I think you need to draw a clear division between the security services and the governments they work for. Yes, governments seem to gain from intelligence failures, but the security services really are sledged in the media when they miss things.
And it's not a surprise either - security services are (and should be) treated like any other public service organisation. If they're not doing their job properly, the people have a right to ask why, and to ask what could be done better. If it then turns out that an intelligence failure was the result of a government policy, then it's the government who should cop the blame, not the intelligence service.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-08-20 12:16 am (UTC)Certainly there was a lot of negative press against the CIA and the FBI following 9/11. Likewise ASIO and the ONA copped flak after the Bali bombings.
An article from the New Yorker on FBI and CIA interests in the 9/11 bombers prior to the attack
And it's not a surprise either - security services are (and should be) treated like any other public service organisation. If they're not doing their job properly, the people have a right to ask why, and to ask what could be done better. If it then turns out that an intelligence failure was the result of a government policy, then it's the government who should cop the blame, not the intelligence service.