June 15, 2008

The following letter to the editor, published in the June 15 edition of The New York Times, responds to a June 12 editorial:

To the Editor:

Re "Interrogation for Profit":

American law applies to all personnel -- contractors and staff officers alike -- who have served in the C.I.A.'s terrorist detention program.

The C.I.A., like other United States government agencies, employs contractors to acquire needed skills and expertise for set periods of time. You write that using contractors is "a symptom of the administration's ducking accountability under international law." The C.I.A. doesn't use contractors to dodge accountability; to do so would ignore both the law and Congressional oversight of intelligence.

Among those you decry as "mercenaries" and "corporate thugs" are Americans who have died in the line of duty serving with the C.I.A. in places of conflict and combat. Such patriots deserve our respect, not your scorn.

Mark Mansfield
Director of Public Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency
McLean, Va., June 13, 2008