said she came to realize a number of things had been hidden from the American public and was glad someone on the inside was speaking out on the lies that she said sent U.S. troops to war. \n"I remember before we went to war all the headlines in the news were about weapons of mass destruction," Effinger said. "It's nice to know someone is speaking out on it." \nPutting down a copy of the New York Times to discuss the topic, senior Ben Eddy said he agrees the government disseminated false information, but he said he thinks the news is not up-to-date enough. \n"It isn't even up for speculation. We were misled," Eddy said. "By now it's almost cliche. The book is about four years too late."\nWhen asked if the book could be used as a cautionary tale about going to war unjustly, Eddy said he is anti-war and echoed post-Vietnam sentiments. He said the United States should have learned the lesson from Henry Kissinger, who spoke out against such wars. \nFor freshman Jayme O'Hara, the most important thing is that Drumheller presents an accurate report after all the alleged lying the U.S. public has endured. \n"I saw a CIA speaker this year and thought he was too opinionated," she said. "I just hope he (Drumheller) presents the facts"