2-22-96. TWP: "CIA Can Waive Prohibition Against Using U.S. Clergy Abroad for Covert Work." A controversial loophole permitting the CIA to recruit American journalists as agents also allows the agency to waive a similar 19-year-old ban on employing clerics or missionaries. An official also disclosed that CIA regulations prohibit recruiting employees of members of Congress or congressional committees "without the approval of the member" for whom they work. "The CIA: No Cover For Failure." Now we know why the CIA, the NSA and the DIA and all those other spook agencies that get $25 billion-plus every year can't bring down Saddam Hussein: They have not been able to use journalists or priests -- the latest the Washington/New York national security establishment has come up with to ride out the lean years after the Cold War. In a justification for continued massive spending on spying, the experts ask us to focus on the extraneous and stupid, rather than look at the obvious. "Again, the CIA and the Press." [Editorial] "My Spy Story." [NYT Op-Ed] BLO_bak (for 4)